By: Elizabeth Corridan

BOSTON / SOUTHWICK, Mass. (WGGB) -- Boston Police are cleared of wrong-doing, more than a year after a Southwick man stopped breathing in their custody and later died.

In June 2008, David Woodman took to the streets of Boston to celebrate the Celtics' Championship win.  Amid the chaos, Boston police officers attempted to arrest the 22-year old for public drinking. There was a scuffle and at some point the Southwick native stopped breathing and lost consciousness.  Woodman died 11 days later.

Former U.S. Attorney Donald Stern oversaw an independent review of the case and is in agreement with the medical examiner that Woodman died from a pre-existing heart condition. The report states that while police did not contribute to nor could they have prevented his death, there is room for improvement. In a press conference Tuesday, Stern said, "We did find there were any number of missteps by the department and police officers on the scene and the department can do better."

In his report, Stern made nine recommendations to police protocol. They include better communication before and during large crowd-control details and more training regarding control and monitoring of a prisoner during an arrest.  Stern says, "Somebody needs be in charge of the person in custody at all times. You need to know who that person is and that person needs to be the one writing the report later on."

The recommendations are little solace to the Woodman family. Cathy Woodman, David's mother, says, "It feels like they are getting away with it. They are not getting in trouble for it. Nobody was punished. And our son is dead."

The Woodmans still believe their son went too long without the proper medical treatment. Jeffrey Woodman, David's father, says, "David Woodman lay on the ground for five minutes dead before they did anything. Maybe that's a little strong to say but that's what it appears."

His mother fears David's health has become a scapegoat. "He had a heart condition and boy are they lucky that he did because now they can hang all the blame on that," Cathy Woodman said.

The Woodmans say they have not yet decided whether or not to sue the Boston Police Department.