Thirty-three-year-old Shaun Coolwell died at Logan Hospital on 2 October after police arrested him at a home in the Logan suburb of Kingston earlier that morning.
Police say Mr Coolwell, who already had injuries, was acting aggressively and was handcuffed for his own safety.
Mr Coolwell's family says he was distressed that morning because he was mourning the death of his brother, who died in police custody four years earlier.
A family spokesman says Mr Coolwell had hurt himself and was bleeding so his family called an ambulance and it was paramedics who called police.
