S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board , otherwise known as curb , found that two sheriff's deputies engaged in criminal conduct in connection with the death of an inmate. Will tell you the latest. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. It happened at the Vista Detention facility in the last hours of Bobby Ray Patton's life. He was found audibly moaning and pleading for help inside his cell. He was struggling to breathe and complained of chest pain. Well , just a few hours later , on December 28th , 2024 , he died. Late last week , the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board or club found that two sheriff's deputies engaged in criminal conduct in connection with the death of Patton. They concluded the two deputies failed to respond to signs that Patton needed medical attention. Joining me with more details is Kelly Davis. She's an investigative reporter with the San Diego Union Tribune. Kelly , welcome back to the show.
S2: Hi , Jade. Thanks for having me on.
S1: Well , it's always a pleasure to have you on before we get to this ruling. Tell us more about Bobby Ray Patton. Who was he ? Yeah.
S2: Mr. Patton , he was 46 years old. In what we what we know , just from what little information is available. He was he was arrested in late November 2024 on a probation violation , uh , booked into the Vista jail. And during the intake process , he said he had a history of fentanyl use , but he he was enrolled in a methadone program to to treat him. Um , and , uh , he was in jail for about a month. Uh , medical records show that that around December 22nd , he developed flu like symptoms. Um , there's even a there's a mention in his autopsy report that he. He had they the jail officials knew he'd been exposed to the flu. And those symptoms became progressively worse. He he developed pneumonia. Um , and on December 27th , he was taken to the jail's medical clinic twice , including once. Um , around , you know , close to 10 p.m.. So later , later in the evening , he was reporting chest pain and shortness of breath. But each time he was returned to his cell. So the next morning , around 6 a.m. , um , a deputy , uh , doing routine safety checks , um , wearing a body worn camera , um , captured that that the camera footage captured Payton saying , Mr. Pattinson , I can't breathe. I'm having chest pain so bad. Um , we could tell from the footage. Um , this is all narrated in the , uh , Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board summary of the case. The deputy looked into the cell , then turned away , continued towards the exit. you could hear Mr. Patton saying , please help me. But the deputy exited the module , turned off the camera. Then , less than an hour later , another deputy doing a safety check stopped in front of Mr. Paton's cell. Um , briefly looked in his cell and you could hear you , Mr. Paton , moaning. Um , the deputy continued on with without intervening. Another hour passes. Another deputy sees him laying on the the his cell's lower bunk , groaning. That deputy finishes the safety check and about 15 minutes later returns with a nurse. Um , and some other medical staff. They tried to provide aid , but Mr. Paton stopped breathing and was pronounced dead at around 8:45 a.m.. Mm.
S1: Mm. Talk more about these safety checks. What do they typically involve and why are they required ? Yeah.
S2: So this is a state regulation that requires deputies in jail to conduct safety checks every at least every hour to look for exactly the things that Mr. Patton was exhibiting , like signs of distress. They're required to conduct direct visual observation of each each person in custody. And more frequent checks are actually required and recommended for higher risk folks. So so people who are coming off of drugs , people who are suicidal , people in medical distress , that's what the regulations say. Um , and one of the deputies who the one who walked away when Mr. Patton said , please help me. That deputy deputy had actually escorted him to the medical clinic the day before. So he knew Mr. Patton was was very sick. Um , and that should have triggered , at the very least , close or modern monitoring. If not , you know , stopping to check or alerting medical staff. You know , this guy isn't doing well.
S1: So Clark found the deputies were criminally negligent in this case. How is criminal negligence defined here ? Yes.
S2: So it's , uh , for the standard is , uh , slightly lower than , uh , if you were in if you're the Da , if you're in criminal court. So , Clark , findings are based on a preponderance of the evidence. So the preponderance of the evidence showed that the deputies , um , ignored Mr. Paton's , um , pleas for help , and that's a that's a violation of state law. Um , the Da will require , uh , findings beyond a reasonable doubt. So a slightly higher , higher standard for criminal criminal conduct.
S1: And in the story you write that this ruling is unprecedented for Clark. Talk more about the significance of these findings.
S2: Um. they've made , um , what are known as sustained findings in many cases , meaning , um , I shouldn't say many. That sounds like they do it often. Um , it's it's it's not often that they make a sustained finding. Um , you know , often it's not enough evidence or , um , you know , the deputy was following policy and procedure. Um , but when they make a sustained finding , they it's the deputy violated policy , a procedure. Um , this is the first time they've made a sustained finding of criminal conduct that I'm aware of. And we , um , my a colleague and I confirmed that with , uh , executive officer.
S1: So what will the district attorney look at in determining if the the office would pursue criminal charges here ? Yeah.
S2: So the so clear forwarded their findings to the DA's office. Um , so we'll just have to wait to see what happens. Um , the DA's office , uh , won't comment on specific cases , but , uh , state law also requires that the sheriff's office send class findings to the state's Commission on Police Officers Standards and Training. Um rules require that law enforcement agencies who have been found , who's whose officers have been found to have committed serious misconduct by oversight. Those oversight findings need to be sent to the state. And , um , that commission has the authority to suspend or revoke and officers certification. Hmm.
S1: Hmm.
S2: Um , we we don't know. Um. Hopefully we'll we'll find out at some point , because you would , you would , you would hope to see in a case like this that that something was done. Um , you know , discipline , uh , strong , you know , that , that they revise policy and procedure to , to more strongly say , you know , if you if you see someone , um , in this sort of state , you know , you must do XYZ. So , um , we don't know at this at this time. What what the sheriff's office did in response to this case. But all we know is that , um , they did not agree that , uh , criminal conduct occurred.
S1:
S2: And this is this is really rare. I've been covering jail deaths for , you know , more than a decade now. Um , Jeff McDonald , who works with me on these stories , we We've we've tried to find the family , um , through , you know , our investigative reporting tools. And , um , we don't think they live in California. We've , uh , Jeffs left messages at some numbers. Um , been told you have the wrong number or , um , hasn't heard back , so. So we're not sure what they know , but we we they would have we think they would have received a copy of the autopsy report. Um , but that , um , that report does not mention anything about the missed , um , safety checks , doesn't mention anything about the body cam footage. That information was not provided to the medical examiner's office. We've confirmed that , um , and the medical examiner's office did not request it. Um , deputies wearing body worn cameras in jails is is kind of a new thing happened in the last 2 or 3 years. Um , so I don't we don't know if this was that the medical examiner simply didn't know to ask for it , and the sheriff's office didn't tell them it was available , but , um , hopefully now , uh , there there will be , you know , in future incidents like this. The medical examiner will ask for that footage. Mhm.
S1: Mhm. You know , while you , you say that club's ruling was really unprecedented. Um , you also write that the findings in class report are not at all uncommon. How else are you seeing this type of criminal negligence play out ? Never.
S2: So never seen criminal negligence before. But definitely. Um , last month I wrote about a jail death case where club , uh , made several sustained findings. Um , where they , they find that that , um , you know , there was a policy violation. Um , you know , there was misconduct that occurred , and , and that's just , you know , um , the sheriff's office can can do with it what it wants can do with that information , what it wants. There's no requirement that , if Claire makes a finding that a deputy violated policy , there's no requirement by the sheriff's office to issue discipline or or , you know , change their , their policy. Um , that's completely up to the sheriff to decide. Um , so these are just kind of , um , you know , recommendations , advisory. Um , I , you know , you definitely would hope that Claire making these findings , um , you know , this is something that should be taken very seriously. And , uh , I think we're going to circle back with the sheriff's office and , um , you know , and try to to get more comment from them , find out a little bit more about what this what this means. Um , you know , all we were told is , you know , no finding of criminal conduct by homicide investigators , but but I'd like to push them a little bit more to see if any action was taken.
S1: Well , that's something we'll definitely follow.
S2:
S1: Yeah , yeah. I've been speaking with Kelly Davis , investigative reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune. Kelly , as always , thank you so much.
S2: Thank you.
S1: That's our show for today.
S3: I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
