S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. Today , we discuss the latest on a class action lawsuit against the county for alleged civil rights violations in county jails , challenging nearly every corner of operations. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. San Diego County jails have long been under scrutiny for alleged civil rights violations. The jail system had 19 deaths in 2022 , which was a record high for San Diego County jails. A complaint filed that year has since expanded to a class action lawsuit challenging nearly every aspect of jail operations. That includes allegations of unconstitutional medical and mental health practices. Joining me to talk about the latest proceedings is Keli Davis. She's a reporter on the watchdog team at the San Diego Union-Tribune. Kelly. Always good to have you here.
S2: Thank you. Jade. Good to be here.
S1: So what can you tell me about this lawsuit ? Dunsmore. The county of San Diego. I mean , how did it emerge and what has it grown into ? Yeah.
S2: So the lawsuit was first filed in February of 2022 , and this was shortly after the California State Auditor released a report showing that San Diego County had the highest jail mortality rate among the state's 15 largest counties. So so this lawsuit , it didn't start off class action. It began with seven plaintiffs , all of whom allege that they had suffered serious medical or mental health problems while in jail custody. And among those seven was a man named Darrell Dunsmore , who's now this is now referred to as the Dunsmore case. Um , um , and he'd actually filed a lawsuit on his own without an attorney. Um , two years prior , in 2020 , um , he had this debilitating form of arthritis. He he relied on a wheelchair to move around. He needed a modified spoon to eat , and when he was booked into jail , deputies confiscated those items. Um decided he didn't need them. And when Mr. Dunsmore became distraught , he was placed in an isolation cell. He was unable to get to the toilet , forced to urinate and defecate on the cell floor without his modified spoon. His only option was to eat with his hands. So. So attorneys who were looking into San Diego jails found this lawsuit , saw that it had merits. Um , took it on. And over time , they gathered more and more cases of of individuals who'd been in jail custody , highlighting deficiencies in medical care and mental health care. Those are kind of the two primary focuses , um , as well as as accommodations for people with disabilities. In 2023 , the case was granted class action status. So now it covers everyone who's been in San Diego jail , everyone who is currently in San Diego jail , and everyone who might end up there in the future. And just to to be clear , this is not seeking monetary compensation for any of the plaintiffs. It's really focused on reforms. Wow.
S1: Wow. Those are heartbreaking and terrible allegations. The plaintiffs are alleging a wide range of civil rights violations , the main focus being on mental and medical care , as you mentioned.
S2: Um , and so that the claim of the inadequacy of medical and mental health care , that's , that's the most significant allegation. There are some other ones , but that's those are the two that really stand out. The Constitution requires that correctional facilities provide adequate care. So. So not like , you know , perfect health care , just adequate care. And there are entities. There's there's a state commission there. There are national commissions that that determine there. There have been lawsuits that determine what adequate care should look like. So the plaintiffs , um , representing the the the , um , folks in custody , they brought in a bunch of experts. These experts toured the jails , reviewed tons of records , talk to people in custody , talk to staff , and determined that that in so many cases , the sheriff wasn't meeting these standards. Um , the mental health expert. His name is Doctor Pablo Stewart. Um , he probably dug the deepest of anyone. He submitted a 165 page report. Um , and in large parts of this report , he goes case by case , he , he doesn't name these folks because , you know , for medical privacy reasons , the names are redacted , Acted , but he goes case by case. All these records that he reviewed. And people with serious mental illness who weren't being seen by a psychiatrist , even though the jail has like a timeline of when someone is booked in , they're in a psychotic state. They need to be seen within a certain amount of time. People who had , um , they were had , uh , you know , psychotropic medications that they were taken outside of jail. They get booked into jail , they don't get those medications and they , they decompensated. Um , so he just had case after case of where this had happened. Um , and it really creates a dangerous situations , you know , not just for the person who could harm themselves , but they could harm other people. They could harm deputies. And , and so , um , yeah. So that that's the I think the mental health , I mean , that's such a big crisis right now. Well has been for a while , but remains a crisis of folks with mental illness ending up in jail. And , and that really stood out to me , as is an area where the sheriff's department was falling short.
S1: Well , last week there were two key motions. One from the county , one from the plaintiffs.
S2: So they're going to the judge and they're saying the plaintiffs have alleged , you know , these six , eight things. And we believe they haven't proved that their case. And so the county was making that argument. Um , and then the plaintiffs were arguing that the county , the experts that the county brought in did not do a good job of of of proving that the county was , was , was doing fine , that the jails are doing fine. So you kind of have these the both sides trying to narrow down the case , um , and what it'll look like when it goes to trial. Um , it was really hard to tell how the judge might rule. He didn't issue a ruling on the day of the hearing. It could take weeks or months before he rules. Um , but something he said at the end of the hearing as he asked both sides , how long do you think a trial will take ? And , um , it was 2 to 3 months was their estimates. And so I talked to folks after the hearing and they're like , just because he asked that question , this shows that this case will will move forward. So , um , yeah. So yeah. So so yeah , we don't know exactly what it'll look like if some of the claims will be narrowed. But but it's , it's it's more than likely to move forward to trial. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , um , you know , they really scrutinized one mental health care expert in particular , Doctor Joseph Penn. What can you tell me about him ? Yeah.
S2: So he was. He was hired by the county , um , to produce a report on mental health care in the jails. Um , attorneys for the plaintiffs , um , scoured that report and found that he had copied and pasted parts of it from a report that he did , um , in a lawsuit , involving the Arizona prison system. So there were there were. There were like specific references that that would have fit the Arizona litigation , but not the San Diego litigation. Um , and then he acknowledged under oath that he did not review. He was deposed by the the plaintiffs. He acknowledged that he did not review the medical files of anyone who died by suicide , or anyone whose death was tied to mental illness. And and a big focus of this lawsuit is how do we prevent deaths in jails ? And he didn't review any of those records. Um , and , uh , you know , another issue that came up in the Arizona case is that a federal judge found his work to be , quote unquote , deeply flawed. So while the county is saying , yeah , it's not unusual to reuse for experts to reuse material that happens. Um , I don't think the judge really bought it , and , said he will take that under consideration. Whether or not he's going to dismiss Doctor Penn as an expert.
S1: That sounds like a whole nother story. Yes.
S2: Yes.
S1: I mean , are these people , these experts who come on like that or are they being paid by.
S2: They are being. Yeah. And that's important to know is , is is they're they're being paid by whomever has hired them. And so they're going to , they're going to say , you know , what will bolster the case. But you know , when you when you look at the quality of work they put in , um , the county's experts , like I said , one guy at 165 page report , one to the jail , talk to so many people , and then you find what the county's experts. Not the same level of work , not the same level of of of focus put in to their experts. So. So I think that that , um , and it's very rare for a judge to throw out an expert. They usually say like , let's just wait till the trial. Let's during cross-examination , you could bring up all the problems with Doctor Penn's report. Um , so. So , um. It's rare to to see a judge , um , just , like , strike an expert from a case. Um , but I think the the plaintiffs had some really good arguments to make.
S1:
S2: We've made improvements since this lawsuit was filed. Um , actually , one component of the lawsuit has been settled over , um , uh , compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Um , the jail has actually agreed to make changes to its facilities. Um , you know , widened doors , you know , make them make it accommodations for folks in wheelchairs or who might have mobility issues. Um , bring in sign language interpreters for for people who are deaf. So , um , so , yeah , they're saying like , hey , we're we're we're working on improving. They've implemented new screening tools during intake to determine whether someone is on drugs. Um , there are Narcan kiosks , Narcan , the the medication that that can reverse an overdose. An opiate overdose. So there's Narcan. I don't know if kiosks is the right word , but Narcan is readily available throughout the jail. And so you've seen a significant decline in drug related deaths. There's been a significant decline in suicides. Um , so one argument that's been made by the county is like , hey , we're making improvements. Jails are better than they were in 2022. So how can you say , you know , that that that these things that existed when you initially filed your lawsuit are still going on ? Hmm.
S1: Well , you know , this lawsuit has really exposed aspects of jail operations that weren't publicly available before.
S2: Um , but but the , the , the the information that the plaintiffs have uncovered , their experts have uncovered. Like , one thing I didn't know anything about was at the George Bailey jail , which is the county's largest. Um , it's their high security jail. They're in one unit. There's this this metal cage in the day room. Um , the sheriff's department prefers to call it an enclosure. Um , and this unit is almost entirely filled with folks with mental illness. And so they get an hour a day out of their cell , and they spend it in this this cage. Um , and the argument from the sheriff , it's for their own safety. But I talked to a lot of experts who said that there's there are other ways to handle this , um , you know , and putting people who are isolated further into isolation only exacerbates , um , their issues. And then , um , the jail also has , like , a rec yard. But if people want to go out there who have mental illness , they're also put into a cage , you know. And experts also looked at these individual Jewel deaths that , um , we might not know about because the family didn't file a lawsuit or this person doesn't have a family. And so we found a lot of cases where it might look like , based on the autopsy report or based on a review , that the county's law enforcement review board did , that , that there were no policy violations. But then , you know , when you dig deep into the medical records , which aren't part of the the county law Enforcement Review Board investigation , you do see , like you do see , that that mistakes were made that that this person could have gotten better. It's usually , you know , folks with mental illness , they could have gotten better care. So it's really been a window into things that the public might not otherwise have known about.
S1: Um , I also want to talk about someone you heard from Jesse Gonzalez. He was in the same unit as Corey Dean , the sixth person to die in a San Diego jail this year. What did Jesse tell you ? Yeah.
S2: So , um , so Jesse had originally reached out to the lead attorney in this case. Her name is Gaye Grunfeld. Um , and he was in the cell next to to Corey Dean , who died on July 13th , and he and three other men , they ended up providing , uh , sworn declarations about the days leading up to Mr. Dean's death. And I was able to talk to Jesse by the phone. I sent him an email in. Six days later , he received my email. Um , because you could you could reach out through a jail system. And I provided my phone number , and he gave me a call. Um , he's housed in a part of the Vista jail with with other. He has mental health challenges. And the folks in his unit , um , also have a lot of mental health challenges. Um , you know , he tells me he told me about Mr. Dean's death , about how he was banging on the walls , crying out for help. Um , he'd flooded his cell with dirty toilet water. He'd smeared feces all over himself. And he was. He was ignored. Um. Jesse said , you know , Jesse and other men were saying like , please , please get this guy some help. He's just constantly , you know , yelling. And , um , slowly over time , those cries grew quieter and quieter. And , um , he he was found dead in his cell. You know , Jesse told me that that , um , the noise and the stench and this unit are overwhelming. He said , here's a quote. All day , all night , someone is yelling , yelling. There's a smell of feces and urine. Um , and it's difficult. And he. He spoke up even though he feared retaliation from deputies. Um , he said , you know , what's right is right , and what's wrong is wrong. And at least I can do one right thing in my life and seek justice for Cory. Um , he felt that was very important. Um hmm. Well.
S1: Well. And run it back for me again.
S2: Um , yeah , it's it's , you know , and I asked Jesse about that , and he thinks , you know , the conditions in Mr. Denzel was so were so , um , unsanitary. It could have been an infection of some sort. Um , it's. Yeah , there's. The medical examiner is investigating. Um , but , yeah , no preliminary cause of death has been released. And Mr. Dean was 42 years old , so , um , you know , not not elderly. Um , um , no , no evidence of of drug overdose. Um , so we're just going to have to wait , you know , wait and see. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S2: And it was an ACLU lawsuit that required jails to reduce their their population by a certain amount. And still to this day , the jails have to report their average daily population to make sure they're not exceeding it. And so they actually the lawsuit was successful in dealing with overcrowding. Um , but but throughout the state. Um , you do see these lawsuits filed ? Not always class action , but but kind of large scale , um , addressing , you know , trying to help everyone in the facility and it'll they'll cover the use of , of solitary confinement or overpopulation or , um , how folks with disabilities are being treated. And the goal is to , again , not getting monetary compensation , but to to force change and to put , like a monitor , a person in place who will make sure that any reforms that are made stick.
S1: So what happens next with these motions is really in the judge's hand.
S2: Is really in the judge's hand. Yeah. It's , um , it's hard to say. Um , it was really impressive how this this case is , is overwhelming for me. There have been so many documents filed and briefs and motions and expert testimony and declarations and such. Um , the judge , uh , Judge Battaglia , um , seemed really like he had done all his homework , and he knew this case really well. So I'm thinking because of that , he might issue a ruling sooner rather than later , but it. Yeah , it could be. It could be weeks. It could be fall before. Um , we know um , but once he issues his ruling , then , um , they'll start determining like the dates , trial dates , when those will start. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , your reporting is always so impactful. An eye opening. Many thanks to you. I've been speaking with Kelly Davis. She's a reporter on the watchdog team at the San Diego Union Tribune. Kelly. Thanks again.
S2: Thank you so much.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
