The Sacramento County Coroner's Office on Tuesday announced preliminary autopsy results for the man who died in custody after being arrested for allegedly shooting a police officer, saying the man's body revealed no evidence of trauma.

The brief announcement began chipping away at some community members' fears that actions by Sacramento police officers could have contributed to the death of 32-year-old Tyrone Smith.

But many questions remain as forensic pathologists wait for test results that will shed light on why Smith lost consciousness in the backseat of a moving police patrol car Saturday night, hours after police allege he shot a Twin Rivers police officer during a traffic stop gone awry.

Smith died later at a local hospital. The Twin Rivers officer survived critical injuries.

The medical and toxicology test results are expected in a couple of weeks, Coroner Gregory Wyatt said Tuesday.

"Certainly, the public is starving for information. They need to be assured of what the facts are, good or bad, and let the chips fall where they may," Wyatt said. "It would not be fair to the public nor would it be fair to the Police Department to wait six months (for results)," as his office initially indicated.

To help mend fissures in the community, the Greater Sacramento Urban League and the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will host a forum tonight about Smith's death.

David DeLuz, president of the League, said he hopes for an "orderly and constructive dialogue" among Smith's relatives, concerned residents and leaders of the Sacramento Police Department, who have agreed to attend.

"I don't want a situation where people are projecting or guessing based on a rumor they heard third-hand from somebody," DeLuz said. "It may not answer all the questions, … but it will at least give a significant number in the community the same information – and straight from the horse's mouth."

The forum follows a private meeting Monday, orchestrated by DeLuz, of Smith's family, community representatives and police leadership. DeLuz and police officials described the meeting as positive and productive.

Police have maintained they used minimal force against Smith and that they do not believe any officer's actions contributed to his death.

Dana Matthes, the acting chief on Sunday in Chief Rick Braziel's absence, acknowledged that the circumstances raise questions and vowed that her agency would investigate the death thoroughly.

Though few garner the attention of this case, in-custody deaths arouse concern by virtue of the power the public vests in law enforcement.

However, anecdotal evidence and experts suggest that the majority of in-custody deaths are attributable to intoxication, pre-existing medical conditions or some combination of the two – and not any direct action by a law enforcement officer.

Sixteen people have died of these causes while in custody in Sacramento County – including the Main Jail or Folsom Prison – since December 2002, according to data provided by the Coroner's Office.

No matter the cause, the incidents tend to pose serious public relations challenges for authorities.

"It's clearly a political problem for law enforcement," said William Vizzard, a former sheriff's deputy and currently a professor of criminal justice at California State University, Sacramento.

Vizzard said those in the law enforcement profession should constantly review changing research and evaluate best practices to help prevent in-custody deaths.

But he said there are key factors that often figure in such deaths that can't be eliminated by any amount of training or science, including the presence of intoxicated, mentally ill or unhealthy suspects; physical struggles during arrest; and high stress.

"It's dangerous for everybody – the police officer and the citizen," Vizzard said. "There's no real way of avoiding some degree of danger."

Former Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said he and many other law enforcement professionals view in-custody deaths as unfortunate realities in the job, and understand the scrutiny that follows.

But he expressed frustration that some in the community jump to conclusions before all the information about an incident is known. And he assailed any assumption that officers would knowingly contribute to an in-custody death.

"Nobody wants a suspect to die in their police car or in their jail," he said. "It results in stress, criticism and litigation, and those are three things that the police don't want or need."

Vizzard said he sympathizes with police who must endure scrutiny even when they are not guilty of any wrongdoing. But as unpleasant as that scrutiny is, he said, it is necessary. "You've got to have a legitimate inquiry to make sure there wasn't in fact undue use of force, and secondly to sustain public confidence in the police that these things are being looked at," he said. "I think if the police are clean, the very bright spotlight is the best thing that can happen to them."

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