CDCR Star

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-05-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Culinary arts program teaches CMC inmates skills for post-prison life

Molly Casey, KSBY

Some inmates at the California Men's Colony graduated Monday from a culinary arts program run in partnership with Cuesta College.

The first-of-its-kind program taught the men the skills and techniques of professional chefs, like handling professional equipment, kitchen sanitation, and how to prepare complex dishes for large groups.

The men regularly serve over 200 meals in their units and are also trained to cook and serve meals from a mobile kitchen should they be deployed to help in fighting a wildfire.

"It's a really good program. If you don't know a lot about cooking, it will help you learn a lot about cooking. It's good skills for when you do get out and you can get a job as a chef. We are getting a certificate and everything else so it's a really good perk," said program graduate William Woolery.

Monday morning, the graduates hosted a special luncheon as part of the ceremony to show off their new skills. The men earned industry-recognized culinary certifications that will help them find employment after they're released from prison.

Inmate from Tehama County is suspect in prison homicide

Red Bluff Daily News

SUSANVILLE >> High Desert State Prison officials are investigating the death of inmate Rodney J. Delong Jr., 28, as a homicide and the suspect is an inmate received from Tehama County in 1995.

Custody staff found Delong unresponsive at 12:30 p.m. Sunday in his short-term restrictive housing unit cell, according to a press release issued Monday by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. They began lifesaving efforts but he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 1:02 p.m.

Delong was admitted from Placer County in 2014 and was serving a nine-year sentence for first-degree burglary, assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance.

Investigators identified Delong’s cellmate, Robert J. Stockton, 40, as the suspect. Stockton was admitted from Tehama County on Oct. 18, 1995, to serve life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder and use of a firearm.

The Office of Inspector General was notified.

High Desert in Lassen County houses 3,466 minimum-, medium- and maximum-custody inmates.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

California governor denies parole for 1979 murder accomplice

Don Thompson, Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday denied parole for one of four men convicted in the 1979 killing of a Modesto couple.

A parole panel recommended in December that Ronald Ray Anderson, 57, be freed nearly four decades after the slayings of Phillip and Kathryn Ranzo.

Anderson cannot be safely released back into society, Brown said.

Anderson stayed outside while three friends hog-tied the Ranzos, beat and fatally stabbed them. Marty Spears raped Kathryn Ranzo while the other two ransacked the house and stole $2,000, a shotgun and two diamond pendants.

Brown called the crime "merciless."

"While it is clear from the record that Mr. Anderson tried to dissuade his crime partners from robbing the Ranzos, and that he did not know the two victims were being killed, it is also clear that he voluntarily joined Mr. Spears to commit this robbery despite knowing of the group's propensity to hogtie and beat their victims," Brown wrote.

Anderson, who was 18 at the time, testified at his parole hearing that he joined his friends at the last minute, one day after he and several others tied up, beat and robbed a different homeowner.

Anderson said he smoked marijuana and acted as a lookout during what he called the "horrendous, heinous, atrocious" murders of the Ranzos.

He said Spears gave him $96.

The attack was "nothing more than a thrill killing — a sadistic act of extreme evil," state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani said in a letter asking Brown to block Anderson's parole.

Because of his age, parole officials were required by state law to heavily consider his immaturity at the time, and decided he participated in part because of peer pressure.

Sandy Ranzo said her brother "was being a Good Samaritan" when he tried to help the young men who came to his door pretending to have run out of gas. He was a pharmacist and his wife owned a hair salon.

"They were just an up and coming young couple, 29 just about to turn 30, with a 10-year-old son," she said a news conference in April with Galgiani, Stanislaus County District Attorney Birgit Fladager, and the couple's son, Mark Ranzo.

Anderson is in California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi and was previously denied parole nine times from his 25 years-to-life sentence.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-05-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

CDCR NEWS

California prison system moves to quash media’s suit on executions

Tribune Content Agency

California prison officials have asked a federal judge to dismiss most of a lawsuit by news organizations seeking more public access to state executions, which could resume soon for the first time since 2006.

The suit, filed April 11, challenges the prison system’s decision to block witnesses’ and reporters’ views of a room at San Quentin where staff members prepare the lethal drugs and inject them into tubes that flow into the body of the condemned inmate. The suit also contests the prison’s plan to pull the curtain if the execution fails, preventing the witnesses from seeing medical staff attempt to revive the inmate.

In papers filed Thursday in federal court, lawyers for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation argued that members of the public have no legal right to view the preparations for an execution or medical actions after a failed execution.

San Quentin had previously kept its death chamber curtains closed while guards strapped the inmate down and inserted injection tubes, until a federal appeals court ruled in 2002 that the closure violated the public’s constitutional right of access to government proceedings. But the state’s lawyers said the ruling covered only the execution itself and not the preparations or the aftermath.

The media lawsuit fails to show that “historically, either in California or in other states … the public has been able to view the preparation of chemicals or the provision of medical treatment of a condemned inmate when an execution is discontinued,” the prison system’s lawyers said.

They said access to an execution does not include drug preparations that start three hours earlier, or medical treatment after a failed execution.

“Efforts to treat an inmate are not efforts to execute him,” the state’s lawyers said. “The public has no right to observe inmate medical treatment in any context,” and drawing the curtain at that point would protect the inmate’s “privacy and dignity.”

In their lawsuit, the news organizations argued that closing the curtain prevents the public from seeing part of the execution process – the prison’s response when things fail to work as planned. They said sealing the preparation room prevents witnesses from seeing which of two available drugs is selected, how it is prepared and administered, how many doses are used, and “how effectively and professionally the execution staff performed.”

The suit was filed by the Los Angeles Times, public broadcaster KQED and the San Francisco Progressive Media Center, publisher of the online journal 48hills.org. Ajay Krishnan, a lawyer for the Progressive Media Center, said the state is not seeking to dismiss one important part of the lawsuit – a public view of the drug-preparation room once prison staff starts to inject the lethal drugs.

At that point, “they have to find out whether it’s working, whether the inmate is unconscious,” and witnesses should be able to observe them,” Krishnan said.

But in trying to shield drug preparation and medical intervention from public view, he said, the state is “unilaterally defining when an execution begins and ends,” a task that belongs to the courts. He also said it was “a little disingenuous,” and legally unsupportable, for the state to invoke the “privacy and dignity” rights of an inmate it is trying to kill.

California’s last execution was in January 2006. A federal judge ruled later that year that flaws in staff training and lethal injection procedures had created an undue risk of a botched and agonizing execution. The state has revised its rules several times but has not yet won court approval.

A voter-approved initiative in 2016, however, prohibited further state regulatory review of new single-drug execution procedures, and the U.S. Supreme Court has sharply restricted inmates’ ability to challenge potentially painful execution methods. At least 21 condemned prisoners in California have exhausted all appeals of their death sentences, and unless Gov. Jerry Brown or his successor intervenes by commuting the sentences, executions are likely to resume within a year.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Salinas Valley State Prison inmates arrested after escape

KSBW

Soledad, CALIF. — Less than 24 hours after being reported missing, authorities apprehended two inmates who escaped from Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad.

Richard Almanza, 23, and Jonathan Damiano, 35, were reported missing at 8:55 a.m Sunday. They were seen running through a nearby vineyard.

At approximately 2:45 a.m. Monday, state Fugitive Apprehension Team officers found Almanza and Damiano at a hotel in the Del Paso Heights area in Sacramento.

Salinas Valley State Prison spokesperson Lt. Mazariegos did not say how the two inmates made it all the way to Sacramento.

They were taken into custody without incident, and are being transported back to prison.

Almanza is serving a four year, 8 month sentence for committing a burglary in Santa Barbara. Damiano is serving a three year sentence for a burglary he committed in Sacramento.

The duo could face new charges because of the escape.

SVSP houses approximately 3,500 minimum and maximum security male inmates.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

San Quentin Inmates Join The Gun Control Debate

KPIX

SAN QUENTIN (CBS SF) — Behind the historic walls of San Quentin are scores of men who wrote their life stories by committing acts of violence. Most of them used a gun.

While the debate over gun control rages outside the walls of the famed prison, inside those convicted of violent acts including murder freely voiced their opinion on how easy it was to get a weapon.

Rahsaan Thomas was convicted of second-degree murder at the age of 29. He got his gun illegally on the streets.

“(I got it from the) back of a trunk,” he said. “600 bucks. It’s easy, easy as having the money.”

Micheal Webb was 17 when he was convicted of murder. He has been behind bars for 47 years.

“I got mine illegally,” he said. “Hanging out on the street corner so I was able to get it.”

Branden Riddle-Terrell, who has been convicted of manslaughter, echoed the responses of others.

“If you wanna get a gun in America, you’re gonna get a gun in America,” he said.

In the summer of 1977, Lonnie Morris used an unregistered gun to kill a San Pablo police officer.

“No, it wasn’t registered, or background checked,” Morris said. “I just bought it from somebody on the streets.”

Morris was convicted of first degree murder and has been in prison for 40 years. He says guns make it to the streets through a variety of ways.

“They (criminals) get’em off the streets, but they get’em from people who have went to gun shows, or gun stores, who bought guns,” he said. “Or they burglarized them from houses of people who bought the guns.”

Markee Carter, a former member of the Long Beach Insane Crips, is serving time for three attempted murders in 1994. He says it’s easy to get a gun on the streets.

“It’s too easy to buy a gun,” he said. “I can get out right now, and I ain’t never been nowhere up this way, but if I have $500 right now I can get me a gun, just like that. Easy? Yeah, that’s crazy!”

But Carter says in some neighborhoods you need guns to protect yourself.

“You gotta be strapped because you don’t never know who gonna rob you or kill you,” he said.

It’s a lifestyle all to familiar to Hieu Nguyen — a former San Jose gang member who is serving time for second-degree murder.

“I carried a gun all the time,” he said. “I used to have a Mac-10, I used to have a .44, a 380, a 9 millimeter.”

Hieu believes banning guns will only heat up the black market for weapons.

“Those gangs, those criminal people, that want to do criminal thing they will go to the black market and purchase the gun,” he said.

Branden Riddle-Terrell was chased across three counties in 2012 after he had stabbed a man to death near Auburn. He says he could have easily gotten a gun if he wanted one.

“If I wanted a gun, I knew people who sold guns, who stole guns,” he said. “The gang lifestyle, the street lifestyle, there’s guns all over the place available and none of them are registered. They’re all stolen.”

When Riddle-Terrell leaves San Quentin, he will not be able to legally owned a gun. He says that may be a problem.

“I get out there and say someone wants to retaliate, (like you guys) I’m getting out of prison, I’m gonna be in my home, you know 10, 11 O’Clock at night what if someone comes from my past come tries to kick down my door and I can’t defend myself?” he said.

Patrick Fletcher, who killed a man in Oakland in 1984, believes in gun control particularly when it comes to assault weapons.

“AR-15s, they don’t have no place in our society,” he said. “That’s too much firepower just to be on the streets.”

Gary Robeson, convicted of the first degree murder of a Richmond man, also believes some controls are needed.

“No one gets up in the morning and says I’m gonna go kill someone but that’s actually what happens when you have a gun,” he said. “That’s what you have a gun for.”

“If you come in and say — ‘Hey I wanna buy an AR-15, you should be red flagged,” he added. “Why do you need to buy an AR-15?”

But Thomas disagrees.

“If a guy has a 9mm instead of an AR-15, he maybe kill 7 people instead of 15, but it doesn’t stop it,” he said.

He also is a firm believer in street justice.

“If somebody’s trying to take something from you, you shoot them,” he said. “If somebody tries to harm your family, you don’t go to police, you go to court in the street.”

Morris says he believes there has to balance that leaves room for gun ownership.

“You have a right to bear arms and then its given to us as a society to determine what amount of arms are and I think in this society, and this day and time, young people are saying there shouldn’t be so many arms,” he said.

Fletcher would go further than that.

“Bottom line, guns kill, y’know. And best thing you can do is keep ’em out your hands,” he said.

State inmate claims abuse, cover-up

Elizabeth Alt, Northern California Record

SAN FRANCISCO – An inmate has filed a complaint against the Mule Creek State Prison in Ione for violations of the Americans with Disabilities and Civil Rights acts, alleging he was denied medical treatment and claims that officers “covered up” their abuses.

Rodney Allen Williams filed the lawsuit April 18 against multiple officials at Mule Creek, including several sergeants, nursing and medical staff, correction officers, the associate warden and warden and other officials. Williams is currently an inmate at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo and he seeks damages for pain and suffering, violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and injunctive relief.

Williams received notice that his mother had passed away in November of 2016 and alleges that from December to March 2016 he was denied multiple requests to see a psychiatrist.

The complaint alleges Williams expressed suicidal ideation and depression and was put in a suicide watch holding cell. Williams alleges that he complained to officials that the cramped quarters of the Contraband Surveillance Watch cell were causing him pain, but was told they could not help. Williams also claims his knee brace and other medical items were taken after informing officers multiple times that he was part of the ADA.

William claims officers told him an x-ray he was forced to have showed drugs in his body and conducted a body cavity search. Williams states he explained he had no drugs and had not had an incident in 20 years, but was told by an officer that they could do “whatever they want." During his time between the CSW cell, x-ray, and treatment areas, Williams claims the nurse told officers he was “faking” his injuries," and that he was intimidated by police dogs and “verbally attacked” by officers when he told them he did not have any drugs or information.

William states when he received his medical records in 2017, he discovered the x-ray did not show any contraband, nor was there an order for the cavity search. Williams further claims there is no record of his multiple requests for medical and mental health appointments.

Williams claims the officers illegally covered up their abuses and tried to set him up, and alleges he was denied his legal rights as an inmate by being put into solitary confinement without an administrative hearing and denied the ability to speak to the warden, as well as doctors. Williams claims after his transfer to the Men’s Colony in the Mental Health Crisis Unit in 2017 he finally got “comprehensive mental health treatment."

Williams seeks punitive and actual damages, and injunctive relief. Williams calls the Contraband Surveillance Watch process “inhumane” and wants a complete revamp to include help for those with mental health and other issues.

United States District Court Northern District of California, case number 3:18-cv-02431-EDL

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Barstow parole check yields military fuses, illegal firearms

Six placed behind bars for various probation, parole violations

Victorville Daily Press

BARSTOW — Police placed a 34-year-old convicted felon behind bars after a parole check yielded almost 20 inert military fuses at his home Wednesday.

Andrew Crin Ramirez was arrested after Barstow Police Department officials “found him hiding in the attic” as they searched his apartment in the 2000 block of Borrego Drive early Wednesday morning.

Officers found twelve rounds of .25-caliber ammunition in the home, along with “several military devices suspected of being ordnance,” inside, police said.

The apartment was evacuated while military personnel from the nearby National Training Center at Fort Irwin arrived to inspect the items.

“Military personnel ... inspected the suspected military ordnance and identified the items as being approximately 17 inert military ordnance fuses and collected them for disposal,” police said.

The search was part of a probation and parole compliance operation, comprised of 16 officers from various local agencies, including the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, County Probation Department and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

“This is an ongoing effort to ensure that those individuals on probation, post-release community supervision or parole comply with the terms and conditions of their supervised release,” police said.

The teams ultimately arrested six people for various probation or parole violations, including Ramirez, currently on probation for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Another man, 37-year-old Barstow resident Henry Ford, was also arrested for illegally possessing a firearm after officers found a loaded firearm at his home.

Both Ramirez and Ford were arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm. They both remain in custody at the High Desert Detention Center.

DEATH PENALTY

California prison system moves to quash media’s suit on executions

Bob Egelko, SF Gate

The media lawsuit fails to show that “historically, either in California or in other states ... the public has been able to view the preparation of chemicals or the provision of medical treatment of a condemned inmate when an execution is discontinued,” the prison system’s lawyers said.

They said access to an execution does not include drug preparations that start three hours earlier, or medical treatment after a failed execution.

In their lawsuit, the news organizations argued that closing the curtain prevents the public from seeing part of the execution process — the prison’s response when things fail to work as planned. They said sealing the preparation room prevents witnesses from seeing which of two available drugs is selected, how it is prepared and administered, how many doses are used, and “how effectively and professionally the execution staff performed.”

The suit was filed by the Los Angeles Times, public broadcaster KQED and the San Francisco Progressive Media Center, publisher of the online journal 48hills.org. Ajay Krishnan, a lawyer for the Progressive Media Center, said the state is not seeking to dismiss one important part of the lawsuit — a public view of the drug-preparation room once prison staff starts to inject the lethal drugs.

At that point, “they have to find out whether it’s working, whether the inmate is unconscious,” and witnesses should be able to observe them,” Krishnan said.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Solar plant coming to prison land in Chino

Marianne Napoles, Chino Champion

The state plans to build a 1,349-kilowatt solar plant in Chino just 300 feet southwest of the California Institution for Women (CIW), a project that has been unknown to the City of Chino.

The prison is located on Chino-Corona Road, south of Pine Ave., north of Prado Regional Park.

The solar plant is part of the state’s effort to build solar facilities on prison property.

When informed by the Champion about the facility, spokeswoman Monica Gutierrez said the city was not provided with a notice or any information on the project.

Mrs. Gutierrez said she reached out to the women’s prison and was told that the project was being handled by the California Department of General Services, a department not related to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).

The solar project was not brought up by CIW officials during the citizens advisory committee attended by the Champion on April 10 nor did it appear on the agenda.

Dan Possnack, a citizens advisory committee member, said the solar facility came up at a meeting in January 2017.

“The information given to us was very minimal and we were told more news would follow,” Mr. Possnack said.

That was the last he heard of it until now.

When asked why the matter wasn't brought up to the citizens advisory committee at the last meeting, CIW spokesperson Rosie Thomas said the institution had no information regarding the solar project to inform the members.

A CDCR spokesman in Sacramento, contacted several times since April 16, did not respond by presstime.

Document public

The State of California Department of General Services is the lead agency and directed the preparation of an environmental document called an “initial study” which is available at the Chino Branch Library, 13180 Central Ave. and online by visiting http://epdsolutionsinc.com/ceqadocuments.

The public comment period began April 13 and will end Monday, May 14.

Mrs. Gutierrez said the city’s development services director is reviewing the document.

Jennifer Iida, public information officer for the Department of General Services (DGS), said the agency has been working with the corrections department to create solar projects at prison facilities for many years.

“We do not believe there are any objections to the project,” she said. “The projects do not affect the operations of the facility and are on CDCR land that would otherwise be vacant.” She said the facility will help meet Gov. Brown’s executive order to reduce grid-based energy purchases. Ms. Iida said construction could begin in August and would take four months to complete. Factors that could delay it would be the completion of the environmental review process and the state fire marshal’s review of the design plans, she said.

According to the environmental document and related reports, the solar facility would be built on 10 acres of undeveloped land belonging to CIW. It will be constructed outside the secured perimeter of the facility, northeast of Prado Regional Park.

Its primary purpose would be to produce emissions-free renewable energy for the state’s power grid.

Electricity generated by the project will be contracted with department of general services for use at the women’s prison. Excess electricity would be delivered to the power grid via an onsite interconnection with Southern California Edison power lines.

According to Terracon Consultants of Tustin which prepared the geotechnical engineering report, the plant will include 64 rows of ground-mounted solar arrays providing 4,028 solar panels.

The array field will be surrounded by an 8-foot-high chain link fence with a 20-foot wide access gate and separated into two areas by a 15-foot wide compacted native earth or aggregate access road.

The DGS, as described by Ms. Iida, serves as business manager for the state. The department manages construction projects, procures vital equipment, and oversees the statewide vehicle fleet, she said. It is an entirely separate department from CDCR, she added.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-05-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Get on the Bus helps families visit loved ones incarcerated at CMCFast fact

Karen Garcia, New Times SLO

Around 1:30 a.m., children and a parent or guardian get on a school bus in places like Oakland or San Diego to travel to the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo. Tired-eyed kids wear purple shirts inscribed with "On the Bus" and an outline of the front of a bus.

Although most can hardly keep their eyes open, they also can barely contain their excitement. These kids are on their way to visit their incarcerated family members.

A few times a year, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Center partners with the Center for Restorative Justice Works to make Get on the Bus events happen. May 19 is one of the two dates in 2018 when families will board buses and head to CMC to visit their families.

Katie Grainger has been a volunteer with the program since 2009. "The beautiful thing about Get on the Bus is it provides access for many family members who don't have the resources, time, or ability to visit their family," she said.

What can often prevent a family from visiting their incarcerated loved one are distance, cost of living, paperwork required for clearance, and the lack of adult accompaniment for children. Mainly, she said, the program provides a visiting experience that is unlike any other.

On these visits, families can visit an incarcerated mother or father if the inmate has been on good behavior. Grainger said that these visits are definitely a privilege, as inmates must undergo a thorough screening check to make sure they have no write-ups or behavioral issues.

"For kids to be able to be held and loved all visit long and to be able to participate in activities with their family and run around, I mean you don't get these during a normal visit," she said.

During the four- to six-hour visit, the prison is closed down to visitors outside of the Get on the Bus program. Grainger said that there are many fun activities such as face painting and card games. Children are also given a teddy bear and a package with envelopes and stamps to keep in contact with their parent. But most importantly, it's a time that children can visit with their incarcerated parent and are free to hug and play, in a free and safe setting.

"I've had to visit a loved one in prison before, and it could be a very intimidating process. People sometimes treat you like you're a criminal even though you have to go through a huge background check just to go inside," Grainger said.

She said many families say that they forgot they were at a prison during the visit, and that's a huge part of the program.

Each year, the Center for Restorative Justice Works reaches across California to raise funds so the program can be free to participating families.

Get on the Bus provides not only a visiting service for inmates and their families, but serves as a reminder that neither party is forgotten. Grainger said it's important for the children to know that they are still loved.

"Similarly with the person that's incarcerated, it's important for them to know that they're not forgotten, that they're missed, and they're still loved. A mother is still a mother to her child, and a father is still a father," she said.

To learn more about the Get On the Bus program visit cdcr.ca.gov.

DEATH PENALTY

California could restart executions. These counties are most likely to condemn murderers.

Phillip Reese, The Sacramento Bee

California’s death row has ballooned to nearly 750 inmates, and the state hasn’t executed a murderer in more than 12 years.

That could change soon.

California voters in 2016 approved Proposition 66, which attempted to remove regulatory hurdles to executions. The California Supreme Court upheld much of the proposition last year. A judge in April lifted an order blocking the state from carrying out death sentences by lethal injection, though some legal challenges to resuming executions remain.

The state has executed 13 men since 1978. Condemned men are held at San Quentin State Prison, and the 23 women on death row are held at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla.

Since the death penalty was reinstated in the late 1970s, California counties have condemned murderers to death at widely divergent rates.

The Bee compared the number of murderers on death row to the number of homicides in each county between 1985 and 2016. About 90 percent of the current inmates on death row were sentenced during those years.

Among the 35 largest counties in the state, Kings, Riverside, Shasta and El Dorado counties have the highest rates of death row inmates per 1,000 homicides. The lowest rates were in Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Merced and Solano counties.

Counties with low homicide rates tended to have a high rate of murderers on death row. Put another way, relatively safe communities tended to send a high rate of murderers to death row.

The death penalty is most often supported by political conservatives. Counties with a high proportion of Republican voters tended to send a high rate of murderers to death row.

The analysis did not find a significant correlation between population size and rates of inmates sent to death row — large and small counties condemned inmates at similar rates. Nor was there a significant correlation between poverty and rates of inmates sent to death row — counties with many or few poor residents sent murderers to death row at similar rates.

The Bee’s analysis has limitations. It is based on reported homicides, not homicide convictions. It is also based on the state’s current death row population, and does not include the 127 inmates who died (mostly due to suicide or natural causes) following their convictions.

PROPOSITION 57

Victim’s family dismayed as San Jose ‘thrill kill’ case revisited

Randy Thompson will get a transfer hearing to evaluate whether his case, still on appeal, should be moved to juvenile court under Prop. 57

Robert Calonga, Mercury News

SAN JOSE — One of the killers in the grisly murder of a 15-year-old-old Santa Teresa High School sophomore nearly a decade ago could be released from prison earlier than expected if a judge decides he qualifies under a relatively new criminal-justice reform law.

Randy Thompson, now 24, was sent to Santa Clara County jail after a detention hearing Thursday where the family of Michael Russell — whose “thrill kill” death shocked the community — voiced their dismay at the prospect of the prisoner’s early release.

A judge is set to evaluate whether Thompson’s case should have been filed in juvenile court instead of adult court back in 2009 when he was first charged.

Until recently, Thompson had been serving a 26-year prison sentence at San Quentin State Prison in the killing of Russell, who was sadistically stabbed to death by Thompson and Jae Williams, who received a similar sentence and is imprisoned at California State Prison, Solano.

Thompson’s attorneys with the county Alternate Defender’s Office requested a transfer hearing in the wake of a state Supreme Court decision in February that determined that Proposition 57, a criminal-justice reform law California voters approved in November 2016, applied retroactively to cases not finalized.

At issue is a component of the law which gives judges the sole discretion to decide whether a juvenile offender charged with a serious violent crime should be tried as an adult. Prior to the law’s passage, prosecutors could make that decision like they did in Thompson’s case.

Until the state Supreme Court’s February ruling, it had been unclear whether Proposition 57 applied to previous cases. Since Thompson’s case is still on appeal, he is eligible to a new hearing on whether his case should have been been filed in juvenile court under the new law.

So in a show of force, Russell’s family appeared in juvenile court Thursday because they fear if he gets his case transferred, he could be swiftly released, since juvenile court jurisdiction ends when an offender turns 23.

“The thought of him getting out is really scary,” Cathy Russell, Michael’s aunt, told ABC7. “Because for society, I wouldn’t want him living next-door to me. I mean he’s not a safe person. He can’t exist in society. He’s an animal.”

No date has been set for Thompson’s transfer hearing. A status hearing has been set for for June 5.

Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Powell, who prosecuted Thompson twice — his first trial ended in mistrial — said her office aims to ensure Thompson serves the prison time he was issued.

“Our position is he belongs in adult court and we will continue working toward that end,” she said.

The attorneys with the Alternate Defender’s Office, which is shepherding Thompson’s hearing request, could not be reached for comment Thursday. But Richard Pointer, Thompson’s defense attorney at trial, said his former client should have been given a hearing to assess his fitness for adult court.

“The opportunity to present that from a strategic standpoint was not available to us,” Pointer said. “Had it been, the psychologist we had retained would have come to the same conclusion we did, that he certainly lacked the level of sophistication and judgment one would find in an adult criminal.”

Pointer asserted that if the criminal-justice system had considered Thompson’s age and maturity when he was prosecuted, the then-teen could have been directed toward rehabilitative and educational avenues to salvage his young life.

As proof of that capacity to be rehabilitated, Pointer referred to Thompson’s time in prison so far.

“From what I hear he’s been an exemplary inmate while in custody, focused on education, and ultimately if he was committed to juvenile incarceration, he would come away from that with some positive characteristics,” he said.

But Pointer was also pragmatic, and noted that the “egregious” nature of the crime Thompson committed could very well preclude him from getting his case successfully transferred. He also voiced sympathy to Russell’s family.

“Understandably, the family continues to grieve, but this is looking at the big picture,” he said. “But I wouldn’t expect it from them.”

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Authorities arrest 45, seize contraband in sweeps

Ventura County Star

During April, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation conducted several directed-enforcement operations targeting people who were under supervised release.

The people targeted included those on high-risk parole and post-release community supervision and serious habitual offenders who were on probation, authorities said.

The sweeps resulted in 45 arrests, with more than half for felony-related crimes, authorities said.

Items seized included more than 9 pounds of marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin, illegal pharmaceutical pills, a firearm, thousands of rounds of ammunition, a stolen vehicle, identity theft/fraud victim paperwork and large sums of money believed to be derived from narcotic sales, according to authorities.

46 Arrests in one day in Clovis multi-agency sting

Patrick Nelson, Your Central Valley

Clovis, California - A one-day multi-agency operation occurred May 2, 2018 in Clovis involving thirteen law enforcement agencies. Approximately 75 Officers worked together to complete probation and parole searches, traffic stops, and other proactive work throughout Clovis and the surrounding area. Arrests were made for a variety of felonies and misdemeanors such as probation/parole violations, narcotic sales/transportation, firearms possession, and traffic offenses. Gang members were also contacted during the operation.

The Clovis Police Department would like to thank the following agencies for their support and assistance with the operation: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, California State Parole, Department of Homeland Security and Investigations, Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, Fresno County Probation Department, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, Fresno Police Department, Kerman Police Department, Kingsburg Police Department, Reedley Police Department, Selma Police Department, and the United States Marshal Service.

Below are statistics from operation:

Total Arrests: 46

Felony Arrests: 27

Misdemeanor Arrests: 19

Total Probation/Parole Contacts: 92

Parole Contacts: 6

Probation Contacts: 22

Probation/Parole Searches Completed: 64

Proactive Vehicle Stops: 71

Proactive Pedestrian Contacts: 51

Firearms Seized: 3

Citations: 9

Vehicles Towed: 19

Narcotics Seized: Methamphetamine, Cocaine, and a large quantity of psilocybin mushrooms.

Senate Approves Lawmaker’s Bill to Stop Inmates from Bothering Victims

My News LA

A Riverside County lawmaker’s bill seeking to authorize correctional officers to inspect prisoners’ outgoing mail — and stop it from leaving a facility — to ensure that correspondence does not reach victims in violation of a protective order was unanimously approved Thursday by the state Senate.

The 38-0 vote in favor of Senate Bill 1146 advances the proposal to the Assembly for consideration.

Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Palm Desert, said SB 1146 is intended to provide an “additional level of protection to those victims who have already suffered enough” and should not have to endure harassment by inmates.

Under existing law, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation staff are permitted to open and vet most incoming and outgoing correspondence to ensure inmates are not planning an escape, attempting to foment violence or receiving contraband.

However, according to a non-partisan Senate analysis of Stone’s proposal, there is no clearly defined provision authorizing corrections officials to intercept and hold mail when it may violate a criminal protective order or restraining order.

Victims who are under protective orders can notify corrections officials that they have received mail from a convict or jail detainee and request to have the contact halted. But state law doesn’t specifically recognize the authority of an officer to do so at his or her own discretion, according to the analysis.

If Stone’s bill becomes law, inmates convicted of restraining order or protective order violations via mail could be charged with a misdemeanor offense and fined up to $5,000.

The Riverside Sheriffs’ Association, a union representing deputies, District Attorney’s Office investigators and probation agents, is actively supporting the legislation.

State Senator Scott Wilk’s Bill Aimed At Reducing Sex Offender Risk Passes Senate

A bill aimed at reducing the risk from paroled convicted sex offenders, introduced by State Senator Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, unanimously passed the California Senate Thursday.

Devon Miller, Hometown Station

Senate Bill 1199 would require a family or community connection before a sex offender can be paroled into a community, unless that placement would violate any other law or pose a risk to the victims, according to the text of the bill.

“We cannot let the few remaining rural and affordable areas of California become the state’s dumping ground for California’s sex offenders,” said Wilk. “It is dangerous for the communities and puts a strain on the availability of the services and supervision needed for the parolee to successfully rehabilitate.”

Wilk noted lower-income communities such as the Victor and Antelope Valleys, are becoming “collateral damage” when convicted sex offenders are released from prison to spending time on parole.

SB 1199 would expand current protections against the ‘dumping’ of sexually violent predators into random communities to include taking family and community ties into consideration when determining where inmates convicted of registerable sex offenses are placed.

This would apply except in cases where such placement would violate any other law or pose a risk to the victim, according to the author.

“Our communities will be safest if sex offenders never commit another crime. That being the goal, the offenders’ support systems should also be considered when determining placement,” said Wilk.

Senate Bill 1199 will now be sent to the Assembly where it will be considered in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

“The Assembly will now have an opportunity to weigh-in on ensuring the placement and rehabilitation of these sexual predators does not take place solely in California’s more affordable and remote communities.”

Pilot program gives select San Bernardino County inmates a chance to live, work on the outside

Nadine Ono, CA FWD

San Bernardino County is giving some of the county’s jail inmates a chance to successfully reenter society through the new Sheriff’s Parole Reintegration Pilot Program, a collaboration between the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the Cal State San Bernardino Reentry Initiative(CSRI).

“We have a number of low-risk, repeat offenders who cycle in and out of jail,” said San Bernardino County Undersheriff Shannon Dicus. “We wanted to figure out a way to reach this group and give them the support and skills they need to stay out of jail. So with the help of CDCR and CSRI, we created this pilot program.”

The innovative program, which started in January, allows 12 selected inmates the chance to live outside jail, but they must maintain certain criteria and wear a GPS ankle monitor as they are still classified as in custody.

Assistant Sheriff Dicus reached out to CSRI, a partnership of California State University San Bernardino and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), which operates four day reporting centers for state parolees in the region, and CA Fwd, a county partner working on reducing jail populations through justice system reform.

“San Bernardino County is well equipped to take on this type of program,” said Scott MacDonald, who leads CA Fwd’s Justice System Change Initiative. “From the support of the Sheriff to the county’s Reentry Collaborative, the county is working toward reducing recidivism.” The San Bernardino County Reentry Collaborative is a partnership of county agencies, community organizations and individuals that works on successful reentry and the long-term success of the formerly incarcerated.

“We back-researched low-risk offenders with prior parole that fit under a certain criteria that we already have pre-set through San Bernardino County Sheriff’s,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff Sergeant Stacey Schneiderwent. “These people have been hand selected. We went through their backgrounds, what their current charge is and found out if they have family/friend support.” Each participant must have residential support either through family or a friend to be part of the pilot.

She added “We’re trying to pick people who have four to ten month sentences so they can work the program. We hope the outcome is that they get placed in a job, they’re working successfully and they make it to their out date with us.”

Upon entering the program, participants will meet with his or her case manager and receive their class schedule. They are required to attend classes at the CSRI center, which includes a range of subjects from job readiness to substance abuse education. They must also pass regular drug tests. As they complete classes and receive positive feedback from their case managers, they will be rewarded with time away from their home. The more classes and positive feedback they get, the more hours they are rewarded.

“And because it’s a pilot, we’re now identifying the hurdles, what kinds of issues get them back in jail,” said CSRI Director of Operations Elaine Zucco. “They follow the same rules as our guys [from CDCR] and so they have to have perfect attendance. You have to remember that these are folks who are still in custody.”

If a participant misses a class or a meeting with their case manager or test positive for drugs, they are removed from the program and taken back into custody. There is no room for errors. But CSRI is seeing a trend from the few who have failed out of the pilot.

“When individuals have failed, it has been because of lapses in judgment,” said Zucco. “The reasons they’re going back (to jail), I’m proud to say, is not because they’re endangering the public. It’s because they made stupid choices and the Sheriff is on top of it.” When a participant fails out of the program, a replacement is found.

Word of the pilot program is spreading and Schneiderwent and her team are receiving applications from inmates interested in participating. “I think some of them see it as a way out because who wouldn’t want to come out for free,” she said. “We talk to them at first and they say, ‘Yeah, I’m getting out today’ and month later they say, ‘Hey, they’re really going to get me a job.’”

And although the pilot is only months old, Schneiderwent said some participants are seeing that they can be successful outside of jail. “We have one guy already in the desert who was a fork lift operator. He was job ready and he’s doing really well.”

She added, “Some may not have a trade or know what to do, but they all have said that this has been a great transition for them. Typically for county inmates, we just release out. We don’t transition them in. Some of them have said this is good because ‘I’ve never had a place to go with someone to help me get to the next step.’”

The next step for the pilot is a six-month evaluation. “After a year, our hope is that it will be a successful program, that a large percentage of folks from the Sheriff’s department will be completing the program, that they will have not reoffended, and that then we might look at how we can grow the project,” said CSRI’s Director of Program Quality Andrea Mitchel. “We need to look at how much money are we saving the Sheriff’s Department, how much money are we saving CDCR, how much money are we saving the system.”

According to MacDonald, “The idea is simple. If we use this structured community supervision approach to establish sustainable positive change, jail recidivism will go down, and fewer non-serious offenders will take up jail space. Everyone benefits: the community from a public safety perspective, the participant and the tax payer.”

From the early feedback from participants, according to Schneiderwent, the pilot looks like it’s on track. “They’re just so proud. They say, ‘This is the first time you’ve offered me something different; I’ve been arrested so many different times. This is the first time you’ve offered me somewhere to go, a reason to not go this direction and to help us get a job.'”

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-05-03T11:45:00.001-07:00

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Prisoners Reclaim Their Heritage Through Asian-American Studies Program

“When someone doesn’t understand their roots and their culture, then they don’t have that self-confidence and self-esteem.”

Kimberly Yam, Huffington Post

At a time when ethnic studies programs are struggling to survive or are missing at universities across the U.S., one group is determined to run a program regardless of the circumstances, for the sake of its students.

Restoring Our Original True Selves (ROOTS), run by the nonprofit Asian Prisoner Support Committee, is an Asian-American studies program. But its participants aren’t your typical college kids: They’re inmates at California’s San Quentin State Prison.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Fresno County Jail shooter transferred to Wasco State Prison

ABC30 KFSN

Convicted Fresno County Jail shooter Thong Vang has been transported to Wasco State Prison on Wednesday, Fresno County Sheriff's officials said.

Vang recently received a prison sentence of 112 years to life for shooting and injuring Correctional Officers Toamalama Scanlan and Juanita Davila in September of 2016.

OPINION

My innocent client spent 25 years on death row. How long will it take to realize our system is broken?

Christina Borde, former Habeas Corpus Resource Center attorney for Vicente Benavides, LA Times OP-ED

What ails our criminal justice system? Defense attorney Dean Strang, made famous in the Netflix documentary series "Making a Murderer," says it's a "tragic lack of humility" and an "unwarranted certitude on the part of police officers and prosecutors and defense lawyers and judges and jurors that they're getting it right."

Strang's diagnosis was confirmed in California two weeks ago, when my client Vicente Benavides walked out of San Quentin prison, exonerated after languishing on death row for more than a quarter-century. This was a victory for justice, but no one should take Benavides' release as an indication that the system works in California better than anywhere else.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-05-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

DEATH PENALTY

Most California governor candidates oppose the death penalty — but may have to preside over executions

Casey Tolan, The Mercury News

California’s next governor could be forced to make a life-or-death decision that the state’s top executive hasn’t faced in over a decade: whether to spare an inmate facing execution.

There are nearly 750 people on death row in California, more than any other state, and decisions made by the next governor will help set the pace of executions going forward. Five of the six top candidates oppose the death penalty. But few say they’d use the office’s commutation power to broadly move inmates from death row to life in prison.

“Unless Jerry Brown steps in or one of these candidates for governor steps in, I think there’s going to be executions in California,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of UC Berkeley Law School. “It seems like it’s a matter of time.”

California hasn’t executed an inmate since Clarence Ray Allen on Jan. 17, 2006. And more than half of the inmates on California death row have waited more than 20 years since their convictions, according to state data. Golden State voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative in 2016 to speed up the death penalty, and several legal barriers to execution — such as objections to drugs used for lethal injection — have fallen since then.

It’s too soon to say for sure when — or whether — executions will restart. Proposition 66 to speed up executions was upheld by the state Supreme Court last year, and the state corrections department put forward a new single-drug execution procedure in January. In March, a state judge in Marin County lifted one of several legal injunctions against carrying out executions.

Still, other legal barriers remain, including a long-standing federal court case in San Francisco questioning the legality of lethal injections. The judge handling that case, Richard Seeborg, has issued stays on the execution of roughly 20 California death row inmates who have exhausted their appeals. Any decision to lift those stays could be further appealed, although U.S. Supreme Court precedent makes it difficult to challenge lethal injection procedures.

A California governor hasn’t commuted the sentence of a death row inmate since Ronald Reagan spared convicted murderer Calvin Thomas in 1967. But several anti-death penalty governors around the country, including Martin O’Malley in Maryland and Pat Quinn in Illinois, have issued blanket commutations removing inmates from death row in recent years.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the frontrunner in the race, said he wasn’t planning to follow in their footsteps. Instead, he wants to put the issue of the death penalty “back on the ballot” even though Californians have rejected a repeal measure twice in the last six years. Newsom thinks he could change that by running a stronger anti-capital punishment campaign.

“We need to have a more sustainable conversation with the public, and I would like to lead that,” he said. “We haven’t had a governor, with respect, that’s led this conversation. There’s been a lot of timidity on the death penalty.”

Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, said he would be willing to commute the death sentences of individual inmates “where the record shows that that would be appropriate.” However, “the next governor’s going to have to enforce the law, and the death penalty’s the law of the land,” Villaraigosa stressed.

State Treasurer John Chiang, a Democrat, and San Diego County businessman John Cox, a Republican, have both cited their Catholic faith for their opposition to capital punishment. But both said they would respect the pro-death penalty decision in the last ballot initiative.

“I am personally opposed to the death penalty and voted for Proposition 62, but as governor, I would enforce the will of the voters,” Chiang said.

Former state schools chief Delaine Eastin, who has trailed in the polls, sounded the most willing to make use of commutations. If elected, she said she would want to use the governor’s clemency power to commute the death sentences of inmates “who’ve shown some sense of remorse or some sense of contribution to society.”

“I actually think some of them would be better served if they had to live with the consequences of what they did, rather than spending a fortune to put them to death,” she said.

The only candidate who personally supports the death penalty is Assemblyman Travis Allen, an Orange County Republican who vowed in an interview to “clean out this death row in California.”

“Why should California allow these people the luxury of life when they have taken it so cruelly from so many others?” he asked. “Every single day that these people are alive is another insult to the families of their victims.”

Unlike most states, the executive clemency power is limited in California — the state constitution says governors can’t commute the sentence of an inmate who has two felony convictions unless four of the seven State Supreme Court justices concur. About half of California death row inmates have two or more felonies on their record, experts estimate.

But the high court justices issued an order in March suggesting that they would give governors latitude on the issue and only intervene if they believed a use of clemency would “represent an abuse of that power.” That’s a switch from past courts, which have rejected clemency grants based on justices’ determinations about the merits of individual cases.

Even without issuing commutations, governors can influence how the death penalty is carried out in other ways, such as the procedures put forth by their corrections department.

Opponents of the death penalty argue that there are still many hurdles to overcome before the state executes another inmate.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to see an execution carried out in California because there are too many legal and practical obstacles,” said Natasha Minsker, the director of the ACLU of California Center for Advocacy and Policy, which has challenged the death penalty.

For example, there is currently no legal avenue for the state to purchase the execution drugs specified in its new procedure, pentobarbital or thiopental. State officials have said they plan to use compounding pharmacies to produce the drugs, although that could invite further litigation — and even getting the drug ingredients won’t be easy.

Kent Scheidegger, the legal director for the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation and one of the authors of Prop 66, said the courts should allow executions to proceed. He scoffed at Newsom’s suggestion for another referendum on the issue.

“Are we going to vote on it again and again until he gets the answer he wants?” Scheidegger asked. “That’s not asking the voters, that’s nagging the voters.”

In April, a Kern County death row inmate was released 25 years after his conviction for murdering and raping a child — after most of the medical experts who testified against him recanted their testimony.

There’s at least a possibility that Gov. Jerry Brown, who personally opposes capital punishment, could issue a broad commutation of death row inmates before he exits the stage of California politics. In 2003, for example, just two days before leaving office, Gov. George Ryan of Illinois commuted the sentences of all 167 inmates on his state’s death row.

Brown’s office declined to comment. The governor, a former Jesuit seminarian, vowed to carry out the death penalty during his elections, and he hasn’t commuted any death sentences in his 16 years as governor. But in his twenties, Brown joined anti-death penalty protesters singing “We Shall Overcome” outside the gates of San Quentin State Prison as an inmate went to the gas chamber inside.

“The only person who knows what’s in Governor Brown’s heart on this,” Minsker said, “is Governor Brown.”

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Cellmate suspected in death of inmate at California State Prison, Sacramento

Cathy Locke, Sacramento Bee

The death of a 30-year-old inmate at California State Prison, Sacramento, in Folsom is being investigated as a homicide, and his cellmate is the suspect.

Anthony Junkin was found lying unresponsive on the floor of his cell around 11 p.m. Sunday by staff members conducting an institutional count, according to a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation news release. An alarm was sounded and staff members immediately began CPR. Junkin was transported to the facility's triage and treatment area. Folsom Fire Department personnel arrived shortly afterward and Junkin was pronounced dead at 11:23 p.m.

Junkin was admitted to the prison system Sept. 30, 2015, from Sacramento County. He was serving a sentence of 31 years to life with the possibility of parole for attempted murder, two counts of making criminal threats to cause great bodily injury, dissuading a witness and possession of a firearm by a felon, the release said.

Junkin's cellmate, Wayne Caskey, entered the prison system on July 21, 2009, from Sacramento County. He was serving a sentence of 50 years to life with the possibility of parole for first-degree murder. During his incarceration, he was convicted of assault by a prisoner with a deadly weapon and received an additional four-year sentence for that offense, the news release said.

Junkin, a North Highlands resident, was convicted of shooting a friend, Jason Hill, out of jealousy over a girlfriend, according to stories in The Sacramento Bee. On Nov. 11, 2014, Junkin shot Hill in the back of the head. Hill survived the shooting, but the bullet lodged in his skull.

Junkin bragged to his girlfriend that he shot Hill and later threatened that she would be next if she went to the police. When Junkin was arrested, he was found in possession of a loaded handgun, authorities said.

Caskey, 55, was convicted in 2008 of shooting 45-year-old Gary R. Brooks to death at Brooks' father's south Sacramento electronics business. Prosecutors said the murder resulted from an argument that occurred between Brooks and Caskey.

Caskey has been placed in segregated housing as officials investigate Junkin's death, the release said. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office is assisting in the investigation and the Officer of the Inspector General had been notified.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Kern County prison warden arrested in Stockton prostitution sting

Bakersfield Now

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — A warden of a Kern County prison was arrested in a prostitution sting in Northern California.

Police in Stockton arrested 48-year-old John Garza at a motel in early March, according to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office.

Garza is the warden at the California City Correctional Facility.

He's accused of trying to pay for sex and is facing a misdemeanor charge.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Monday that Garza was removed as warden about a week after his arrest. He's since been reassigned as associate warden at a substance abuse treatment facility in Corcoran, the CDCR said.

Formerly incarcerated students return to school

Annabell Brockhues, Richmond Confidential

It was a bit cloudy, but warm, on a Saturday last June as students lined up to receive their diplomas. For four years they had been awaiting this day: graduating in African American Studies from UC Los Angeles. Among them, wearing a black gown and hat over traditional Ivorian clothes, was East Bay resident Dieudonné Koffi Justin Brou.

Brou was the commencement speaker for his class. “That was when I revealed myself,” he recalled, “revealed myself as formerly incarcerated.”

Ten years before, in 2007, Brou had been sent to prison. “Considering where I started and where I ended up, achieving my graduate degree from UCLA, I was proud of myself,” he recalled. But instead of celebrating his graduation with his family, he found himself apologizing and grieving for the things he had done more than a decade ago. He felt ashamed about the things that put him into prison—not for his own sake, but for the sake of his family. “In my culture, shame on the family name is problematic for everybody. Because the name is all we got. It is the most important thing,” he said.

People who spend time in prison face challenges reentering society. Employment discrimination based on their criminal records, inadequate education and a lack of job training opportunities are the top barriers to finding stable employment, according to a report made by the Oakland-based Ella Baker Center in 2015.

That is why a number of former inmates choose to go back to college, following the pathway of higher education. But that is easier said than done. The difficulty starts with money—most former inmates don’t have any income, but are in debt due to restitution fees. Others experience self-doubt, based on bad previous experiences with educational institutions. Many returning scholars don’t feel comfortable—they are often a couple of years older than the other students, and may come from a different social background.

But formerly incarcerated students can find support and community with programs like Underground Scholars at UC Berkeley or Restoring our Communities at Laney College in Oakland. Peers who have had the same experiences can show them a way to thrive in college, and to become an advocate and leader. The members of these groups believe that education will break the cycle of recidivism, help people find employment, and lead to healthier communities.

“It is a way to reengage in the broader world. People miss a lot being incarcerated,” said Charles Eddy, adviser for justice reform with the Oakland-based Urban Strategies Institute. Going back to school is a way of helping them catch up.

***

Dieudonné Brou was born in Toumodi, Ivory Coast. At 6 years old, he came to the Bay Area. He lived in Oakland for most of the time, but spent some time in Richmond living with his aunt and uncle. “I think I have touched every school in the Oakland Unified School District,” he said. After finishing his freshman year at McClymonds High School in West Oakland, he moved with his father to Pittsburg and started to go to Mount Diablo High School.

Brou said he had just turned 18 when he got in trouble. “At the time, a lot of us were just doing stuff because we didn’t have no place for our frustration and anger,” he said. With his friends, he committed robberies. They got caught on their way to the freeway after their last robbery. The police pulled them over, Brou recalled, because the license plate was expired, and they found guns and license plates in the car. “For me, that was more calling for attention, because I did need help,” he said. He found it difficult to trust adults, he said, “because for some reason every adult in your life has let you down.”

Brou was in the West County Detention Facility for about a year, he said, “trying to fight my case, trying to figure out a way to get the time down.” He ended up taking a deal that would send him to prison for seven years. Incarceration placement is determined by a score, formulated by a review of factors including age, crime, whether violence was used, a person’s prior incarcerations, and gang involvement. Brou said he was initially sent to a high-security site because he was a “two-striker”—meaning he had two convictions—and was a young person who had committed a violent crime.

Over time, Brou’s placement score went down and he eventually got into the lower-security California Correctional Center in Susanville. But on his first day in Susanville, Brou got into a fight, which sent him first into the prison hospital and then into solitary confinement. That was the first click: He knew he needed to do something with his life. But he was still unsure exactly what that was.

After he was released back to his own cell, he started to take vocational classes. He passed his General Education Development (GED) test on the first try. His brother and sister, who were at college at that time, started to send him books, mainly African-American literature. “We had nothing to do but reading, working out and drinking gallons of coffee,” Brou said of prison life. Reading was his way to fight the time, to be productive.

Things clicked for Brou a second time when a warden asked why he had so much African-American literature in his cell. In that moment, he realized: “I want to read, because I want to go to college.”

“It is crazy, because I always hated school,” he continued, recalling his decision to go to college. “But I love learning. I love being in a space where I am constantly learning. And higher education creates that space.”

Not only did he want to study, but he thought college might help him start his life over. Another inmate had told Brou that by going to school he might get off parole a bit earlier and that he might even get paid for attending. That prospect caught his attention, because he knew it would be difficult to find employment with a criminal record, and he owed restitution to the people he had robbed.

Brou was released in May, 2012, and his dad picked him up at the prison gate. They hadn’t spoken in seven years. “My dad asked me what I am going to do, if I would go to work,” Brou said. “I told him I might not find work. I might as well go to school.”

Brou approached the staff at Diablo Valley College (DVC), a community college in Pleasant Hill. “I told them I have heard they were giving [out] money for going to school. But, they said, this is not how it works.” That’s when he realized it wouldn’t be so easy to get money for college. He needed to enroll and apply for financial aid, just like any other student.

Brou was sent to the Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS) run by the college and funded by the state of California, which helps students who are socially and economically disadvantaged. It provides services like student counseling, peer support, book vouchers and academic assistance in transferring to a four-year campus. Through EOPS, Brou applied to get one-on-one counseling, tutoring and a fee waiver.

Today, Brou realizes that this paperwork was one of the main difficulties of going to college: not knowing whom to ask about enrollment and financial aid. “And by the time you get through all that, you are dealing with a classroom environment you haven’t been there in a while,” he said. It had been more than ten years than Brou was on a campus—he was not only older than the other students, but the college was also much bigger than his high school. Brou doubted he could do it. And he was afraid of dealing with instructors who might not be as sympathetic to him as to other students.

Plus, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to study. At first, his main reason for going to college was to get off parole as soon as possible. “I was just taking classes and assessment tests,” he said. Then one day in 2013, his counselor asked him what he wanted to do with his life. “I enjoyed black history, so I told him I wanted to study black people. That was my term—black people,” he recalled. His counselor suggested he consider sociology—as a formerly incarcerated person, it could be interesting to study the justice system.

So he decided to study sociology. Today, what Brou likes most about sociology is having options. “Sociology is so broad and includes so many different things. It is perfect, so I can do whatever I want,” he said.

Meanwhile, he got involved on campus, working for EOPS as a peer mentor to help new students. He started networking with other African-American male academics, attending conferences with the African American Male Education Network and the Black Male Leadership Development Institute. “I was just giving myself a little bit of agency,” he said.

Two years later, he was ready to transfer to a four-year campus. Brou applied to several universities: UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Columbia. Even though he was afraid of getting rejected, he applied for scholarships, 46 in all. Eventually, he got $10,000 from the Kennedy-King scholarship for students from minority groups that are underrepresented at four-year colleges. Two smaller scholarships combined for another $10,000. And he qualified for the Blue and Gold Plan, a University of California financial aid program for low-income students. Today, he has “only” $10,000 in school debt.

But going to UCLA “was a culture shock,” Brou recalled. He was not ready for Westwood, and Westwood was not ready for him. “Imagine you are a black student and formerly incarcerated,” he said. He didn’t feel comfortable in the Westwood community: “It is a beautiful place, but it is a bubble,” he said—a bubble that according to Brou is only accessible if you can afford certain things, like a car to drive to campus every day, or simply a pass for public transport. Brou started to spend his time in Inglewood, Compton or Long Beach—areas where he felt more comfortable.

On campus, he worried about stereotypes, the way professors and students might perceive him. He had anxieties about his skills and several times he wanted to give up. For example, he had to take a statistics class. “I have bad anxiety with math and stuff. I thought that is impossible for me,” he said. When his grades started to fall, he doubted whether he even belonged at UCLA.

It helped him to talk regularly to faculty and staff, to disclose his story bit by bit. And once again, he got involved on campus, this time with the African Student Union and the African Black Coalition. These were places for him to build a community and to identify with others. To escape the UCLA bubble, Brou also spent 2016 studying abroad at the University of Ghana, Legon, and at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny University in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

After his graduation in 2017, Brou returned to the Bay Area. He found a Google group for young black professionals in the Bay Area, representing everyone from Silicon Valley developers to social workers. They share information about anything from employment and career opportunities to housing openings, even good therapists. Through this group, Brou found his first job after college: an internship with the Alameda County Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership. Even though Brou doesn’t have kids, he felt he could relate to the program. “But more importantly, I really wanted to try to participate in the world,” he said.

Today, Brou wears a lot of different hats. He interned with the Ella Baker Center and is part of the East Bay Consortium of Support Programs for Former Incarcerated Students as well as the Justice Reinvestment Coalition, a group that lobbies for a restorative justice system. He is an outreach specialist at the College of Alameda. There, he helps formerly incarcerated people and other students whose lives have been affected by the justice system enroll in the college. He is a role model for them, building relationships and sharing his own experiences. “I want to let them know I am an advocate for them in many ways,” he said.

***

Even though 38 percent of inmates have a high school diploma, have passed the GED, or have pursued secondary education, there is no guarantee they will make their way from prison to college once they have been released.

According to a 2015 report called “Degrees of Freedom” by researchers at the UC Berkeley Law School and the Stanford Law School, more than six out of every ten individuals leaving prison are re-incarcerated for a parole violation or new conviction within three years of release. According to the report, they are also more likely to pick up new charges once they have been in the system. That is the cycle of recidivism. Breaking this cycle, according to the report, depends on successful reentry, and the keys to that are housing, stability, recovery from alcohol and drugs—and getting an education. People who participated in college programs while incarcerated had 51 percent lower odds of reoffending than those who did not, the report found.

The report also describes several challenges for those reentering college: finding stable living and working conditions, and overcoming financial barriers, a lack of college readiness, and persistent discrimination on campus. The result: only 28 percent of formerly incarcerated people who have high school diplomas or an equivalent GED were enrolled in college in 2014. “This indicates a large group of potential college students who are currently underserved,” the report concludes.

According to a report published by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in 2015, most formerly incarcerated people—67 percent—want to return to school after release. Yet fewer than one third can continue their education. “The cost for tuition, transportation to or distance from school, and inability to get an educational loan because of criminal conviction were among the barriers identified most often,” the report concludes.

Charles Eddy was a social worker most of his life. Now, retired and white-haired, he still volunteers with the Urban Strategies Institute in Oakland and advises them on criminal justice reform and reentry work. Like many others, he believes that education can break the cycle of recidivism. “Breaking this cycle has to do with successful reentry. Recovery from alcohol and drugs is a key, but also education,” he said.

In the Bay Area, there are nine different campus-based support programs for formerly incarcerated students, none of them older than six years. Eddy is convinced of the value of work done by these support programs: “There is a need—there are formerly incarcerated individuals everywhere. All colleges should think about this,” he said.

Pursuing a Career and Technical Education (CTE) or Associate of Arts (AA) degree significantly increases employment prospects, according to Eddy. And higher degrees in general correspond with higher salaries. As the report “Degrees of Freedom” emphasized, by 2025, 41 percent of jobs will require at least a bachelor’s degree, while only 35 percent of working-age adults in California will have attained this level of education.

On the other hand, studies suggest that incarceration reduces annual earnings by much as 40 percent. In large part, people experience below-average earnings because of their comparatively poor work history and low levels of education. However, simply having a history of incarceration itself hinders economic success.

Background checks pose another barrier for certain jobs and licenses. “There are big fights all over the country, because in many professions, standards disallow formerly incarcerated people—like in some healthcare professions, or barbers,” said Eddy.

“Employers are able to pull up histories, and they will do that,” said Zachary Norris, executive director of the Ella Baker Center, which works with formerly incarcerated people.

Since January, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) contains new statewide restrictions on an employer’s ability to make decisions only based on someone’s criminal history. Thanks to Assembly Bill 1008, which was signed by the governor in 2017, the criminal history of an applicant will only be accessible if the employer has made a conditional offer of employment. The applicant cannot be rejected for a position only, or in part, because of his conviction history.

Previously, hundreds of California cities and counties had passed similar “ban the box” ordinances barring employers from asking applicants to check a box indicating if they have a criminal history. Under these ordinances, employers could not ask about criminal history until later in the hiring process. Alameda County passed its version in 2006, and a state version passed in 2014.

But a fairer chance at work does not solve all potential problems for a formerly incarcerated student. The main job of the Bay Area’s nine campus-based support programs “is about unwrapping students, engaging them, encouraging them to give college a chance,” said Eddy. But, he continued, “That is easier said than done.” Some students have needs that are not easy to fulfill: emotional or substance abuse issues, food insecurity. And there are many other financial barriers—for example, a person who has been convicted of a felony cannot qualify for public housing or bank loans.

“The justice system is currently oriented where one mistake can ruin [someone] for a lifetime,” said Norris.

***

It is a Friday night when the telephone rings, a three-way call into San Quentin State Prison. On the other end sits Emile de Weaver, convicted of a life sentence for murder. “I made all the wrong decisions in my teens,” he wrote in an online self-introduction, “and they culminated in me murdering a man.”

But de Weaver is also a class of 2017 graduate of the Prison University Project. He completed his Associate of Arts degree with the college program at San Quentin. The college program offers a variety of courses in the humanities, social sciences, math and science through on-site instruction, but also college preparatory courses to make a college transfer after release easier. In addition, people can pursue an Associate of Arts (AA) degree in General Education.

The “Degrees of Freedom” report found that that the three-year recidivism rate for both new offenses and parole violations among graduates from the San Quentin Prison University Project was only 17 percent, compared to a more than 60 percent recidivism rate in California.

The day de Weaver graduated, he felt very good, he recalled. He graduated with his brother: “We both got back on track and continued the dream our grandmother set out,” he said. His grandmother attended his graduation, as well as his mother, who came from Nigeria.

There are a couple of reasons why he wanted to get an AA degree, de Weaver said—one is his passion for learning. And he believes he will need it once he reenters the “real world”— his life sentence was recently reduced from 67 years to 20 years—so he will be released next year. But more importantly, he feels ashamed. His father was the first one in the family to go to college. And now, he and his brothers are all in prison or on parole, living even beneath the poverty line. “We are moving backwards instead of forwards,” de Weaver said about his own legacy. He wants to show his daughter that it is not too late to turn his life around.

When his daughter was born, de Weaver was 19 years old. “I started to think about what my daughter is going to see when she is getting older. I was afraid that she could see a terrible person, that she could hate me for shame,” he said. These thoughts scared him and eventually lead to his decision to return to his education.

DeWeaver writes frequently for the San Quentin News and has a monthly column called “Good Behavior” for Easy Street Magazine. In 2016, he launched Prison Renaissance. The project acts as a platform for incarcerated authors to grow as leaders and to communicate with their communities through art.

For a long time, de Weaver has been dreaming of earning a Ph.D and teaching at a university. The AA would be the first step towards a bachelor’s degree, then a master’s degree and eventually a PhD. “But I realized over time, a PhD is not realistic,” he said. “I don’t even know if a masters is possible.”

De Weaver is now 38. When he is released next year, he will be $20,000 in debt for restitution and child support. Even though he would love to go to college, he wants even more for his children to go to college. Without a scholarship, he said, “there is no chance. I would be even further in debt.”

He is well aware of how formerly incarcerated people are seen in society and how difficult it will be to find housing and a job. De Weaver said he wants to do social justice work and

use his communication skills to shift the public narrative about incarcerated people. “I want to create a world that is more about opportunities than about punishing and blaming,” he said. “We need people solutions instead of state solutions.”

***

San Quentin offers more services than other California state prisons, thanks to progressive leadership and its location the Bay Area, where it is surrounded by programs, community providers and non-profits that work with incarcerated people. And until recently, it was one of few prisons in the state that offered classroom courses at all.

In the early 1970s, all but one California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) facility had at least one college course offered in its prison. By 1979, in-person college courses were available in every prison in California. But between the 1970s and today, the prison population grew by more than 700 percent, and the amount of money the state spent on corrections tripled. Access to college inside prisons did not keep pace; the percentage of people enrolled in college in prison did not rise along with the prison population. By 2013, only 4.4 percent of the state’s prison inmates were enrolled in college programs, representing only about a quarter of those with high school diplomas or the equivalent.

The availability of in-person courses—meaning the teacher is actually in the classroom— dropped enormously in the 1990s due to budget cuts for prison education. They were replaced with paper-based distance education courses.

Additionally, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 barred incarcerated students from receiving Pell Grants, which had been an important resource to make college programs in prisons affordable. Most educational programs in prison shut down for lack of funds. In the wake of this situation, the college program at San Quentin was founded in the fall of 1996 with two classes, initiated by a professor from UC Davis.

It took twenty more years for things to change, when California’s legislators passed Senate Bill 1391 in 2014, which provided funds for community college courses to be taught in person in state prisons. Today, every CDCR facility houses an education department and direct their education resources mainly to adult basic education, high school education and GED preparation, and CTE.

According to the CDCR, out of 118,000 current inmates, nearly 41,000 are receiving programs. Of these, 13,700 are receiving adult basic education and high school equivalency training in a classroom-style setting. Another 6,600 are enrolled to receive career technical education. Between the summers of 2016 and 2017, the Office of Correctional Education delivered 4,102 high school equivalency and high school diplomas to incarcerated students.

***

At about the same time that California was restoring funding to in-person college classes, at Laney College in Oakland, ethnic studies faculty member Roger Chung was starting a program called “Restoring our Communities.” In 2016, he saw the opportunity to host formerly incarcerated students on campus and applied for special grants. “Places like Oakland are heavily impacted by returning citizens and hosting people coming home without having robust pathways,” said Chung. “We always thought community colleges are appropriate for reentry, with their open access to different types of jobs.”

At Laney, he tried to design a program with multiple pathways so that each student could decide what they are interested in studying and how in depth they want to go—whether that’s just a few classes to develop some skills or earning a full degree.

The program helps formerly incarcerated people enroll and acclimate at Laney College. It provides support by purchasing books, food vouchers or tickets for public transport. Enrolled students can use the program’s own space to study or take a break from campus life. The program also cooperates with the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office to clean conviction records and increase work opportunities. Currently, 144 students are enrolled with Restoring our Communities.

In addition to academic and administrative support, Chung also wanted to provide a network and a place for the students to heal. “One of the large missing pieces was developing space for [addressing] trauma and for the students to take care of their experiences with trauma,” Chung said. That is why he created a dedicated space for students to meet and study. “They have their moments when they just sit in the space and don’t do anything—that is when the healing takes place, when they share their stories,” he said.

His program joined a handful of others that have developed in recent years. Underground Scholars at UC Berkeley (BUS) is a grassroots initiative founded by a couple of formerly incarcerated students who felt they don’t belong at Berkeley and wanted to create a space where they can exchange their experiences and help each other. Today, the group’s main purpose on campus is providing a dedicated space for formerly incarcerated students to find a community. The program offers tutoring and mentoring for enrolled students. In addition, BUS has an ambassador program at community colleges, which recruit students ready for a four-year college program and help them ease the transfer.

The Street Scholars program at Oakland’s Merritt College, initiated by the nonprofit Gamble Institute, offers peer monitoring and training. The program was designed with the help of formerly incarcerated people and aims to increase their participation at the school.

Meanwhile, the East Bay Consortium of Support Programs for Former Incarcerated Students tries to figure out where work can be shared among these programs and how they can be aligned. “We want to build an ecosystem to make sure students make the right choices for them, and not colleges making decisions for students,” Chung said.

But Chung feels most of the programs have a similar problem—they are met by silence from the community and others on the college campus. “There is the assumption: If we just put formerly incarcerated people on campus, they will be successful. And if not, the community will help them to be successful,” he said. But, he pointed out, most formerly incarcerated people have struggled with institutions—so how can they get engaged in institutionalized programs?

The way education is delivered matters, Chung believes. So, he has tried to sensitize faculty members on his campus to know what incarceration is, how the justice system works and what needs these students may have. For example, they may need to go to court or to meet with their probation officers.

Chung has a strong relationship with the Laney administrators, who let him take some time off from his teaching responsibilities to establish the program and lead it through its early stages. But it is not in its final stage yet. One day, he would like for the formerly incarcerated students to take over leading it.

At the end of the day, these programs are about leadership, agreed Charles Eddy, of the Urban Strategies Institute. “Hopefully, the students don’t walk away and forget their lived experiences,” he said. While he knows that not everyone will pursue a career in social work, as Dieudonné Brou is doing, he said, “They carry with them the understanding and the experiences which makes them to be life-long advocates, in one way or another.”

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-30T13:25:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Man convicted of Vacaville rape as teen set to return to Solano court

Jess Sullivan, Daily Republic

FAIRFIELD — A Vacaville man who in 2010, when he was 14, raped, repeatedly stabbed and sodomized a 13-year-old girl and repeatedly stabbed her 1-year-old brother is set to return to a Solano County courtroom Friday morning.

Alexander Cervantes, 22, was transferred to the county jail Thursday from California State Prison, Solano, in Vacaville where he had been serving a 68-years-to-life sentence for what he did after breaking into the children’s Vacaville home late at night. He stabbed the girl 42 times. Her brother was stabbed 13 times.

California Supreme Court justices voted unanimously in February to throw out prosecutors’ effort to reverse a lower court ruling ordering a new trial for Cervantes. The Court of Appeal in 2017 overturned eight of Cervantes’ felony convictions, but upheld convictions for charges of forcible rape, forcible sodomy, forcible oral copulation, residential burglary and two charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

Cervantes’ court appearance is scheduled in front of Judge Carlos Gutierrez, who is likely to send the case to the juvenile courts in light of changes in the laws in recent years about how crimes committed by juveniles are handled by the courts.

At some point prosecutors will decide if they will seek a retrial for Cervantes on the overturned criminal charges.

Also at issue is whatever prison sentence may be imposed on Cervantes since higher courts have deemed lifelong sentences for youthful offenders at times amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and as such are unconstitutional.

Prior to the Court of Appeal overturning portions of his sentence, Cervantes’ minimum eligible parole date was Sept. 23, 2077, when he would have been 80 years old.

“This case involved horrific acts of violence against two young and vulnerable victims and it is unsettling to have the case come back at this time with no final resolution of the matter,” Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams said in 2017 after the Court of Appeal ruling.

Judge orders trial to determine Vacaville inmate’s competency

Jess Sullivan, Daily Republic

FAIRFIELD — A prisoner who is serving a life sentence and faces a murder charge for the 2015 death of his cellmate at California State Prison, Solano, was in court briefly Thursday.

Jesus Perez, 49, was flanked by prison guards, a Spanish-language interpreter and his court-appointed attorney, Barry Newman, who is disputing a diagnosis by prison psychiatrists that Perez, declared mentally incompetent in August 2017, is now mentally fit and able to stand trial on a murder charge.

Judge John B. Ellis ordered a trial be conducted in June and July in which he will decide whether Newman is correct that his client is still mentally incompetent or if prison doctors are correct.

Perez was in prison for a 2009 first-degree murder conviction out of Los Angeles County.

Perez is accused of killing his cellmate, 24-year-old Nicholas A. Rodriguez, on May 4, 2015. Rodriguez’s body was found several hours after a prison riot had spurred a lockdown of the prison. Parts of his body were found stuffed in a garbage can in a shower stall a few doors from their cell. Other parts of his body were later found in a garbage can in an exercise yard. Rodriguez’s body was nearly cut in half and most of his abdominal and chest organs had been removed.

Rodriguez was serving an eight-year sentence for an Alameda County robbery.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Derek and the Dominos' Jim Gordon, Jailed for Killing His Mom, Denied Parole for Fear 'He'd Hurt Somebody Else'

For the first time, Gordon's family joined in asking the state to keep the "Layla" songwriter and acclaimed rock drummer incarcerated for the 1983 killing

Patrick Flanary, Billboard

Fearing a risk of violence if released from prison, a California court has denied parole to Jim Gordon, the Grammy-winning drummer serving a life sentence for killing his mother in 1983.

The decision, by the Board of Parole Hearings, marks Gordon's 10th denial and the first time his family and legal counsel have asked the state not to grant him parole.

Gordon backed many significant rock recordings of the 1960s and '70s, including Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'," Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" and, most famously, "Layla," as a member of Eric Clapton's band Derek and the Dominos. Gordon played with an understated yet distinctive groove on dozens of songs that became radio hits, and was known to his peers as the "only living metronome."

But at the height of his career, Gordon was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Combined with substance abuse, his mental illness threatened his professional reputation. Beginning in 1978, Gordon sought medical treatment at least 15 times, court records show. But he could not escape his mother's voice, which he claimed had tormented him for years. The hallucinations grew relentless, demanding that Gordon eat less, even stop touring.

To confront the voices, Gordon drove to his mother's house, where he struck her head with a hammer and also stabbed her. In 1984 he was sentenced to 16 years to life, and "remains an unreasonable risk of threat to public safety," according to the parole board's decision in March at California Medical Facility in Vacaville, where Gordon is jailed.

"I think he would be a threat to himself if he were to be released," said Jeffrey Hall, Gordon's attorney, according to a hearing transcript obtained by Billboard. "I think he'd hurt somebody else."

Amy Schief, who manages her father's finances but has no contact with Gordon, also suggested that parole would be premature. "Certainly our family has been traumatized by what happened," Schief said. "But it's been so many years and it doesn't really seem like he's going anywhere at this point."

Gordon has served 34 years of his life term, and will next be eligible for parole in 2021.

He got his professional break in 1963 at age 17, when he joined the Everly Brothers on tour in England. Gordon played professionally for the next 20 years, backing some of the biggest names in rock music on the road and in the studio, including Joe Cocker, Frank Zappa, Harry Nilsson, and George Harrison. In 1970, Gordon's work on Harrison's All Things Must Pass led to the formation of Derek and the Dominos with Clapton, bassist Carl Radle, and keyboardist Bobby Whitlock.

That group was short-lived but produced a giant hit with "Layla," which Gordon co-wrote. It was his greatest musical achievement yet had nothing to do with the drums; he played the song's signature melancholy piano refrain. (In her 2016 memoir, Rita Coolidge claimed she wrote that part with Gordon.)

"Layla" charted twice in two different years, peaking at no. 16 on the Billboard 200 in December 1970 and reaching no. 10 on the Hot 100 in August 1972 -- long after the band had broken up. (In 1993, while in prison, Gordon won a Grammy for Best Rock Song for "Layla," following the success of Clapton's Unplugged, named Album of the Year.) The song has been streamed more than 30 million times, according to SoundScan.

When Derek and the Dominos disbanded, Gordon's popularity and work ethic earned him sessions that became monumental albums, among them John Lennon's Imagine, Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown, and Steely Dan's Pretzel Logic.

With that fast fame the turbulence of his drug and alcohol abuse never slowed, a lifestyle that doctors later testified had exacerbated Gordon's mental disorder.

"I think that people overlook that, aside from his obvious mental illness, Jim was a really great, gentle guy with so much untapped talent," drummer Rick Marotta told Billboard by email. "I wish that there had been a way for someone to stop the horrific events that sent him away for all of these years, but unfortunately we lived in an environment that didn't rescue people with that kind of illness. There was too much acceptance of strange behavior blamed on drugs and alcohol."

As Gordon told Rolling Stone in 1985 of the murder, "I had no interest in killing her. ... I had no choice. It was so matter-of-fact, like I was being guided like a zombie." His trial attorney later told The Washington Post that Gordon "truly believed he was acting in self-defense."

Today Gordon refuses contact with lawyers and declines to attend parole hearings. He is said to rarely leave his cell, and often resists medication. A 2005 document shows he was collecting $4,000 a month in royalties at that time, and was disciplined for giving some of that money to fellow inmates.

In November 2017, Gordon was again diagnosed with schizophrenia. Court records show he also suffers from delusions, a heart condition, and an enlarged prostate. Still, Gordon was deemed ineligible for California's new Elderly Parole Program, instituted earlier this year, which gives special consideration to inmates older than 60 who have served 25 years.

Gordon turns 73 in July. Yet despite having no record of violent behavior since 2001, the board determined that his mental health "remains dangerously unstable."

Family Protests Parole of Woman Who Killed Her Three Children in Daly City

Jean Elle, NBC Bay Area

Relatives of three young children killed by their mother 20 years ago in Daly City asked Governor Jerry Brown to reject a parole board’s recommendation to release the mother.

Megan Hogg was convicted of murdering her three kids — Antoinette, 7, Angelique, 3, and Alexandra, 2 — and sentenced to 25 years to life and now, the family and investigators are working together to oppose her release.

The children were murdered in their Daly City home by their mother in 1998 and the girls' aunt along with other extended family members recall the painful chapter now that the State Board of Parole hearings is recommending her for parole.

"I'm fearful for her to come and say she starts a family I don't think she learned from it," said Karla Douglas.

The San Mateo County District Attorney’s office agrees, saying Hogg shows no remorse for suffocating her three girls. Additionally, they say she has not been a good prison inmate, saying she has a record of dealing drugs in prison and was found to be at moderate risk to re-offend.

The family, DA and police continue to send letters to Gov. Brown asking him to reverse the decision and they urge others to do the same.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Did man serve 39 years for slayings actually committed by

‘Golden State Killer’ suspect?

Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post

In the early morning hours of Nov. 11, 1978, Rhonda Wicht, a 24-year-old waitress and cosmetology student, was beaten, raped and strangled with a macramé rope in her apartment in a quiet suburb near Los Angeles. Down the hallway, her 4-year-old son, Donald was smothered and suffocated to death in his bed, according to prosecutors.

Hours after a relative discovered their lifeless bodies, a suspect was arrested in the case: Craig Coley, Wicht’s former boyfriend with whom she had recently broken up. Coley was charged with their killings. After a first trial resulted in a hung jury, Coley was convicted in a second trial of murder in 1980. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Coley remained behind bars for more than 38 years, always adamant that he was innocent. He petitioned for clemency, with no luck. A police detective with the city of Simi Valley begged his agency to reopen the case, noticing possible failures in the investigation. But authorities refused to give it a second look.

That all changed on the eve of Thanksgiving last November, when Gov. Jerry Brown (D) pardoned Coley after police found new DNA evidence that no longer placed him at the crime scene. A Ventura County Superior Court judge erased his conviction. At the age of 70, Coley was released from prison, an innocent man.

After nearly four decades, authorities reopened the investigation into the deaths of Wicht and her son. Now, Simi Valley police are looking into whether their murders might be tied to the man charged in one of the most notorious unsolved serial killings in U.S. history — the “Golden State Killer.”

Authorities announced last week they had arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo, charging him with capital murder, after a DNA match allegedly linked him to killings and rapes across California, spanning several years. Officials suggested he could be linked to even more cases, with dozens of victims who were attacked in the 1970s and 1980s.

Simi Valley police want to examine DeAngelo’s genetic profile to find out whether his DNA is consistent with the evidence in the Wicht case, the Associated Press reported.

Deputy Chief Joseph May, of the Simi Valley Police Department, told CBS Los Angeles it is “within the realm of possibility that he could be a suspect in our case.” The time periods for the crimes match up, and so do the general locations. “He is suspected of committing a homicide in Ventura County,” May said. “We’re part of Ventura County.”

Simi Valley Police Chief David Livingstone told a San Diego NBC affiliate that he noticed similarities between the crimes of the Golden State Killer and the Wichts’ murders.

The suspect who terrorized Californians in the 1970s and 1980s often attacked young single women living alone or with only their children. He used ligatures in his rapes, and at times ransacked the rooms of his victims, Livingstone told NBC 7.

“There was some ransacking in the Wicht case,” Livingstone said. “Not that a lot of murders don’t have some similarities, in terms of violence, but this one is close enough and with the time frame it’s close enough.”

Simi Valley authorities hope to at least be able to include or eliminate DeAngelo as a possible suspect.

“I don’t care how they find out as long as they find out and it’s a true conviction,” Coley, the man wrongfully convicted of the mother and son’s murders, told CBS Los Angeles. “I feel elated for the family, for Rhonda’s family. I believe that at some point in time that they will find who did this and justice will finally be served.”

Coley’s journey to his own semblance of justice began in the early 1990s, after a Simi Valley police detective spotted “red flags” in the Wicht case file. The detective, Mike Bender began noticing that certain evidence in the investigation wasn’t analyzed properly, and several solid suspects were never pursued. “It appeared that a real investigation hadn’t occurred,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The detective met Coley at a state prison in 1991 and became convinced of his innocence. But none of Bender’s superiors would let him reopen the case, he told the Union-Tribune. In 1991, they ordered him to stop pursuing the case or else he’d be fired. So Bender quit his job, leaving Simi Valley but pledging to continue working toward cracking the case.

Bender took the 16 boxes from the case with him to his new home in Northern California. Every Saturday, he talked by phone with Coley.

In September 2015, after Bender pleaded with numerous government agencies to look into Coley’s case, Brown requested that the Board of Parole Hearings conduct an investigation.

Livingstone, who was 11 when the killings happened, also took an interest in Coley’s case, he said at a news conference last year. While organizing his agency’s newspaper clippings archive, he learned that biological evidence used to convict Coley could be re-examined using DNA technology that wasn’t available in 1978.

Hearing of Bender’s involvement in Coley’s case, Livingstone reached out to the former detective in October 2016. Livingstone learned that biological evidence in the Wicht case was ordered destroyed by a judge. But he knew that sometimes, such evidence often ends up being simply misfiled. He decided to reopen Coley’s case to find out what happened to the missing evidence.

Some of this key evidence was found in a private lab in Northern California. The lab had inherited the evidence after two other labs went out of business, the Ventura County Star reported. None of that DNA ended up matching Coley.

Simi Valley police and the Ventura County District Attorney’s office chose to support Coley’s petition for clemency, writing they “no longer have confidence in the weight of the evidence used to convict” Coley and that the current evidence met “the legal standard for finding of factual innocence.”

Brown signed the pardon, writing that the detective who originally investigated the case “mishandled the investigation or framed” Coley.

Coley “has been a model inmate for nearly four decades. In prison he has avoided gangs and violence,” Brown wrote. “Instead he has dedicated himself to religion. The grace with which Mr. Coley has endured this lengthy and unjust incarceration is extraordinary.”

Coley may be the longest-serving prisoner in California to be granted clemency, Simi Valley police told the Los Angeles Times. In February, the California Victim Compensation Board voted unanimously to award Coley $1.9 million — the highest award ever paid to an exonerated California prisoner, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“It’s not something you can describe other than it’s painful,” Coley said to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I went four decades not being able to grieve the woman and child I loved.”

Since he was freed, Coley has been living near San Diego with his friend and “savior” — the retired detective, Bender and his wife.

Even if the DNA does not come back as a match with the suspected Golden State Killer, Simi Valley police say it will at least be one potential suspect they can cross off their list.

“We want to solve this case,” Livingstone told NBC 7. “The Golden State case gives us a lot of hope that even after many years, there’s always the chance. It still shows you that you can solve cases even though it has been that many years.”

Sacramento’s Embattled DA Faces the Run of Her Life

Republican incumbent Anne Schubert is dogged by police accountability questions

Brandon E. Patterson, Mother Jones

The race for district attorney in Sacramento, California, where city police fatally shot an unarmed, 22-year-old black man named Stephon Clark last month, is shaping up as a referendum on police accountability and mass incarceration.

Incumbent DA Anne Schubert, a Republican in a city and county dominated by Democrats, has come under harsh scrutiny from local and national groups, media organizations, and her Democratic rival for her tough-on-crime positions and financial ties to police organizations.

The Intercept last Wednesday ran a report detailing more than $400,000 Schubert has received from local and state police groups over the years—an amount that constitutes nearly a third of her overall campaign donations, according to the article.

Schubert was already taking heat, at least in liberal circles, for having declined to file charges against a single officer, despite more than 20 officer-involved shootings and 13 deaths in law enforcement custody in her jurisdiction in 2015 (when Schubert took office) and 2016, according to the Sacramento News & Review. She “has prosecuted more activists for civil disobedience than she has officers involved in misconduct,” the weekly paper wrote.

The more recent donations, say local reform groups and Schubert’s challenger, assistant DA Noah Phillips, could influence Schubert’s decisions related to the Clark shooting, which is still under police investigation. Now those groups are publicly speculating that Schubert’s reluctance to prosecute in dozens of earlier police-related deaths may have been swayed by the law enforcement cash her various campaigns—one for superior court judge, one for DA, and then her current re-election effort—have collected going back to 2009.

Schubert took money from local police unions as recently as earlier this month, according to the Intercept report. She also accepted donations from police unions in the week after Clark’s death, according to campaign finance records. She has yet to announce her prosecutorial intentions related to more than a dozen other police shootings and in-custody deaths in 2017 and 2018.

Incumbent district attorneys are facing unusual scrutiny this election season as progressive groups push to replace old-school DAs across the country with reform-minded candidates. Few incumbents are under more pressure than Schubert. The police donations just after Clark’s death drew headlines from local and national media outlets, and the Phillips campaign has capitalized on the controversy, unveiling a new TV ad suggesting that Schubert cannot be an impartial arbiter in the Clark case. Groups including the local Black Lives chapter, the Anti-Police Terror Project, and Real Justice PAC—a national group that is backing Phillips and working to educate voters on the issues—are also claiming Schubert is beholden to the police.

It is not uncommon, actually, for district attorneys to accept campaign donations from police groups. But those who do run the risk of bad optics, experts say. Police-reform groups, not surprisingly, consider such donations a conflict of interest.

Local groups are stepping up their organizing as the June 5 election nears. Sacramento Area Congregations Together, a coalition of some 50 faith groups, schools, and others organizing around the race, is canvassing neighborhoods every weekend until Election Day. The nonpartisan coalition advocates for criminal justice reform—volunteers aim to educate voters about the powers and critical role of the district attorney.

Other groups are taking a partisan approach: Black Lives Matter Sacramento is circulating contact information for Democratic politicians who have endorsed Schubert, and encouraging people to call and pressure the pols to rescind their endorsements. Real Justice PAC has done likewise, and is calling on local Dems to endorse Phillips instead—RJP also has donated at least $13,000 to the Phillips campaign and is helping it recruit volunteers.

Reformers are also targeting Schubert over her positions on state ballot initiatives that affect California’s jail and prison populations. She was an ardent opponent of a 2014 initiative that aimed to alleviate unconstitutional overcrowding by reclassifying some felonies as misdemeanors and allowing people convicted of those crimes to apply for reduced sentences. She sued Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016, hoping to block an initiative that increased early-release opportunities for nonviolent offenders and ended prosecutors’ unilateral discretion in deciding when juvenile defendants should be charged as adults. She also adamantly opposed a failed 2016 measure that would have ended the death penalty in California, instead penning an op-ed in support of a successful measure to speed up the execution process. Schubert also fought against Prop. 64, the ballot initiative that legalized the recreational use and sale of marijuana.

Now Schubert is supporting a campaign for a measure that would roll back some of the reforms put in place by earlier initiatives: The so-called Reducing Crime and Keeping California Safe Act of 2018 would elevate certain misdemeanor offenses to felonies and make it harder for some offenders to seek parole or early release.

Schubert, whose campaign declined an interview request for this story, has maintained that she has always “follow[ed] the facts” in her decisions and that the donations from police groups have not influenced her choices. Her positions on past ballot measures, she has said, were in keeping with the best interest of crime victims and the public, and that despite ongoing protests outside her office demanding charges against officers in the Clark case, she cannot make any decisions until the police department has completed its investigation. The demonstrators have been so persistent that Schubert recently erected a metal fence around her building to thwart them.

Phillips, Schubert’s rival, is running on a platform that includes bail reform and greater transparency around the office’s handling of police shootings—he argues that Schubert could have dealt with the case differently, in part by immediately laying out for the public her process for such a case. (She only did so in a press conference a full month after Clark’s death.)

Phillips showed up at several rallies for Clark in the weeks after the shooting as well as city council meetings and other forums where the incident was being discussed “to hear what concerns are being raised” and to campaign. “People have to understand that their leaders are willing to lead them, find solutions, and move forward,” he explains. “If you are absent, no one will trust you, no one will have faith in the system, and no one will believe you when you give them information.”

The vast majority of the establishment Democrats have already endorsed Schubert—and so far, none has succumbed to the reformers’ pressure tactics. (The Phillips campaign chalks up its endorsement deficit in part to the fact that Phillips didn’t start campaigning until January, more than two months after Schubert announced her bid.) There is no independent polling in the race. In an internal poll commissioned by the Phillips campaign, voters overwhelmingly chose Schubert, but after they were read “brief and balanced” statements describing the candidates and their positions, Phillips pulled to an 11 point lead. The Schubert campaign would not share any internal polling results.

If she loses, Schubert wouldn’t be the first district attorney to go down over a police shooting. Cleveland’s former top prosecutor Tim McGinty, who declined to press charges in the 2014 death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, and Anita Alvarez, who faced calls for her resignation over her botched handling of the Laquan McDonald case in the Chicago area, were both defeated in 2016, as was Angela Corey, the former Florida prosecutor who failed to convict Trayvon Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman. Reform DA candidates beat incumbents in several more races in 2016 and last year.

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones faces a similar type of electoral challenge. In January, the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee published an op-ed calling for someone run against Jones, a Republican and a staunch Trump supporter who was unopposed in his previous re-election bid. The paper cited lawsuits over alleged abuse by Jones’ deputies that have cost the county millions, and personal attacks the sheriff made last year against the founder of BLM Sacramento. Jones has also taken heat for his office’s contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to house detainees in a county jail.

Jones, who donated to Schubert’s first campaign for district attorney, will now be facing Milo Fitch, a former deputy chief at the Sheriff’s Department who is running on a platform that includes support for bail reform and increased educational and jobs programmings for county jail inmates. Many of the groups organizing around the DA race say they plan to get involved in the sheriff’s race as well. They are hoping public outrage over the Clark shooting will prove pivotal in getting people to the polls. “Stephon Clark creates a sense of urgency for folks in Sacramento to say enough is enough,” says Gabby Trejo, an organizer with Sacramento ACT. “Folks are ready for change.”

California's other prison problem

Restorative justice workers contend with a public health crisis that persists long after inmates are released

R.W. Dellinger, Angelus

Wearing a red jacket on an overcast March morning, Gary Thomas is the first to speak in the rough circle at the Partnership for Re-Entry Program (PREP) headquarters.

“Absolutely, my health went down because of the poor nutrition we got in prison. I developed coronary artery disease. I got a total of 15 stents before I had a heart bypass and 11 after the bypass. One of my arteries was 99 percent blocked due to cholesterol. Had to have surgery and be repaired with part of a bovine heart. I had an aortic aneurysm, and they had to repair that. They had to put two more stints in my lower abdomen. Now that I’m out, I work every day. I’m 70 years old, and if I don’t keep going, if I stop now, it’s all over.”

Thomas gives this medical report with a country twang and easy chuckle at the end. He served 30 years of a life sentence in eight different California prisons.

PREP, a restorative justice ministry of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, is housed on the first floor of a long-past-its-prime 2 1/2 story, blue-with-brown-trim Victorian in South LA.

That is where Thomas and seven co-workers, all having served lengthy prison sentences, have left their computer stations to talk about a matter the Prison Policy Initiative called last year a hidden “public health problem.”

“When they started feeding us nothing but chicken or turkey products, it just got so old it was nasty,” Thomas went on. “So, a lot of guys ate from the commissary and vending machines. You could buy Top Ramen soups and mix that with different cheeses and meats to supplement that soup and make it last longer and a lot tastier to boot.”

One might argue prison meals have changed in the 34 California prisons that house 130,000 inmates since this “lifer” gained his freedom 3 1/2 years ago. But Tony Kim, the youngster in the group, readily disputes this. In his baseball cap and gray sweatshirt, he looks at least 10 years younger than his actual age of 50.

“I supplemented my meals like Gary because one of the major issues at Stockton [prison] when I was there were grievances about the kitchen because of the way they prepared the food and the small portions,” says Kim, who just got out four months ago after serving 32 years in five prisons — and developed diabetic neuropathy along the way.

When his doctor recently asked him if he was a vegetarian because he was vitamin B-12 deficient, Kim says he replied, “No. Not by choice.”

Alfred Cruz, 60, is nodding. “Sure, it affected my health,” he points out, looking across the circle at me.

“It’s hard to maintain a hard immune system when your body’s not receiving the right nutrition. I got hepatitis C in there, and TB (tuberculosis), and Valley fever. So, it’s hard for your body to fight when you’re not getting the right nutrition, the right vitamins. And with their medical system, if you do get sick, it’s hard to get any help.”

Cruz served nearly 30 years in five California prisons. He also passed on many institutional meals. Instead, he would get together with two or three inmates, with one buying tortillas, another some chili beans and another a jar of mayonnaise.

But even pooling the little money they earned from their prison jobs, it was tough coming up with it on any steady basis. So, he wound up going back to what was served: two hot meals and a bag lunch that consisted of a slice of baloney between stale bread.

Some cooks liked to use prisoners as guinea pigs, he recalls.

“I remember one time at CMC they were gonna try switching over to emu meat. An emu is a smaller version of the ostrich. It was like a big drumstick. Tasted really bad, with a bad aftertaste, too,” he says.

After some thought, he goes on: “But the one meal that stuck out to me was Sunday, the ‘Grand Slam’ breakfast, which was the closest thing to a normal meal: fried eggs, sausage, cold cereal and then toast.”

Daniel Adamik glances up through black-framed glasses. “While I was incarcerated, I also had a double bypass open-heart surgery. And the cardiologist said that one of the contributing factors to having two blockages was the poor nutrition that they had in the prisons,” he says.

“So, the thing is — there might have been one or two tastier meals, and we might have supplemented our food with commissary food or stuff in packages — none of that food was nutritious, too. You’d buy summer sausages, they were just a package of fat. You couldn’t get fresh vegetables. You couldn’t get lean meat. It was very difficult and extraordinarily expensive.”

High carb, sugary diet

But prison grub is supposed to be bad, right?

That’s the reaction of a lot of Americans — not only in years past, when punishment was the only reason for criminals serving hard time. The idea of “rehabilitation” was an afterthought. And nobody had even heard of the notion of “restorative justice” — where offenders try to reconcile the harm they have done to victims and the community.

But a recent study by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as state reports like “Prison Voice Washington” by the Prison Policy Initiative have called the decline in food quality in prisons a growing “public health problem.”

Why?

Because the vast majority of incarcerated men and women in these state facilities eventually get out — many in a year or two. For example, the average prison time served in nearby Washington State is 29 months, while the median is just 16 months.

And even a year on a poor high carb, sugary diet is more than enough time to inflict serious health consequences such as diabetes and coronary conditions on a person.

In fact, research shows that eating an unhealthy, high caloric diet for just four weeks can lead to long-term steady rises in cholesterol and body fat.

“When people are released from prison, their health problems become community health problems — and a financial burden on the local public health system,” points out the Washington study.

“Preventing and helping treat chronic illnesses by serving nutritious food is cheaper than medical treatment, both during incarceration and after release.”

There are two main reasons for prison food actually getting less nutritious, according to the report. Almost all state prisons — including California — have replaced cooking from scratch, with fresh vegetables, meat and poultry, with processed food from central factories that only need to be reheated. So, plastic-wrapped, sugar-filled “food products” have replaced locally grown and prepared healthy food.

Nationally, most of this processed food served to prisoners has been outsourced to two private corporations: Aramark Correctional Services and Trinity Services Group. Like all profit-making entities, their driving purpose is to make money for stockholders by cutting costs.

These privatized food services have had an increasing number of lawsuits filed against them by inmates, government agencies and even states. Prison kitchens under contract to Aramark have reportedly “served food tainted by maggots … rotten meat … food pulled from the garbage … [and] food on which rats nibbled.”

The Prison Policy Initiative’s investigation concluded that while prison food has gotten worse, U.S. mass incarceration has meant more and more individuals are in prison and trying to survive on that non-nutritious food.

“Now, states and communities must face the long-term health consequences — and resulting health care costs — of feeding large numbers of incarcerated people unhealthy food,” states the report. “Far from the frivolous complaint, unhealthy prison food is actually a public health concern likely costing states and taxpayers far more than it saves.”

‘Abuse of mass incarceration’

After the impromptu bull session inside the seedy LA mansion, Sister Mary Sean goes outside to sit in a lawn chair on the front porch. Then the former teacher tries to explain to me why the quality of prison food is so important. And she should know.

For 17 years, she has worked with former and current inmates serving lengthy sentences in California. She has seen firsthand how bad nutrition inside facilities carries over to chronic illnesses outside.

“Why did you really want Angelus News to do this story?” I ask.

The woman religious straightens up before speaking. “Because I see bad health among the men who work here at PREP and during my visits to prisons around California,” she says.

“I see how bad it is dentally and physically. Many of them have serious health issues. And I know the food in these prisons is not nutritious. So, I think it’s a story that very few people know about. And I think it’s a major, major issue.

“Almost all the people you talk to, inside or out, have health problems,” she adds. “So, I think it’s an abuse. I think it’s an abuse of mass incarceration.”

PREP offers correspondence courses to help prisoners successfully re-enter today’s hypersonic society. “Turning Point” teaches life skills and examines the reasons for criminal behavior. “Anger Management” does just that. “Gang Awareness and Recovery” helps younger inmates leave the gang lifestyle, and “Insight” prepares inmates for their parole board hearing.

These and other courses give prisoners the tools to change their behavior and become productive members of the community when they are released, maintains the 77-year-old woman religious.

Inmates send back finished assignments, which are corrected by PREP workers like Gary, Tony, Alfred and Daniel. The assignments are then returned to prisoners with written feedback. And when all have been approved, certificates are given out.

Allowing these programs into California’s prisons has been a crucial step by its Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to Sister Mary Sean. But the poor food problem in our state prisons remains unchanged.

“I see good change in our facilities,” she says. “But I do not see change in nutrition. And then when inmates are released, they struggle to get adequate health care for all these conditions they developed in prison.”

Health care behind bars: Central Coast jails struggle to care for sick inmates

Chris McGuiness, New Times

Kevin Lee McLaughlin woke up in the early morning hours of April 13, 2017, feeling unwell.

The 60-year-old inmate had been in custody in the San Luis Obispo County Jail since late January awaiting sentencing on an assault charge. At 2:30 a.m., he saw a jail nurse for an evaluation. He complained of numbness, tingling, and pain in his left shoulder and arm.

"I'm clammy," he said. "I need to go to the hospital."

The nurse took McLaughlin's vital signs, which were normal. The inmate wondered aloud if maybe he'd just slept on his arm. McLaughlin, whose jail medical records show that he was being treated for hypertension, was given 1,000 milligrams of Tylenol and sent back to his bed with plans to see a doctor the following day.

Less than one hour later, at about 3:13 a.m., a correctional deputy checked on McLaughlin and noticed he wasn't breathing normally. The deputy asked jail medical staff to conduct another evaluation. Five minutes later, that same deputy found McLaughlin unresponsive in his jail bed. An out-of-county medical examiner found that McLaughlin died of a heart attack, the result of chronic heart disease. McLaughlin's death was listed as natural.

Most of the inmate deaths in the SLO County and Santa Barbara County jails have been classified as natural. They made up more than half of the 41 inmate deaths at the two facilities over the last 18 years. New Times' review of dozens of coroner's investigation reports and medical examiner autopsies revealed that many of those inmates suffered from serious chronic medical conditions.

Grand jury reports and independent evaluations point to long-standing deficiencies in inmate health care at both facilities, and legal claims and lawsuits against both jails allege that those deficiencies have led to lapses in medical care that could be killing sick inmates. While the state prison system reviews inmate deaths to determine whether better care could have prevented those deaths and releases the results to the public, local jail officials say they review deaths but don't make their findings public

Advocates and some inmates' families have accused both jails of violating inmates' constitutional rights by providing substandard health care. The FBI is currently investigating the SLO County Jail for civil rights violations, while a federal class action lawsuit was filed against the Santa Barbara County Jail over conditions for sick and disabled inmates. Amid increasing pressure to address the issue, the sheriff's department and officials in both counties say they are working on reforms at both facilities, aiming to improve care and cut down on inmate deaths.

At risk

Johnny DeWitt, 49, had been in the Santa Barbara County Jail for nearly three months when he got into a verbal argument with another inmate on the morning of Nov. 26, 2015.

DeWitt—who'd been arrested for making violent threats—suddenly grabbed his chest and collapsed. He fell into the arms of another inmate and and was placed on the ground. The inmates yelled out to nearby deputies.

At 8:55 a.m., a "man down" call went out over the jail's radios. DeWitt lost consciousness and stopped breathing while custody and medical staff were trying to evaluate him. They started CPR. Emergency Medical Service workers arrived and spent 45 minutes trying to revive him. An ambulance took DeWitt to Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, but he never regained consciousness.

At 10:53 a.m., DeWitt was declared dead.

An autopsy determined that DeWitt's death was natural: a heart attack. Autopsy records stated that he suffered from coronary artery disease, hypertension, and diabetes, conditions further complicated by a history of methamphetamine use.

A review of deaths at the Santa Barbara Couinty facility showed that more than half of the 21 inmates who died in the jail since 2000 suffered from at least one type of chronic medical condition. That total includes seven deceased inmates who suffered from hypertension, four with heart disease, and four diagnosed with hepatitis C. In addition, the records showed three inmates had documented histories of diabetes, and another three suffered from cirrhosis.

Records on SLO County's inmate deaths show many of the same medical conditions. Of the 20 inmates who died in custody since 2000, more than half had at least one documented chronic medical condition. Among those, five suffered from heart disease, and two were diagnosed with high blood pressure. Three had liver-related conditions including cirrhosis, and another two were diagnosed with hepatitis. At least two were diagnosed with cancer, but only one had it listed as their cause of death.

"We see a lot of heart disease, we see a lot of cancer," said Dr. Christy Mulkerin, the SLO County Jail's new chief medical officer. "We see a lot of liver disease and ton of diabetes."

While such diseases aren't uncommon, Mulkerin and other SLO jail officials said that chronic illnesses within the inmate population tend to be more severe. For many inmates, medical conditions often go undiagnosed or untreated prior to their arrest and are exacerbated by homelessness, drug use, alcohol abuse, or other factors.

"When they come in, they come in directly off the street," said SLO County Undersheriff Tim Olivas. "It's not just a high-risk population, it's probably the highest risk population."

Inmates can request medical services by either asking a guard or submitting a written form known as a "kite." Mulkerin said in the first two months of 2018, the jail received 1,345 medical requests to triage and prioritize. Santa Barbara County jail staff field more than 12,000 requests for health services each year, according to California Forensic Medical Group, a company currently contracted to provide mental and medical health care at the jail.

Both jails are limited in what health care they can actually offer. Part of that is due to the facilities themselves. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said his jail did not have a dedicated medical clinic, but a "hodgepodge" of exam rooms spread throughout the jail, which was built in the 1960s. Brown said inmates can get the basics: physicals, check-ups and exams, and intervention and treatment for minor injuries or illnesses.

"But if it's anything more than that, it requires us to take them out of the jail to a hospital or a specialist," Brown said. "If it's an emergency, or if they need regular dialysis, or have cancer and need chemotherapy, that's also offsite."

The SLO County Jail's Stahl Hall, a medical and mental health clinic, provides a similar level of care. Mulkerin said Stahl's single examination room doesn't have "monitored beds," where an inmate can be placed for an extended period of time and have their vital signs tracked.

"We can't do that right now because that person would be taking up our one exam space, and we can't see anyone else," she said.

At both jails, inmates are transported to the hospital by deputies, or in the most severe or life threatening cases, by ambulance. According to Mulkerin, the jail recorded 59 hospital emergency room visits in the first three months of 2018. Inmate death records showed that seven of the 20 inmates who died in SLO jail custody were transported to a hospital, while 14 of the 21 inmates who died in Santa Barbara custody were transported to a hospital prior to their deaths.

Warning signs

John Kelly entered the Santa Barbara County Jail in March 2013 on a DUI charge. A type 2 diabetic, Kelly said he figured the jail and its staff would simply keep him on his treatment and medication schedule. Instead, he claims that the poor quality of care in the jail turned the 2 1/2 month sentence into a fight for his life.

"I understand I had a debt to society, but I never expected the kind of torture it was," he said.

Kelly described trying to get medical care in the jail as a "tug of war." While on the outside, Kelly took insulin before every meal. Inside, he was allowed two injections each day. He filled out and submitted kites, but appointments were few and far between. At one point, Kelly said the jail ran out of a long-lasting brand of insulin he and other prisoners used. For the next 10 days, they replaced it with insulin that didn't last as long but never changed his dosage to make up for it, according to Kelly. His condition deteriorated, at one point becoming so severe that Kelly said he had to be rushed to a nearby hospital.

As a result, Kelly said he spent much of his time in jail on a roller-coaster ride of blood sugar highs and lows, leaving him worried that he might slip into a diabetic coma or worse.

"It was a complete nightmare," he said. "I was pretty sick the entire time."

Concerns about medical services at the Santa Barbara County Jail surfaced in 2008, when a grand jury report on the facility stated that many inmates' complaints to the American Civil Liberties Union noted a lack of attention to inmates' ailments or pain and delays in getting medical attention. The grand jury also found that jail medical records were still handwritten and that staff had no access to online medical records for inmates.

In 2017, Dr. Scott A. Allen conducted an independent review of the jail's medical services. Allen is co-director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, and his review was commissioned jointly by Disability Rights California and Santa Barbara County. A number of Allen's findings echoed the 2008 grand jury report. Allen's report also found that staffing was inadequate, that physician availability was limited to just three days a week, and that the jail lacked protocols to manage ongoing care for chronically ill inmates.

"Chronic disease management is inadequate," Allen wrote. "My review found management of chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, HIV, and hypertension, among others, to be ad hoc, incomplete, inconsistent, and reactive as opposed to proactive."

In December 2017, Disability Rights California filed a federal class action lawsuit over substandard conditions in the jail. The organization alleged that Santa Barbara County and the Sheriff's Office failed to provide adequate medical care to inmates housed in the jail. The suit draws on Allen's findings and alleges that custody staff refused to provide or deliver sick call forms to medical staff and that the jail's south dormitory, which houses prisoners with serious medical needs, was dirty and crowded, with some chronically ill inmates forced to sleep on small plastic beds on the floor.

In SLO County, a grand jury raised concerns about medical services for inmates at the SLO County Jail after a string of high-profile inmate deaths in 2016 and 2017, including McLaughlin's. According to a 2017 report, the grand jury sought significant and detailed information about inmate health and safety but found it difficult to obtain that data.

"In some cases, we were told it was simply not available," the report stated.

The report attributes the lack of information to multiple agencies being responsible for inmate health care, including the Sheriff's Office, SLO County Drug and Alcohol Services, and the SLO County Public Health Agency.

"Such a structure raises a concern about how well various aspects of inmate care are coordinated, especially when health issues cross multiple boundaries such as drug abuse, psychiatric care, and ongoing medical issues," the report stated.

As part of a process to reform the jail's medical and mental health care services, SLO County commissioned an independent review and evaluation of those services from Dr. Alfred Joshua, chief medical officer for the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. While the county and SLO Sheriff's Office used Joshua's findings to craft a number of reforms, including hiring SLO jail CMO Mulkerin, they refused to release the evaluation, denying a New Times Public Records Act request for the document.

A legal claim filed against the county by McLaughlin's family accused the county of "decades-long deliberate indifference" to the medical needs of inmates. The claim alleged that the jail suffered from a lack of adequately trained staff; failed to develop and implement policies and procedures for how to care for ill inmates; and kept incomplete, illegible, and inadequate health records.

"[McLaughlin] entered the jail as an elevated health risk," the claim against the county stated. "[McLaughlin's] medical condition otherwise would have been manageable with proper medication and timely and professional treatment, including a transfer to a hospital for more specialized and acute care."

The county rejected the claim in November 2017. The family has until May to file a lawsuit.

Twenty-five percent of the medical malpractice claims filed against SLO County in the last 20 years were related to the jail. Of those jail-related claims, nearly half alleged negligent or denied medical care.

Ryan James Johnson wasn't surprised by the allegations. Johnson, 41, spent time in the jail in 2012 while on trial for first-degree murder.

"The level of care at SLO County Jail, I believe, is meant to just get people through with the bare minimum," Johnson, who is now serving a 26-years-to-life sentence in a state prison, wrote in response to questions from New Times. "I believe that the medical care is designed to focus on temporary treatment to essentially stabilize the person until they can pass them off to the next destination."

Deadly lapses

William Meredith Harvel, 73, was disoriented and confused when he was booked into the SLO County Jail on Feb. 18, 2008, for negligently discharging a firearm. In addition to showing signs of dementia, Harvel suffered from a number of serious medical conditions including hypertension and prostate cancer. He was put in a wheelchair and placed in a medical isolation cell. Eight days later, an X-ray revealed that Harvel had an enlarged heart and was suffering from congestive heart failure, mild pulmonary vascular disease, and possible pneumonia.

On Feb. 27, 2008, Harvel began having difficulty breathing and was hyperventilating. He was given a paper bag to breath into, which gave him "some relief."

Four days later, at about 6 p.m., an inmate worker who was mopping the floor said he saw Harvel place his feet on the floor and try to lean forward into a sitting position on his bed. Harvel fell back and hit his head against the wall behind him, slumping over on his side. The inmate alerted custody staff, who went to the cell to assess Harvel.

He became unresponsive. Twelve minutes later, medics arrived, but life-saving efforts were unsuccessful. Harvel was pronounced dead at 8:29 p.m. An autopsy lists his cause of death as congestive heart failure.

Although his death may have been natural, the coroner's report doesn't specify whether it may have been preventable. The report does state that the jail had access to both his medical records and medication regimen as early as four days after he was booked into the jail. The coroner also noted that Harvel was not given any medications during his incarceration, but didn't say what role that may have played in his death.

Records from SLO County's legal counsel show an administrative claim related to Harvel's case was filed in March 2008 and closed in September of the same year. The claim itself was not available, as California state law allows older claims to be destroyed. A decade later, the claim filed by McLaughlin's family alleged that a lapse in medical care may have led to his fatal heart attack.

In addition to stating that jail medical staff failed to recognize that he was having a heart attack, the claim alleged that McLaughlin was given medication that hastened his death. Health records included in the claim showed that McLaughlin was prescribed ibuprofen during his stay at the jail. The claim pointed out that in 2015, the FDA issued a drug safety notification that non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which include ibuprofen, increase the chances of or even cause heart attacks or strokes. The agency issued similar warnings in 2005.

The FDA's announcement also stated that patients with heart disease or risk factors for it have a greater likelihood of having a heart attack following NSAID use. According to his jail health records, McLaughlin was already taking medication for high blood pressure and hypertension, but was also prescribed a 1,200 milligram daily dose of ibuprofen for seven days in January and again in February for five days.

"It should have been known to jail personnel since 2005 that even short-term use of NSAIDs elevated blood pressure and could cause heart failure," the claim stated.

Tracking lapses in care related to inmate deaths is something that California's state prison system has been doing since 2008, and state prison medical officials believe that collecting that data led to a reduction in preventable deaths. Health care at the state's prisons has been in federal court-ordered receivership since 2005, the result of a 2001 lawsuit over the quality of inmate care.

"We review all our deaths and look at every single one intensely," said Dr. David Ralston, a regional deputy medical executive for California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS), a group currently providing health care at the state's prisons as part of the receivership.

According to CCHCS's data, the top three causes of death among the state's prison inmates in 2016 were cancer, cardiovascular disease, and liver disease. CCHCS reviews inmate deaths and makes their findings available to the public via an annual review. According to the reviews, none of the 334 inmate deaths in 2016 were classified as definitely preventable, down from 18 in 2006. The same data shows that the number of possibly preventable deaths dropped from 65 in 2007 to 18 in 2016.

Ralston, who oversees medical care at seven California prisons including the California Men's Colony in SLO, said the decreasing number of preventable deaths was, in part, due to the rigorous reviews and tracking of lapses in care.

"We really look to see if there was any way we could have improved their care," he said. "Continuous improvement is sort of our mantra."

According to CCHCS's data, the most common lapse in 2016 was failure to recognize, identify, or adequately evaluate important symptoms or signs.

Mulkerin said that SLO County conducts multi-disciplinary reviews to comply with the state's Title 15 law, which sets minimum standards for local detention facilities. Those reviews include identifying areas of improvement, but the results are not made available to the public.

"The confidentiality is a must to ensure that the conversation is frank and productive, without violating the patient's rights and privacy," Mulkerin said.

The Santa Barbara County Jail was found to be in compliance with Title 15's death-in-custody review requirement, according to a biennial inspection from the California Board of State and Community Corrections conducted in 2016. However, the December 2017 lawsuit filed against the Santa Barbara County Jail alleges that it failed to adequately review and document deficiencies in care and says that the jail's review of in-custody deaths is inadequate.

None of the documents reviewed by New Times—coroner's death investigations or medical examiner autopsy reports related to the 41 inmate deaths—identified lapses in care, nor whether the deaths were preventable.

"The defendants do not take the necessary steps to avoid similar treatment failures, and the consequent risks to human life, in the future," the lawsuit states.

Making improvements

As scrutiny over deaths at both facilities continues, officials in SLO and Santa Barbara counties have promised the public that they are making reforms.

After criticism of its former jail medical services contractor, Corizon, Santa Barbara County chose a new contractor, California Forensic Medical Group. The group began providing services to the jail in April 2017. The company is supposed to help improve care at the jail and help the facility gain accreditation from the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC). According to a recent grand jury report, the jail also improved its intake screening process and implemented an electronic health records system.

"The dedication of our medical and mental health staff to our patients and county is exemplary," Craig Diamond, a spokesman for California Forensic Medical Group, wrote in an email response to questions from New Times.

In addition, Santa Barbara County is building its Northern Branch jail facility in Santa Maria. The $111 million facility will provide 376 beds, 32 of which will be dedicated for mental and medical health.

Sheriff Brown acknowledged that pressure from Disability Rights California helped push the county to support and fund those reforms.

"They focused on our facility and the levels of services and felt those were inadequate. ... It's really the impetus for doing more than what's been done in the past," he said.

Shortly after McLaughlin's death, the SLO County Sheriff's Office announced that it would implement a number of reforms to inmate mental and medical health services at its jail as well. One of the most significant of those was hiring Mulkerin as chief medical officer. With her in place, control of all aspects of inmate care will fall directly under the Sheriff's Office as opposed to being dispersed between multiple agencies.

"It's been an amazing shift," Undersheriff Olivas said. "Bringing it all under one person who answers to the sheriff has really solved a lot of problems."

The county is currently building a new medical clinic at the jail, which it hopes to open in June. SLO County is considering possibly contracting out jail medical and mental health services, similar to Santa Barbara County, but has not made a final decision. The jail is also working toward NCCHC accreditation.

While jail officials say that systemic problems such as a lack of space and resources, and a population with high rates of chronic illnesses make providing care to inmates a challenge, McLaughlin's family's claim said that's not a valid defense for indifference to inmates' medical needs.

"It's a crime to ignore an inmate's medical needs," the claim stated.

OPINION

What now for Delano man freed after 24 years on death row?

Jose Gaspar, The Bakersfield Californian

On April 19, at 3:50 p.m, Vicente Benavides was escorted out of San Quentin State Prison in a white van.

The doors opened and he stepped out a free man — just two days short of 25 years on death row — after having been wrongfully convicted in Kern County Superior Court on April 20, 1993.

A group of supporters waiting outside the prison’s east gate rushed to greet him, encircling the now white-haired 68-year-old man. Watching Benavides getting hugs and taking selfies seemed almost unreal as people wiped tears away, apparently still in disbelief this moment had finally come.

“We call it like a miracle we have to have faith,” said Jose Luis Figueroa, a friend of the Benavides family. “But we never thought this was going to happen.”

Then Benavides was whisked away by the group including lawyers while a media mob tried to follow shouting questions, but we were kept at bay by prison officials who said we were on state property.

Benavides and family members have declined interviews so far.

This has to rank as one of the most unusual cases in Kern County judicial history.

Convicted for the first-degree murder and sexual assault of 21-month-old Consuelo Verdugo in Delano, the California Supreme Court threw out that conviction earlier this year citing false medical evidence was used at trial to convict Benavides, who always maintained his innocence.

Long after the conviction, it was determined the child died as a result of blunt force trauma to her stomach. Dr. Astrid Heger, considered the preeminent expert in the field of sexual abuse, said she’s convinced “to a high degree of medical certainty that Consuelo’s abdominal and rib injuries were most likely caused by a vehicular accident.”

It turns out the child was never sexually abused, Kern County District Attorney Lisa Green admits. Green was not the District Attorney in 1993, nor did she prosecute the case.

When the Supreme Court overturned the conviction, Green had the chance to retry Benavides for second-degree murder, but declined to do so. Yet Green isn’t totally buying the idea that Benavides did not kill Consuelo Verdugo.

“The evidence strongly suggests that Mr. Benavides is not innocent,” said Green in an interview with reporter Olivia LaVoice of KGET, adding, “But it was also convincing that he shouldn’t have been doing time on death row.”

The case has generated strong reaction from all sides. Local defense attorney Arturo Revelo thinks that in a certain way, this case isn’t that unusual at all. He maintains the Benavides case is indicative of how Latino and black defendants get wrongfully convicted in Kern County.

“This case had problems from the very beginning with the medical evidence and yet the court allowed this evidence to be shown to the jury, which they then concluded that Benavides was a monster,” said Revelo.

The case has also had an emotional toll on at least one of the jurors in the 1993 trial.

Gordon Jones was deeply troubled when he learned that false medical evidence was used to convict Benavides. Jones was the last holdout in voting to send Benavides to death row. He’s relieved the man he voted to convict is now a free man. “I would say it’s the best thing that could have happened,” said Jones. He believes there are serious problems with the judicial system.

“How many more cases like this has there been when an innocent man gets convicted?” said Jones. “Who’s next?” One could sense anger and disgust in his voice.

What to make out of this bizarre case?

Equally troubling is that a 21-month-old child was killed and there is no one being held accountable for her death. Where is the justice for her?

Vicente Benavides spent nearly 25 years on death row, a place he did not belong. In that time, both of his parents have gone to their graves with the thought their son was a convicted child molester and killer. He is now trying to adjust to a new life, too old to go back to his old job as a farm laborer working in the fields of Kern County.

According to friends, he has no savings, no health insurance, no Social Security or retirement.

Trying to get compensation from the state for his wrongful conviction is easier said than done. He will have to prove to the California Victims Compensation Board that he is factually innocent of all charges.

I’m not sure what lessons all sides can learn from this most unfortunate experience. Jones said he is writing letters to the California Supreme Court in an attempt to keep this from happening again.

“I will sleep better when legislation is enacted to prevent this cruel court system from systematically proving that innocent people are guilty until they can prove their innocence,” said Jones.

The latest California death row exoneration shows why we need to end the death penalty

LA Times Editorial Board

A Kern County Superior Court judge last week ordered that a 68-year-old former farmworker, Vicente Benavides Figueroa, be released from San Quentin's death row after the local district attorney declared she would not retry him. Benavides had been in prison for more than 25 years after being convicted of raping, sodomizing and murdering his girlfriend's 21-month-old daughter.

Benavides was freed after all but one of the medical experts who testified against him recanted their conclusions that the girl had, in effect, been raped to death — conclusions they had reached after reviewing incomplete medical records. In fact, the first nurses and doctors who examined the semiconscious and battered girl in 1991 observed no injuries suggesting she had been raped or sodomized, but those details were not passed along to the medical expert witnesses who testified in court. Injuries later observed at two other hospitals were likely caused by that first effort to save her life, which included attempts to insert an adult-sized catheter.

Convicting Benavides was an egregious miscarriage of justice; he spent a quarter-century on death row for a crime he apparently did not commit. His exoneration serves as a reminder of what ought to be abundantly clear by now: that despite jury trials, appellate reconsideration and years of motions and counter-motions, the justice system is not infallible, and it is possible (or perhaps inevitable) that innocent people will end up facing execution at the hands of the state. Not all of them will be saved, as Benavides was.

The case also ought to remind us of the dangers inherent in California's efforts to speed up the calendar for death penalty appeals under Proposition 66, which voters approved in 2016. Moving more quickly to execute convicted death row inmates increases the likelihood that due process will be given short shrift and the innocent will be put to death. Benavides — described in court filings as a seasonal worker with intellectual disabilities — was convicted in 1993. But the records that blew up the case against Benavides, but also raised doubt that Consuelo Verdugo had been murdered at all, were not uncovered until about 2000. Proposition 66 makes it less likely that such diligent research can be completed in the single year it gives appellate attorneys to file their cases (a process that currently consumes three years or more), and thus more likely that innocent people will be put to death

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Annual event invites children to experience workday with CMF, CSP-Solano employees

Joel Rosenbaum, The Reporter

Oohs and ahhs filled the air as kids gathered around a baseball field at Vacaville’s Keating Park to gaze skyward and watch as a California Highway Patrol helicopter made its final approach to land.

The Thursday visit was one of the highlights of a morning event organized by the combined staffs of California Medical Facility and the California State Prison, to mark “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.”

The annual event that occurs on the fourth Thursday in April encourages parents to bring their children with them to work to illustrate the meaning of work-life balance and pride in one’s work, according to the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation.

Since staff members of the prison cannot bring their children into the facility, a fair was organized at the park near the prison.

“It gives the kids a great opportunity to find out more about what their parents do at work,” said Lt. John Ojo, public information officer at California State Prison, Solano.

Children were able to take part in several hands-on activities including learning how to put out a fire with an extinguisher, or operate an extrication tool like the members of the inmate-staffed fire department. They were also taught how to search a cell and were similarly trained like the officers of the prison’s Crisis Response Team by running through a pint-sized obstacle course.

For 5-year-old Dylan Dovichi of Fairfield, whose grandmother is a correctional officer at CMF, the obstacle course was the highlight of his morning, calling it the “coolest thing.”

Folsom Prison Blues, This Time in Spanish

Fifty years after the groundbreaking Johnny Cash concert, the band Los Tigres del Norte plays before inmates at the same California prison

Jim Carlton, Wall Street Journal

FOLSOM, Calif.—In 1968, “the man in black” made music history when he recorded a live performance for inmates at Folsom State Prison. Fifty years later, five men in black—the band Los Tigres del Norte—commemorated that Johnny Cash concert with one of their own, in Spanish.

Much has changed in the world since the late Mr. Cash pulled out his guitar in the Folsom cafeteria and began singing for cheering inmates. As it was back then, life in American prisons remains so bleak that—like Mr. Cash—Mexican norteño group Los Tigres del Norte held a filmed performance at the prison last week to help focus attention on what the members see as an enduring problem.

Mr. Cash put this 138-year-old prison on the map with his hit “Folsom Prison Blues” in 1955, and again in 1968 when he appeared before prisoners here to record a live album. “At Folsom Prison” revived his career and stoked interest in other entertainers performing for prison audiences.

Los Tigres del Norte, known for its norteño folk music, was interested in performing at Folsom, the band members said, in part because of the large increase in Latino incarcerations—they total 43% of the 130,000 inmates in the California penal system, up from 34% in 1998—including many who are Mexican immigrants like themselves.

“We don’t want people to forget about them,” Jorge Hernández, the 64-year-old lead vocalist and accordion player, said before he, his three brothers and a cousin—all wearing black in tribute to Mr. Cash—took the stage here on a prison yard. “I feel like I am with them because they are my blood.” The San Jose, Calif.-based band, originally from Mexico, started out in 1968 in the U.S. by playing before prisoners at a state prison in Soledad, Calif.

Officials of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation share concerns about the many Latinos in prison and see a performance like this one, of music from their culture, as helpful in the rehabilitation effort. That is why the request by Los Tigres del Norte and executive producer Zach Horowitz was the only one accepted of many to film a concert performance marking the 50th anniversary of the Cash concert, said Ralph Diaz, undersecretary of operations of the California prison agency.

Mr. Horowitz is producing a documentary in partnership with the band for the Spanish-language television network Univision set for prime-time broadcast late this year that will include the Folsom concert footage as well as excerpts from interviews with 23 Latino inmates. Los Tigres performed a second concert at a women’s compound housing about 400 of the total 2,800 Folsom inmates. Oscar-winning composer and producer Gustavo Santaolalla is producing the music for the documentary.

“This is a first-of-its-kind event to speak to this segment of the [prison] population—the Latinos,” Mr. Diaz said.

James Garner, a Johnny Cash tribute artist who performed at Folsom prison in 2008, said the prisoners at that time seemed overjoyed to get a break from their routine. “There’s not a lot they get to do, and to have someone come from the outside world is great for them,” said Mr. Garner, 39, of Galt, Calif.

Mr. Horowitz, former president and chief operating officer of Universal Music Group, said he and Los Tigres got the idea to do the Folsom concert a year ago. Mr. Diaz was key to giving the approval, as he had grown up with the music of Los Tigres.

Mr. Diaz’s condition for this performance was that Los Tigres refrain from playing its well-known narcocorridos, or ballads about Mexican drug traffickers. “I knew the band and I knew their catalog went way beyond narcocorridomusic,” Mr. Diaz said.

Among the songs permitted were “Mi Sangre Prisionera” (My Imprisoned Blood), which told of the heartbreak and guilt a father felt for his son being in prison. Los Tigres also played a Spanish version of “Folsom Prison Blues,” co-written for the band by Mr. Cash’s Latina daughter-in-law, Ana Cristina Cash, Mr. Horowitz said.

On the day of the concert, the band and its entourage arrived hours early to clear security checks that included passing through three gates before entering the prison yard, where their crew set up a stage. Some inmates who had been filmed for the documentary were allowed to mingle with the band in Folsom’s Greystone Chapel, which Mr. Cash made famous at the 1968 concert when he sang a song about it written by a Folsom prisoner.

“I never thought I would have Los Tigres del Norte right here, talking to us like family members,” said Luis Flores, 41, who has been in prison since 2010 with a life sentence for second-degree murder. “It makes me feel like I’m outside.”

As Mr. Cash did 50 years ago, Los Tigres started off with “Folsom Prison Blues.” Jorge Hernández then addressed the audience of around 800 inmates in Spanish and English. “You cannot go where we play, but we come and see you,” Mr. Hernández said to cheers. “It’s an honor for us.”

Then for the next two hours, one of the most popular norteño bands on the planet went through a set list including “Prision de Amor ” (Prison of Love). While the prisoners seemed mostly upbeat, correctional officers kept a close watch. “Anything can happen,” said Lt. Jack Huey, the prison spokesman.

The band asked inmate Manuel Mena—a former norteño musician in prison since 1998 on a sentence of 36 years to life for first-degree murder—to join them on “Un Dia de la Vez” (One Day at a Time). “That’s beautiful!” a Latino inmate shouted as the 50-year-old Mr. Mena sang and played the accordion.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Former Donovan Inmate Takes His College Degree Beyond The Barbed Wire

Megan Burks, KPBS

On a recent Wednesday, 43-year-old John Schimmel met with a counselor at Los Angeles City College — his backpack slung over a crisp dress shirt.

It's a far cry from where he was this time last year: serving time at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa for voluntary manslaughter and attempted murder. A dispute earlier in life had gone awry and guns were drawn.

“I just have questions about some of the classes — see what else I need to transfer over to a university,” Schimmel told Mario Estrada, his counselor.

Schimmel is hoping to transfer to Cal State Long Beach next fall to earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology, and eventually a master’s that will let him do the kind of work Estrada does. He coordinates a program for former inmates enrolled at LACC, called Break It To Make It.

That’s the kind of outcome Southwestern College and several other state schools were hoping for when they started bringing more college programs to state prisons.

A statewide focus on rehabilitation, necessitated by legislation beginning in 2011 to shrink the prison population, has taken prison education programs from correspondence courses, to face-to-face classes, to full-fledged degree programs.

Southwestern began offering the latter at Donovan in 2016, when an Obama administration program extended some financial aid to select prisoners, which helped cover its costs.

Data on these programs are beginning to trickle in, and the results are promising.

Schimmel’s transcript may hint at why. It’s awash in check marks for completed credits — in other words, he has a place to start.

Many of the credits are from correspondence courses through Coastline Community College that he took on his own before the Southwestern program started.

“At first when I decided to go to college, it was something for me to just try to occupy my time in prison. When you’re dealing with all of the things that go on (there), it was something positive for me to take up,” Schimmel said. “And at the same time, it was to see if I could actually do it.”

Schimmel barely passed the first course. He was routinely kicked out of schools as a child and earned his high school diploma at a continuation school. He said he was just passed through; he didn’t really know the material.

But Schimmel got better, and he eventually earned four associate’s degrees through correspondence.

“After awhile, it just became a habit,” he said. “And then when I realized the opportunities that I could actually take with education, and use that to apply to my life and make something of myself later on, it became an something of ambition.”

That ambition is hard to miss, but Schimmel said it alone wouldn’t have been enough to sustain him outside of prison. Toward the end of his time at Donovan, he began taking classes alongside other inmates with in-person professors through the Southwestern College program. He said that’s when he learned to ask for help.

“A lot of times, being incarcerated for so long, we don’t like asking for help. We become real (macho), where we’re like, I’ll figure it out on my own,” Schimmel said.

“So I think developing that habit, as far as going to school and asking professors for some kind of guidance or help, I think it becomes a natural thing where you don’t feel embarrassed or feel prideful.”

Now, Schimmel’s days are structured around asking for help.

From LACC, he drives downtown along streets that have changed a bit since he was convicted 18 years ago. His windows are down and the music is up — except when Siri interrupts to help him along.

Schimmel visits a nonprofit there called Chrysalis for regular check-ins with a job specialist. Marleen Munoz has already set him up with a transitional job doing roadside work for the city. She supplies Schimmel with other job leads and, really, anything he needs, like dress shoes for interviews.

They also apply for jobs online, which reveals just how important — and difficult — it can be for the formerly incarcerated to ask for help.

“So we’re going to send an email. So hit ‘compose,’” Munoz instructed. “Right there at the top.”

The silence drags a few beats too long. She reclaims the mouse.

Like a lot of former inmates, Schimmel missed out on years of using computers. It’s just one hurdle on a long list of disadvantages that help explain why many former inmates fall into old habits. More than 60 percent of people released from prison during the 2012-2013 fiscal year were arrested again by 2016, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. About 50 percent returned to custody.

While opportunities like correspondence courses have been shown to reduce that rate, a recent study by the Stanford Criminal Justice Center and a partnering nonprofit shows face-to-face programs like the one at Donovan may have an even bigger impact. They cut the recidivism rate for participants in half.

Schimmel is doing his best to keep busy and on track. After his meeting with Munoz, he went home to study — not for an LACC class, but for a test to become an electrician apprentice. After that, he was planning on a late-night gym session.

“My mom always said I was a child with so much energy, so at least now I’m using that for the right purposes,” he said.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

California's Prisons Have New Training Software

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is using an old tool in a new way.

Kayla Nick-Kearny, Techwire

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) now has a Multiple Interactive Learning Objective simulator (MILO) in every adult institution.

This version, which cost about $688,000 for all 35 one-time licenses, focuses on techniques for communication and de-escalation of threats or potentially violent interactions. It also highlights “the signs and symptoms of mental illness, developmental disabilities and cognitive deficits,” according to CDCR spokeswoman Alexandra Powell.

“The goal in using a MILO simulator is to help train staff to accomplish voluntary compliance where possible through verbal CDT (communication, de-escalation of threats) rather than use of force,” Powell told Techwire in an email.

The program was purchased directly from MILO and runs on Windows 10. It can include hardware such as plastic weapons and large screens for the visual simulation to be projected onto.

MILO has been used at CDCR's training academy before it was made available to local institutions. It is being used to train custodial and noncustodial officers.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-26T11:26:00.001-07:00

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Donovan Inmates Work Toward College Degree Through Obama-Era Program

Megan Burks, KPBS

The students who file into John Rieder’s English 99 class each week carry their books and pens in clear plastic bags instead of backpacks. They wear blue prison uniforms and faded black tattoos on scalps and forearms. Those are just about the only clues this classroom is in a prison.

College pennants line the walls. A whiteboard lays out the day’s agenda. And the students quickly take their seats — except one who’s eager to discuss the text. Rieder said that’s common.

“The level of critical thought and commentary is much higher than I would typically get from a room where I’m teaching 18- to 21-year-olds,” he said. “These guys draw from a pretty remarkable pool of experiences.”

Much of that experience was gained in the streets, not rows of desks in a classroom. The students are inmates at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa, serving time for convictions ranging from robbery to attempted murder.

Southwestern College began offering a rare face-to-face associate’s degree program there in 2016, thanks to an Obama-era pilot program that extended Pell Grants to 12,000 prisoners. Previously, inmates were more likely to take correspondence courses as individuals to earn credits behind bars.

Now, 20 inmates gather for multiple classes a week. They expect to graduate with business degrees in 2020 — things move a bit slower behind bars.

But their degrees will be no different than those earned outside of prison. Rieder said his class is just as rigorous, drawing on psychology, philosophy and poetry to explore themes of education and power.

“The idea is that most folks, if they’re going to yoke ideas of education and power together, they would think, ‘Oh, well, higher (education) leads to empowerment.’ And that’s a great narrative. I love that narrative,” Rieder said. “But I also want them to think about the ways structures of education dovetail with structures of power in U.S. society.

“So we’re not just looking at it in terms of personal transformation and empowerment, although that is an important part about why they are here,” he said. “I also want them to think about some of the social inequities that get reproduced within systems of education.”

That strikes a chord with student Kyle Baughman. The 34-year-old has sharp hazel eyes and a star inked onto his shaved head. He said he essentially grew up in Orange County’s criminal justice system.

“Most of the schools I went to growing up were probation schools,” he said. “So basically, I felt like if I didn’t go, I’m going to get locked up.”

Baughman earned his high school diploma in juvenile hall. Later, a carjacking and robbery, along with sentencing enhancements for being in a gang, landed him in state prison with a sentence of 15 years to life.

He takes responsibility for his actions. But he’s also beginning to work out some of the larger forces that may have brought him here, thanks to Rieder’s class.

“I just happened to bring about discussion like, ‘Hey, do you guys see some kind of connection? The kids of judges and lawyers and the people that make all this money, they’re taught differently, as opposed to the way we’re taught,'” he said. “And something I started to wonder was, that 1 percent, is that the same percentage also in here? Because it’s a very small number of people who come from that kind of environment.”

In his own way, Baughman described philosopher Paulo Freire’s seminal theory from “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” Freire says oppressed people are educated in a banking system, where teachers deposit knowledge without bringing students’ strengths and experiences to bear. A better education system, he says, is one where students think critically and work to solve problems — the kind children of the elite are more likely to receive, especially when Freire was writing in the 1960s.

“I’m like, wait a minute, I’m getting a little suspicious here, because the people you’re talking about going into the banking system are the people that are usually in here,” Baughman said.

He said he hopes the class helps him prove to the parole board he can re-enter society. Participating in the program can shave six months off of an inmate’s sentence. Baughman said he would like to become a drug and alcohol counselor if he’s released.

The prison benefits, too, said Donovan Community Resources Manager Lance Eshelman.

“The inmate is now looking at things in a different light. They are looking to see how to better themself, and that does create a more positive atmosphere for, not only their fellow inmates, but also the correctional staff,” said Eshelman, whose job was created about five years ago to boost programs that align with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s renewed focus on rehabilitation.

Jason Hicks helps coordinate the Southwestern program and runs an educational program in another part of the prison. He said the class has also helped defuse racial tension.

“The program actually takes place on a general population yard, where there’s racial politics. And when you go out into the yard, you’ll see segregation of races,” Hicks said. “That sort of disappears when you get into the classroom. You’ll notice that the guys are willing to help each other out. I think it really shows rehabilitation at its best.”

And it’s expected the benefits might extend beyond the barbed wire. Corrections officials and policymakers are investing in these types of efforts to try to bring down the recidivism rate, or the rate at which former inmates return to prison. Many struggle to adjust or find jobs and fall into old habits.

But first, the focus is on getting these students across the finish line. While Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has signaled she likes the Second Chance Pell Grant pilot, the Trump administration could end it before they graduate. Those involved with the program at Donovan said they hope its future graduates would inspire the government to expand it instead.

“I think they know that there’s a lot of momentum and energy behind them,” said professor Rieder. “People want to see them do well and they want to rise to the occasion.”

At the start of this semester, the students collectively had a 3.91 grade point average.

Council renews inmate crew agreement

Rachel Zirin, Folsom Telegraph

The Folsom City Council renewed their agreement during Tuesday’s meeting with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for an additional three years where inmates help around town.

Since September 2004, the City of Folsom has worked with the CDCR to use inmates from Folsom State Prison, a medium security prison, in community service work crews.

According to a staff report from the City of Folsom, the current agreement expires June 30, but since the agreement was renewed, the new contract will begin July 1.

Year after year, the inmate crews have been proven to be beneficial at a very low cost, so the agreement has continued to be renewed.

Crews help with various manual labor tasks for the Parks and Recreation Department, as well as the Public Works Department.

Robert Goss, director of the Folsom Parks and Recreation Department, said some of these tasks include digging trenches, planting trees, moving hay bales for the Renaissance Fare, demolishing small buildings or a retaining wall and more.

“The inmate crews do almost any job that is done better with manual labor than heavy equipment. They are specifically trained in the equipment they use for working out in the community, so they don’t just leave their cell one day,” he said.

They are very valuable. They work all over the city in the streets, parks, the zoo and rodeo, but they do not work at the schools for obvious reasons.”

The Parks and Recreation Department gets two crews and the Public Works Department gets one, each consisting of eight-to-13 male inmates.

According to the staff report, the inmate labor is provided at no cost to the city; however, the CDCR supervising officer is provided $61 per hour, which was set in 2015. CDCR requested the rate be increased to $63 per hour with the new contract.

“The benefits are very clear by the work they get done,” Goss said. “For a very modest cost, we get labor assistance that is very affordable, as well as a great partnership with the state of California.”

Man who walked away from LA reentry program arrested in La Puente
Alejandra Molina, The Press Enterprise

Authorities on Wednesday arrested a 30-year-old man who had walked away from a reentry program facility in Los Angeles over the weekend, officials said.

Just after 3 p.m., agents — with the Special Service Unit of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation — arrested Richard T. Tarin at Bassett Park in La Puente, said Krissi Khokhobashvili, a spokeswoman with the state agency.

He walked away from the Male Community Reentry Program facility in Los Angeles on Grand Avenue on Saturday and removed his electronic monitoring device, officials said.

Khokhobashvili on Wednesday said agents had information that led them to Tarin at the park in La Puente, where they saw him walking toward a vehicle.

He was arrested and taken to the California Institution for Men in Chino, Khokhobashvili said.

Tarin had been participating in the Male Community Reentry Program, which allows eligible offenders in state prison to serve the end of their sentences in the reentry center, Khokhobashvili said.

It’s a voluntary program for male offenders who have about 12 months left to serve, Khokhobashvili said.

The agency said it received Tarin from Los Angeles County in November 2013 to serve a nearly six-year sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol and causing great bodily injury.

He had been participating in the reentry program since April 3 and was scheduled to be released to parole supervision in November.

Tarin’s case will be referred to the District Attorney’s Office for consideration of escape charges, which could lead to additional time behind bars.

Hidden Body, Falsified Records: Inmate's Death Plagues CA Prison
A year after a decomposed body was discovered concealed in a cell, questions remain despite investigations.
Hoa Quach, The Patch

SAN DIEGO, CA -- On a sweltering April afternoon in 2017, James Leonard Acuna spent what may have been the last day of his life playing soccer with fellow inmates at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa, a few miles north of the Mexican border. The 58-year-old Los Angeles resident was serving a 16-year sentence for assault with a deadly weapon, and was sharing a cell with a man convicted of murdering his father.

It was a year ago this week Acuna died quietly in his cell, on April 21 or 22 – nobody knows for sure because his body wasn't discovered until April 24, hidden under a blanket on his bed and decayed to the point it caused an odor prison employees initially thought was a sewage problem.

Decomposition was so advanced that forensic experts aren't sure how he died and officially listed his cause of death as "undetermined." But the autopsy concluded that while it was possible Acuna died of natural causes, "homicidal violence cannot be completely excluded," indicating his body showed "signs of minor blunt force injury of head and extremities."

Yet a year after Acuna's remains were unceremoniously cremated and his ashes scattered at sea, the full circumstances surrounding his death remain a mystery.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), which was supposed to be watching Acuna, has been less than forthcoming with details, and other local and state authorities have also refused to release information related to his death.

Why Acuna's death went unnoticed despite required headcounts, coupled with the fact he was supposed to be administered daily medication in person by a licensed psychiatric technician are just two questions that remain unclear.

Prison Protocol Ignored

CDCR regulations require the physical counting of inmates at least "four times each calendar day" and further require that during evening headcounts, inmates like Acuna — who occupied a cell — must stand at the cell door until counted.

Dan Vasquez —a former warden at two state prisons, including San Quentin, the state's oldest correctional facility — said he was taught, and in turn instructed his employees, to check for "living, breathing flesh" during inmate headcounts.

"It was a rule drilled into my head," said Vasquez, who worked for the state corrections department for more than three decades. "You had to make sure you saw living, breathing flesh —that's when you knew the inmate was OK."

Vasquez found Acuna's death troubling from a procedural standpoint and said prison supervisors, including the warden, should be held accountable for failing to follow procedure. "In a modern prison like RJ Donovan, officers should not be able to make a serious mistake to the point a body is decomposing in a cell," he said.

That view was supported by the California Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency responsible for overseeing the corrections department, which described prison officials' response to the death as "not adequate," finding that corrections officers and licensed psychiatric technicians "should have discovered the inmate."

In a report released last August the OIG said the CDCR "identified potential staff misconduct based on several officers' alleged failure to conduct proper inmate counts, licensed psychiatric technicians alleged failure to administer and monitor the inmate's medications, and alleged false reporting regarding contact with the inmate after his death."

The OIG report noted that the CDCR's own Office of Internal Affairs investigated "allegations against eight officers, two licensed psychiatric technicians, and one teacher" in connection with the death, but failed to notify the Inspector General.

The OIG also reported that the Office of Internal Affairs for some reason "refused to investigate similar alleged misconduct by four additional officers and three additional license psychiatric technicians" even after evidence showed Acuna had been dead for several days.

Shaun Spillane, a spokesperson for the OIG, said its monitoring of the Acuna case was closed last June, but would not reveal whether any prison employees were dismissed as a result, saying "that investigation is still ongoing."

However, this week, Vicky Waters, a spokesperson for CDCR, told Patch the investigation had finally concluded and "appropriate action is being taken against some employees," but would not disclose the number of employees, their positions or what specific disciplinary action was being considered, citing employees' "due process" rights.

What Was the Cellmate's Story?

Another lingering question raised by Acuna's death is what his cellmate may have told investigators. Not only did this inmate kill his father and conceal the body under a mattress where it decomposed before being discovered, but according to a San Diego County Medical Examiner's report, the cellmate told a mental healthcare professional at the prison that he "had murdered his former cellmate to get a cell to himself" while he was incarcerated in Kern County.

Corrections officials have refused to identify the cellmate, citing personal privacy. However, Patch has learned that shortly after Acuna's death the cellmate was quickly transferred to another unidentified prison.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department has also refused Patch's requests to release the report of its investigation, so it's impossible to determine how extensive the probe by homicide investigators was, or whether detectives corroborated the cellmate's claims.

Sheriff's Lt. Michael Blevins said investigators interviewed several prison officials and inmates, including Acuna's cellmate, who didn't make "much of a response at all."

The autopsy said officials were told that a day after Acuna was last seen alive another inmate attempted to enter his cell, but was told by the cellmate Acuna had the flu. The autopsy report further noted the cellmate also attempted to block prison staff from checking on Acuna's welfare.

One corrections expert told Patch any report of an inmate with the flu should have been immediately investigated. Many prisons will quarantine any inmate with flu to prevent outbreaks among other prisoners.

Vasquez said the cellmate's action should have been a "red flag," especially in view of the cellmate's history, saying a convicted murderer who allegedly killed another inmate after being sent to prison should have been kept away from other prisoners.

"To double-cell a man convicted of homicide is a failure," Vasquez said.

State regulations don't directly address the issue of cellmate selection and instead leave those decisions to a prison's designated custody supervisor, who has great leeway in determining an inmate's "appropriate housing assignment after considering several factors that include a "history of in-cell assaults and/or violence."

What About The Meds?

Besides the issue of improper prisoner headcounts, another pressing question is why healthcare professionals who should have had daily face-to-face contact with Acuna didn't discover him dead in bed.

Acuna, who suffered from cirrhosis of the liver due to a chronic Hepatitis C viral infection, had been assigned to Yard C, the cellblock housing inmates requiring the most medical attention, sources said.

Sources within CDCR, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the matter, told Patch that Acuna was prescribed medication that should have been administered daily in person by a healthcare professional.

It is uncertain whether Acuna was receiving medication through his cell door or from the "pill window" – a location where inmates line up to have medications administered. Once medications are dispensed from the prison pharmacy they're transported to individual cellblocks, where a healthcare professional takes possession and actually administers it to an inmate.

Patch has been told prison pharmacy records show the medication was dispensed to a licensed psychiatric technician who "marked off" that Acuna had received his daily medication during the time he lay dead in his cell.

What those medications were is unknown, although Acuna's post mortem toxicology tests reported traces of antidepressants Venlafaxine and Amitriptyline as well as Nortriptyline, a drug prescribed for headaches and sleep issues. There was no indication of any medication being prescribed to treat Hepatitis C.

Dr. David Bernstein, an internal medicine and gastroenterology specialist and Hepatitis B and C researcher Northwell Health in New York, reviewed the autopsy report and doesn't believe Acuna died as the result of Hepatitis C, a condition that is typically treated orally with one or two pills a day for 12 weeks.

"If someone is not treated for eight to 12 weeks, they're not going to die because they didn't receive the medication," said Bernstein, who said he's worked with thousands of patients over a 30-year career. He said people can die from complications of cirrhosis but there will be bleeding and other symptoms, none of which Acuna's autopsy indicated he had.

"My guess is that Hepatitis C had nothing to do with his demise," Bernstein said.

State and federal laws guarantee some form of medical care for inmates and California regulations require CDCR to provide medical services for inmates based on medical necessity, although no inmate can be forced to take medication if they are competent and object except in an emergency.

Acuna's Hepatitis C infection was not unusual for an inmate. According to CDCR, more than 18,000 inmates in the state's prison system have been diagnosed with chronic Hepatitis C.

In February, civil rights lawyers Marek Merin and Fred Hiestand filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of 18 inmates – five of whom had spent various stints at Donovan – alleging CDCR and its Correctional Health Care Services division were denying more effective treatment to infected inmates by refusing to administer new drugs — medications the CDCR claims are too expensive for general use. That case is pending in Sacramento federal court.

Correctional Carelessness 'Shocking'

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the union representing prison guards, declined to comment citing an ongoing investigation, while the California Association of Psychiatric Technicians, the union representing psychiatric technicians, did not respond to requests for comment.

Several members of the state Senate Public Safety Committee, which has jurisdiction over CDCR, told Patch they were "too busy" to comment and referred inquiries to committee chairwoman Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), whose press secretary also said her schedule prevented her from commenting. The office of Sen. Ben Hueso, who represents Otay Mesa, home of the prison, also did not comment.

But prisoner rights advocates have criticized CDCR employees for failing to find Acuna's body sooner.

Bardis Vakili, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, describes the incident as "shocking."

"Whenever the government takes someone into custody, it bears the responsibility for that individual's safety," Vakili said. "However harsh the conditions in prison may be, for a dead body to go unnoticed in a cell for so long that the cause of death can no longer be determined requires a shocking level of carelessness. In this case, something clearly went wrong, and a transparent investigation and public account of corrective measures to be taken are necessary."

Sara Leslie, a volunteer for the nonprofit inmates' rights group California Prison Focus, said a Donovan prison inmate wrote to the group to express his dismay over the late discovery of Acuna's body. Although the nonprofit declined to identify the inmate who authored the letter, she said it's just one of many disturbing incidents that have occurred at the Otay Mesa prison.

"Clearly CDCR and the COs [corrections officers] who oversee his housing unit are at fault," Leslie said. "The fact that he was not seen or counted for two to three days shows they were not doing their job. If this inmate had a job, appointments etc., they should have investigated his absence."

A 'Two-Strike' Career Criminal

Sketchy court records spanning more than three decades portray Acuna as a career criminal who spent much of his life in courtrooms and cellblocks, beginning in 1984 when he was sentenced to six years in prison after his conviction for robbery with a firearm.

Following a string of convictions for relatively minor offenses that included convictions in 1992 for vandalism and DUI, were a 1997 conviction for brandishing a weapon resulting in a 49-day jail sentence and two 1998 convictions, one on a weapons charge, the other for assault and battery resulting in a combined total of 50 days in jail.

In December 1999, Acuna was charged with first degree residential burglary and received an eight-year prison sentence. Public records do not indicate whether Acuna served the entire sentence or was paroled. However, in 2012, Acuna received a 10-day jail sentence after he was convicted for being drunk in public.

Acuna's final trip to prison, as a "second-striker," came in 2014 when he was sent to Donovan correctional to serve 16 years for assault with a deadly weapon. That sentence was never completed.

Patch was unable to obtain details of Acuna's early life or locate any relatives. His death certificate indicated family members were "unknown" and the autopsy report listed the Donovan correctional facility as Acuna's next of kin. CDCR considers a body unclaimed if "all reasonable efforts have been exhausted" to locate the loved ones of the deceased.

Former prosecutors and public defenders in Acuna's criminal cases who could be located did not return calls and emails seeking comment.

Dying neglected and unnoticed in a prison cell surrounded by hundreds of other inmates is distressing to prisoners' rights advocates.

"The fact [Acuna] made bad choices and was paying his debt to society doesn't mean he should have been neglected," said Prison Focus' Leslie "We as a society should care because we are a civilized country and it's expected that we treat all people in a humane manner."

Lyle Menendez describes reunion with brother Erik after 22 years as a 'remarkable moment'
Julia Jacobo via GMA

Lyle Menendez, one of the two affluent California brothers convicted for the 1989 murders of their parents, spoke out to Daily Mail TV in his first interview since he reunited with his brother, Erik Menendez.

The brothers came face to face earlier this month for the first time in 22 years after Lyle was transferred to the R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility, where Erik had been housed since July 2013, said Robert Rand, a journalist who has covered the case since 1989 and was a consultant for NBC's 2017 TV series on the brothers.

Lyle "ended up bursting into tears" upon seeing his brother, he said in an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV, a preview of which was shared with ABC News' "Good Morning America."

"It was just something I wasn't sure was ever going to happen," Lyle said. "It was just a remarkable moment."

The two hadn't seen each other since September 1996, when they could see each other across a prison yard but couldn't talk to each other, Rand told ABC News. While in separate prisons, they couldn't talk on the phone, but they would write letters to each other -- sometimes playing chess by sending moves via snail mail, Rand said.

On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle, then 21, and Erik, then 18, opened fire on their parents inside their Beverly Hills mansion, using shotguns they had bought days before.

In the interview, Lyle admitted he would change how he handled the aftermath of the killings.

"If I could take my consciousness now and go back, I would have gone to the police and taken my chances in exposing what was happening," he said.

The pair was arrested in 1990 after their psychologist's girlfriend went to police, claiming Erik had confessed to the murders during a session. The doctor-patient privilege was voided after Lyle threatened the doctor's life.

Lyle wishes his brother would have talked to him or a member of the clergy, instead of going to the psychologist, he told DailyMailTV.

"I wish that he had just talked to me, or you know, spent more time going to his parish priest, and not ended up in, sort of this therapist's hands," he said.

During their trial, prosecutors painted the brothers as two spoiled and privileged children who murdered their parents out of greed in an attempt to inherit the family fortune. The defense argued that they acted in self-defense after years of abuse.

The first trial ended in a mistrial. In 1996, at the end of the second trial, the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole.

Despite everything that's happened, the pair has "never had any moments of animosity," Lyle told DailyMailTV.

"I love him deeply," he said.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

California Prisons Could Soon Be Required To Add Vegan Meals

CBS Sacrametno

BERKELEY (KPIX) — State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, has introduced legislation ensuring that Californians confined to prisons and hospitals who prefer not to eat meat have access to plant-based meals.

Senate Bill 1138, if passed, would require that prisons, hospitals and nursing homes have at least one plant-based meal option available – although they would not be required to develop extensive new menus.

Currently, there are about 129,000 inmates in 35 prisons around the state that have to be fed daily. While most inmates get the same meals, some 12,000 inmates already get special meals.

Bill Sessi with the California Department of Corrections said prisons currently offer some options.

“Meals for people with religious preferences whether it’s Kosher, Islamic or vegetarian,” Sessi said. “We have many options, but most of our inmates get a standard diet.”

California prisons have never been known for their cuisine, but they may soon be required to add vegan meals to the jailhouse menu.

Skinner said, “We want to make sure that you are not prevented from being able to exercise that choice which you would have in any other setting.”

In addition to prisons, the law would require care facilities and hospitals to offer the option of meat-free, fish-free and dairy-free meals as well.

“We recognize human rights are for everyone whether they are incarcerated or not,” said Skinner.

Increasing the availability of vegetable-based dietary options would also help the state meet water conservation goals, as tofu and foods like pasta require less water to produce than meat.

“Offering plant based meal options is a great way to give people healthy choices and reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions,” Skinner said. “But most importantly, I want to make sure we’re being fair and giving those in institutional settings food options that meet their individual needs.”

So far no one has come out against the vegan requirement and it has sailed through its first committee hearing with a unanimous vote.

Skinner said she hasn’t yet heard any arguments against it.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Former San Quentin inmate empowers at-risk youth with music
Colleen Bidwill, Marin Independent Journal

John Wallace started writing music in his cell at San Quentin State Prison.

It became his way to express himself and reflect on what led him down the path of drugs and gang life, landing him in and out of Marin County Jail and eventually the state prison.

After Wallace, 39, was discharged in 2003 — with 75 songs under his belt — he realized, things might have turned out differently for him as a kid growing up in Marin City, had he had an outlet to express what it was like being bullied for many years in school, and dealing with loss and trauma.

His desire to give back and help at-risk youth in Marin led the Novato resident to found Surviving the Odds Project, funded by the Canal Welcome Center and a grant through the Marin Health and Human Services, that empowers youth through musical self-expression.

Its inaugural class began in March, and over the next few weeks, 13 students will write and record music at Legion Beats in San Rafael, learn film editing and video production at Community Media Center of Marin to create a music video, culminating in a live performance in May.

Q What does it feel to see STOP become to fruition?

A We’re just scratching the surface right now. I know what it’s like being an at-risk youth and dealing with my skin color, for one, growing up in Marin City, and the criminal justice system. I was in it for many years and went to the department of corrections as a result of blaming other people for my mistakes. I wanted to give back to where a kid wouldn’t have to suffer any longer or blame others for what they’re going through and learn how to express themselves. My dream would to have this as a curriculum set in place at schools as an after-school thing.

Q Who are these youth?

A We wanted to target the schools that were pretty much county community schools where kids are already at-risk. They’ve been kicked out of high school or they’ve been bullied in other schools and acting out in ways that they need support.

Q What’s been a memorable moment you’ve had with them?

A We did an icebreaker where I told the kids, “Tell me something that you wouldn’t want anybody to know about yourself.” The kids started really opening up. One kid talked about the fact that his brother was murdered and what it did to him. We want to get them to express this type of stuff through music or express how it’s making them feel, without using profanity and without using the glorification of drugs and street life.

Q What was it like to release your first EP last December?

A I released my first album, called “All of My Life,” and my artist name on it is Freedom because of the release of what music has done in my life. It’s been amazing the support and continued value of love from my fiance, Melissa Greene, and her mom, Linda Greene, who’ve followed me through this dream. For a long time, I was told you’re not going to amount to anything. When stuff like this happens in my life, I automatically remember those voices. Her mom has always said, “I wish other people could see your light shine bright, because it’s shining really bright right now. You have something to offer.” I just have to keep believing that.

What happened to the ‘Woolly Rapist’ arrested in Sacramento County in 1978?

Cathy Locke, The Sacramento Bee

Q: In August 1978, Jack Allen Jessup was arested at the Coralaire Apartments on Fulton Avenue for being the “Woolly Rapist.” He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 years at San Quentin. Was he released after serving the 18 years?

JAN, SACRAMENTO

A: Jack Allen Jessup, then 34, was taken into custody following a 30-minute chase in August 1978 at the Coralaire Apartments on Fulton Avenue in the Arden Arcade area.

He was known as the Woolly Rapist because of the woolen gloves he wore while assaulting eight women in Sacramento in 1978. He pleaded guilty to seven counts of rape, seven counts of armed robbery, nine counts or burglary and one count of attempted burglary.

Authorities said he also admitted to 25 to 30 other attacks on women and may have been the “pillowcase rapist” sought for attacks in an area from South San Francisco to Monterey in the early 1970s, according to stories in The Sacramento Bee. At the time he raped the Sacramento women, Jessup was on parole after serving 4-1/2 years of a sentence for forcible rape in Santa Clara County.

He was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the Sacramento County rapes.

A probation report on Jessup said, “Briefly, he stated that he did not know why he committed the offense and his conduct frightened him,” according to an account in The Bee.

Ten years later, in August 1989, he was again headed for prison on rape charges, this time in Utah. A story in the Deseret News said Jessup was arrested in February of that year after a Provo woman reported being raped by a man who had hidden in her car while she was in a convenience store. In statements to investigators, Jessup admitted committing four separate rapes in the Provo-Orem area between October 1988 – a month after he was paroled from prison in California – and February 1989.

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the Utah rapes. Now 74 years old, he is in Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah, according to inmate information available online.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-25T15:18:00.001-07:00

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Corcoran State Prison inmate dies, homicide investigation underway

Chloe Carlson, KGET

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Officials at California State Prison, Corcoran are investigating the death of an inmate.

Jack Davis, 33, was found unresponsive in his cell just after midnight on April 23, according to a release by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Corcoran officials responded and began lifesaving measures.

Davis was pronounced dead at 12:42 a.m.

Officials do not have any suspect information at this time, and inmate movement is limited near the site of the suspected homicide so officials can investigate.

Davis was serving a 20-year sentence for inflicting corporal injury causing traumatic condition. He was expected to parole in 2033.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Oildale man sentenced to 7 years in prison in stabbing death of another man

KGET

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - An Oildale man was sentenced Tuesday morning to seven years behind bars in the stabbing death of 48-year-old Arnold Ford, last August.

Christopher Allen Mangham had faced a first-degree murder charge but pled down to a voluntary manslaughter charge.

Mangham stabbed Arnold Ford several times in a home on Roberts Lane in August 2017.

Reports showed Mangham and Ford had a long feud over an alleged affair Mangham had with Ford's wife.

Mangham will serve his time in Wasco State Prison.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Senate Public Safety Committee Passes Leyva Bill Addressing High Suicide Rates at State Prisons

East County Today

SACRAMENTO – On Tuesday, the Senate Public Safety Committee unanimously approved SB 960 authored by Senator Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) which would ensure that state prisons in California promptly inform an inmate’s listed family member or contact person following the inmate’s serious illness/injury or death, including attempted suicide.

SB 960 would specifically require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to notify the contact person of an inmate of the occurrence within 24 hours. The bill also requires CDCR to annually report to the State Legislature on its efforts to prevent and respond to inmate suicide.

In 2017, the California State Auditor noted several state prisons’ deficiencies related to suicide response and prevention. The Auditor’s investigation found that state prisons have failed to monitor at-risk inmates, complete behavioral risk evaluations and treatment plans, and did not have staff complete required trainings related to suicide prevention and response. The audit also highlighted that, from 2005 through 2013, the average suicide rate in CDCR’s prisons (22 per 100,000 inmates) was considerably higher than the average rate of 15.66 per 100,000 in U.S. state prisons.

“It is disturbing that, for years, California prison suicide rates have been higher on average than those across the country. California prisons must clearly take affirmative steps to make sure that inmates receive the care and services they need to prevent injuries and deaths—and particularly suicide,” Senator Leyva stated. “SB 960 will ensure that prison officials notify family members and loved ones promptly when an inmate attempts or commits suicide or is otherwise seriously sick or injured. While in custody, inmates must receive the mental health and other services they need to keep them safe and healthy. I thank my colleagues on the Senate Public Safety Committee for approving this bill that promotes greater transparency and affirms California’s commitment to reversing the troubling high rate of suicides in state prisons.”

According to the state audit released last year, CDCR has not properly implemented policies and procedures, a factor which may have contributed to the recent rise in female inmate suicides. In 2012, women accounted for five percent of CDCR’s inmate population and four percent of its suicides. From 2014 to 2016, they made up four percent of the inmate population but accounted for 11 percent of suicides.

In response to the State Auditor’s findings, SB 960 would strengthen the ability of CDCR to properly implement suicide prevention policies through reporting and legislative oversight. The required legislative report would keep the department focused on improving regulations and procedures while at the same time allow the Legislature to closely monitor how they have improved and where additional steps are still needed. SB 960 is essential to ensure that prisons are properly treating their inmates who are at risk of suicide.

SB 960 is supported by the California Catholic Conference, California Coalition for Women Prisoners, California Prison Focus, California Public Defenders Association, Californians United for a Responsible Budget, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Fair Chance Project, National Association of Social Workers—California Chapter and the Steinberg Institute.

Following today’s approval by the Senate Public Safety Committee, SB 960 will next be considered in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

OPINION

SB1392 and SB1393 are needed fixes to California’s overuse of sentence enhancements

Press Telegram Editorial Board

Reforming the California criminal justice system’s use of sentencing enhancements is a critical step toward making our justice system more just.

Two bills — Senate Bill 1392 and Senate Bill 1393, both introduced by Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, and Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens — offer sensible reforms to two of the most commonly used enhancements.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, as of September 2016, of the more than 100,000 people incarcerated in California state prisons, nearly 80 percent had at least one kind of sentencing enhancement tacked onto their sentence, while 25.5 percent faced three or more sentencing enhancements.

Among the most common enhancements are a one-year enhancement applied for each prior prison term or felony county jail term and a five-year enhancement applied to individuals convicted of a serious felony for each prior conviction for a serious felony.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the one- and five-year enhancements, respectively, impacted 16,177 and 19,677 sentences as of Dec. 1, 2017.

While law enforcement groups including the California Code Enforcement Officers argue such enhancements are necessary “to allow sentences to appropriately reflect someone’s criminal conduct history,” there is little actual evidence that longer sentences by themselves do much to enhance public safety

Despite enhancements’ intention to discourage repeat offenders with the threat of even lengthier sentences, research indicates that what really deters most lawbreakers is the certainty and swiftness of punishment.

“Prison is an important option for incapacitating and punishing those who commit crimes, but the data show long prison sentences do little to deter people from committing future crimes,” explains the National Institute of Justice, the research agency of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Further, what we know for certain about the real world effect of sentencing enhancements is that they contribute to overcrowded prisons by condemning people to spend longer periods of time behind bars at a cost of over $70,000 per inmate per year.

Our criminal justice system should be guided by the evidence, not by rhetoric. Given the absence of evidence that particular sentencing enhancements actually provide public safety benefits, and the deleterious consequences for prison population capacity and taxpayers, it is time for reform.

SB1392 proposes eliminating the one-year sentence enhancement for prior jail terms. SB1393 proposes returning judicial discretion over striking a prior conviction for a serious felony for the purposes of the five-year sentencing enhancement.

“SB1392 and SB1393 are moderate steps in reforming California’s complex and punitive sentence enhancement structure,” said Eunisses Hernandez from the Drug Policy Alliance, which is backing both bills. “Sentence enhancements have not made our communities safer; instead they place a significant burden on taxpayers and families across California.”

We agree. It is time for California to repeal the sentence enhancement and return greater discretion to judges so they can better do their jobs. Simply throwing on additional time to sentences isn’t how a responsible criminal justice system should operate. The Legislature should approve both bills and Gov. Brown should sign them.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Drug overdose kills 1 inmate and sickens 11 at Mule Creek State Prison, officials say

Sam Stanton, The Sacramento Bee

One inmate at Mule Creek State Prison has died and 11 others were treated over the weekend for what authorities say are suspected drug overdoses at the facility in Ione.

Ten inmates were taken to hospitals because of the incident, and eight have since returned to the prison about 45 miles southeast of Sacramento, officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Monday in response to queries from The Bee.

"An inmate who was discovered unresponsive in his cell April 22 was pronounced dead later that evening despite the immediate lifesaving efforts of staff and outside emergency responders," the corrections department said in an email. "The names of the inmates involved are being withheld due to medical privacy laws."

Officials did not reveal what drug caused the suspected overdoses or the area of the prison where it occurred, but said hazardous materials workers had sealed off cells in affected areas and were cleaning them.

"Inmate movement is limited at MCSP as the incidents are investigated," the department said. "The suspected overdoses were limited to one facility.

"Staff are being advised on proper precautions, and inmates are being educated on the dangers of abusing drugs. Medical and correctional staff are conducting wellness checks throughout the facility every 30 minutes."

Drug smuggling into California prisons has been a persistent problem for years as they are secretly slipped into facilities by visitors and staff, tossed over fences or even dropped by drones, according to various media reports.

California lawmakers approved more than $10 million starting in 2014-15 to stop the flow of illegal drugs into prisons, and a report last April for CDCR by UC Berkeley and the Public Policy Institute of California found that "drugs and drug use are prevalent in California prisons."

Drug testing of inmates at selected institutions found nearly 8 percent tested positive for a controlled substance, the study authors reported.

"The most commonly detected substances are opiates (4.2 percent), methamphetamines (1.4 percent), and cannabinoids (1.2 percent)," the study found. "Failure rates vary considerably across institutions."

2 corrections officers attacked by inmates at Kern Valley State Prison, officials say

Jose Franco, KGET

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Two correctional officers from Kern Valley State Prison are recovering after being attacked by about 12 inmates over the weekend, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Officials said about a dozen inmates attacked the two officers in a dorm at one of the prison's dayrooms on Saturday, April 21 just after 3:30 p.m.

Officials said the attackers continued to attack the two officers as other staff responded. The attackers were pepper sprayed and were eventually pulled away from the two officers.

Both attacked officers were taken to a local hospital for treatment and were released later that day.

One officer suffered a broken vertebrae in his back, a broken nose, a concussion and other injuries to his hand and face. Prison officials said he would not be able to work for "an extended period of time."

The second officer suffered injuries to his hands and face and could return to work in a few days, according to officials.

Six inmates were treated at the prison for cuts and bruises.

The names of the officers and the inmates involved were not released.

Officials continue to investigate the attack.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Sierra Conservation Center inmate dies during first day of firefighter training

Giuseppe Ricapito, The Union Democrat

A Moreno Valley man incarcerated at the Sierra Conservation Camp prison in Jamestown and employed on his first day as an inmate firefighter died Saturday morning after a training hike near the prison.

Anthony Colacino, 33, who had been incarcerated at SCC since June 2017, participated in a training hike with a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation fire captain and four other inmate firefighters about 7 a.m. Saturday on a hill less than a mile outside the secure perimeter of the prison.

Colacino collapsed about 7:50 a.m. near the end of the hike. The on-duty fire captain contacted emergency resources while the inmate firefighters attempted to resuscitate Colacino in a transport vehicle back to the firehouse, which is about a quarter-mile away from the prison.

After the arrival of outside emergency responders, Colacino was pronounced dead at 8:41 a.m.

CDCR Public Information Officer Krissi Khokhobashvili said a cause of death is not yet available, but foul play is not suspected.

Khokhobashvili declined to speculate on the outcome of the autopsy report and cited an ongoing investigation into the cause of his death.

The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office and the investigative services unit of CDCR were conducting an internal investigation by interviewing inmates and learning about Colacino’s activity before his death, she said.

The California Office of the Inspector General, the oversight agency for CDCR, will decide to “investigate as they deem appropriate,” she said.

Colacino was the only new inmate firefighter on the team participating in the hike, Khokhobashvili said. The hikes generally don’t take more than an hour, and the group was near the end of the hike when Colacino collapsed.

All inmate firefighters must receive a medical clearance by internal CDCR medical staff for “vigorous duty,” she explained, which Colacino had completed.

SCC Public Information Officer Lt. Robert Kelsey said the inmate firefighters were “handpicked” and were required to have no pre-existing medical conditions.

The medical clearance is comparable to a physical, he said, and involves a blood test, a doctor’s screening, and for inmates to self-identify any potential issues.

“As long as they don’t have anything that raised a red flag,” they are cleared for vigorous duty, he said.

All inmate firefighters must also be on a minimum-security level, have not committed a sexual offense or arson for their incarceration, and demonstrated non-violent behavior while incarcerated, Khokhobashvili said.

All the other inmate firefighters on the hike at the time were “experienced inmates” and used their emergency skills to attempt life-saving measures on Colacino when he collapsed.

“Those inmate firefighters, they put their training into action immediately,” she said. “It’s tragic but I do think it's important to say that we are proud of the inmates who helped out.”

Colacino was transferred to the custody of CDCR on Feb. 26, 2017, from Riverside County to serve four years and four months on two counts of evading a peace officer while driving recklessly, cruelty to animals, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence, a CDCR press release stated.

Colacino had been expected to make parole in July 2019.

Khokhobashvili said Colacinoa was first housed at Wasco State Prison in Kern County during the “reception center process” to identify his program needs and security before being transferred to SCC.

In August 2014, the Press Enterprise in Riverside County reported that Colacino shot a dog during a domestic dispute at his home in Moreno Valley and led Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies on a 45-minute chase in a black 2011 Cadillac before he was apprehended.

Colacino was reportedly convinced to surrender to deputies after being called on his cell phone by law enforcement. He had abandoned the wounded dog in an area outside Moreno Valley.

In 2017, Moreno pleaded guilty to the charges before receiving a four year, four month sentence, with six months credit for time already served.

Sierra Conservation Center houses about 4,200 inmates, and is one of two state prisons responsible for training inmates in the Conservation Camp program, the CDCR press release stated.

Approximately 3,500 inmates are housed in the camps as inmate firefighters.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Sex offender compliance check in Vallejo nets five arrests

Rachel Raskin-Zrihen, Vallejo Times-Herald

A compliance check conducted by the Vallejo Police Department on April 20, targeting sex offenders, netted five arrests, police officials announced. It’s the first such check done in recent years, Lt. Joe Iacono said.

The operation, called “Victor’s Roar,” targeted individuals convicted of sex crimes against children, who are on county probation or state parole, and living within the City of Vallejo, he said.

For the operation, the police department collaborated with the Courage Center 2, the Solano Advocates for Victims of Violence, the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, and the United States Marshal Service, he said.

The Courage Center 2 is Vallejo’s child advocacy facility, serving as a one-stop resource for victimized children. It partners with Kaiser Permanente to provide a safe, child-friendly place where abused children are interviewed by professionals trained to work with them including specially trained Vallejo Police Detectives, Iacono said. Victor the lion is the center’s official mascot in Vallejo and is named in honor of a 5-year-old boy who saved his 3-year-old sister by telling their parents he had witnessed her being abused, the announcement notes.

The one-day operation resulted in five arrests, and those cases will be forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for review and filing, it says.

The police department intends to continue its relationships with its community partners and conducting similar operations in the future, Iacono said.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

CDCR NEWS

Authorities Searching for Man Who Walked Away From L.A. Reentry Program

Kristina Bravo, KTLA

A man remained on the loose Sunday after walking away from a reentry program facility in Los Angeles the previous day, officials said.

Richard T. Tarin, 30, was serving a five-year, eight-month sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol and “causing great bodily injury,” according to a statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The department dispatched agents Saturday afternoon to look for Tarin, who had taken off his electronic monitoring device.

He was set to be released to parole supervision in November.

The agency said it received Tarin from Los Angeles County on Nov. 27, 2013. He was transferred from the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo to the Male Community Reentry Program on April 3.

According to CDCR, the program lets eligible state inmates to serve the end of their sentences in a reentry center, which offers programs to aid transition from custody to the community.

Authorities described Tarin as 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 178 pounds. He also appears to have several tattoos on his face in a booking photo released by CDCR.

Anyone with information was urged to contact law enforcement or call 911.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Inmate firefighter dies after collapsing in training hike

San Francisco Chronicle

JAMESTOWN, Calif. (AP) — California officials say a 33-year-old inmate firefighter died after collapsing during a training hike in Northern California.

The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says his fellow inmate firefighters tried to revive Anthony Colacino before emergency responders took over Saturday morning. The cause of death is under investigation. No foul play is suspected.

Officials say Colacino collapsed less than an hour into a hike at Sierra Conservation Center prison about 125 miles (200 kilometers) east of San Francisco.

Colacino was sentenced in Riverside County in February 2017 to four years in prison for evading a peace officer, animal cruelty and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

He was scheduled for parole in July 2019.

Case wraps up against Bay Point man charged in 2015 killing

Nate Gartrell, East Bay Times

MARTINEZ — The case has ended against a Bay Point man who accepted a 14-year prison sentence for a homicide that prosecutors say was motivated by robbery.

Nissan Moran, 22, pleaded no contest to manslaughter and gun possession charges in the death of 24-year-old Emilio Martinez, an Antioch resident. Moran was arrested shortly after the November 2015 homicide, and had nearly two years credit for time served.

Prosecutors say Moran arranged to buy “pills” from Martinez the day of the killing, and that Martinez and his girlfriend arrived at the Rivershore Apartments in Bay Point around 6:15 a.m. Moran was overheard saying he didn’t have any money and the two started arguing. At some point, Moran shot Martinez, prosecutors say.

Moran was originally charged with murder. His defense attorney argued that the evidence against Moran was based on hearsay statements and the testimony of a witness whose memory was “kind of foggy” and identified Moran through a photo lineup. They argued there was no evidence Moran intended to rob Martinez.

Martinez’s 2015 obituary, published in this newspaper, describes him as a “gentle, sweet soul with a heart of gold” and says he attended Pittsburg High School and Los Medanos College.

Moran’s case ended with a restitution conference this week. He was formally sentenced last December and sent to San Quentin Prison, according to records.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Corrections officer accused of taking bribes, having sex with inmates

Kristin Price, KGET

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - An investigation is underway into a correctional officer accused of having sex with inmates at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano.

24-year-old Brittany Sampson is on administrative leave, accused of sneaking cell phones into the prison, taking bribes and having sex with inmates.

Last month, 17 News reported investigators discovered 55 unauthorized cell phones at the prison after a fight left two inmates and a guard wounded.

According to court documents, prison staff say they believe the attack could've been sparked by inmates having contact with people outside the prison via cell phone.

KVSP also recently dealt with a large number of citizen complaints about inmates contacting them using cell phones. Now, 17 News has learned the prison is investigating one of its own as part of the problem.

Investigators say Officer Sampson gave inmates Ira Kurney and Ollie Bledsoe cell phones. She is also accused of having sex with them.

Both inmates are second strikers with multiple convictions. Kurney is serving a 76 year prison sentence. Bledsoe is serving 62 years.

Investigators say they found multiple cell phones and inmate letters at Sampson's apartment.

Records show Sampson has been a correctional officer since 2015. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said she is on administrative leave, but could not provide any other details.

According to the District Attorney's Office, criminal charges have not been recommended.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Man who murdered 15-year-old Redlands High School student in 1977 is again denied parole

Sean Emery, Orange County Register

A man who raped and killed a Redlands High School student in 1977 has been denied parole again.

A state parole board, following a hearing at Ironwood State Prison on Thursday, determined that John Wilton Zenc, now 54, is not suitable for release.

Zenc has served more than three decades behind bars for the 1977 slaying of 15-year-old Paula Hernandez.

Family members reported Hernandez, a Redlands High School sophomore, missing on March 22, 1977, when she didn’t return home from school. Police the next day found Hernandez’s body in an orange grove on Grove Street, near the University of Redlands, while her school books were spotted near railroad tracks.

Zenc, in a taped confession, told officers that he dug a shallow grave in the orange grove and then grabbed Hernandez as she walked along the railroad tracks on her normal route home from school. Zenc admitted to strangling Hernandez while raping her, then burying her.

Two of Hernandez’s siblings attended this week’s parole hearing, along with members of the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office’s lifer unit, a division created by District Attorney Michael Ramos in Hernandez’s honor, which represents the DA at parole-board hearings for inmates sentenced to life terms in prison.

Sylvia Caudill, Hernandez’s sister, said her family was happy and relieved at the parole board’s decision.

“I wanted them to understand he is a danger to our community and no one wants him out,” Caudill said. “He is evil.”

The parole board felt Zenc has shown no empathy toward Hernandez’s family, instead focusing on the impact his incarceration has had on him, Caudill said.

Hernandez’s parents, who attended all of Zenc’s previous parole hearings, were not able to make it to his latest hearing for health reasons. Caudill said she and her sister plan to continue opposing his release.

“We will go to battle again,” she said.

According to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records, Zenc has been denied parole a dozen times. His next parole hearing is tentatively set for April 2021.

Zenc is the first of four killers tied to high-profile Inland Empire murders scheduled to face the parole board over several weeks.

On May 2, J.P. Remsen, who at age 15 stabbed 14-year-old Tristan Jensen to death and dropped his body down a manhole and into a sewer, will have his first parole suitability hearing. On May 2, Damien Matthew Guerrero, who shot 18-year-old Kelly Bullwinkle to death, will have a parole hearing. And on May 9, Zachary Moore, who at the age of 16 stabbed his younger brother Jamie to death, will come before the parole board.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-20T15:51:00.001-07:00

CALIFORNIA INMATES

California inmate released after 25 years on death row

The Associated Press

SAN QUENTIN, Calif. A man who spent nearly 25 years on California's death row was freed Thursday after his conviction in the rape and killing of his girlfriend's nearly 2-year-old daughter was overturned.

Vicente Benavides, 68, was released from San Quentin State Prison following a judge's order, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Benavides, who had been on death row since June 1993, was freed after the state Supreme Court ruled last month that false medical testimony was presented at his trial.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Council: Firefighter jobs not going to felons

Cost of training program also a big concern

Cameron Kiszla, Camarillo Acorn

The City Council’s battle against Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to put a fire training camp for parolees near town is heating up, but as of now, the likelihood of preventing the plan appears to be little more than smoke.

The City Council held a meeting April 10 at City Hall to discuss Brown’s plan to repurpose the Ventura Conservation Camp, which sits just west of Camarillo in unincorporated Ventura County at 2800 Wright Road, and turn it into the Ventura Training Center.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Chico panel discusses crime, rehabilitation and how mental health factors in

Risa Johnson, Chico Enterprise-Record

Chico >> Local law enforcement leaders, representatives for probation and behavioral health and a criminal defense attorney discussed in a panel on Thursday night criminal justice reform and the intersection of mental health.

In their opening remarks, District Attorney Mike Ramsey and Sheriff Kory Honea referred to Assembly Bill 109 as a “sea change,” both describing more negative than positive effects of the bill.

Signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011, AB 109 addressed prison overcrowding by placing repeat, nonviolent offenders in county jails as opposed to state prisons.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-19T16:13:00.005-07:00

CDCR NEWS

Tehachapi CO sues CDCR after losing unborn baby while running to stop a fight at prison

KERO 23ABC News

TEHACHAPI, Calif. - A female corrections officer assigned to the all-male super maximum area of the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi while pregnant, today filed a civil lawsuit accusing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) of disability discrimination and violation of the Fair Housing and Employment Act .

The suit is seeking unspecified damages after the officer, Sarah Coogle, lost her unborn baby while acting to stop an altercation among prisoners.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

50 Years After Johnny Cash, Los Tigres Del Norte Perform At Folsom Prison

Felix Contreras, NPR

Fifty years ago, Johnny Cash performed at Folsom State Prison in Folsom, Calif. The January 1968 concert and live album it produced, At Folsom Prison, helped revitalize Cash’s career, inspiring him to testify for prison reform and cementing his reputation as a voice for the downtrodden. Earlier this week, the Mexican norteño band Los Tigres del Norte followed in Cash’s footsteps and became the first major live act to play at Folsom since the rock and roll star’s historic concert five decades ago.

The spirit of Johnny Cash is everywhere at the prison-yard gig. Los Tigres and crew walk through the same massive security gates that Cash and his musicians did on that cloudy, winter morning. The musicians’ green room is in the prison’s Greystone Chapel — the same chapel immortalized in song on Cash’s 1968 album. But somethings have changed with time. When Cash played his prison show in ’68, the inmate population at Folsom was most white. Today, it’s mostly black and Latino.

Behind 'Ear Hustle,' The Podcast Made In Prison

Ari Shapiro, NPR

Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods wanted to start a podcast about life in prison. It would be for inmates, by inmates, to be played on the closed-circuit station in San Quentin State Prison in California — "for the inside," as Woods says.

Woods is serving a 31-years-to-life sentence for attempted second-degree robbery. Poor is a visual artist who volunteers at San Quentin.

Their humble expectations grew when they found out about a talent contest for new podcasts, sponsored by Radiotopia. They entered. They won. And their podcast, Ear Hustle, became a hit. ("Ear hustle means eavesdropping in on other peoples' conversation — being nosy," Woods explains.)

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Convicted murderer denied parole for 16th time

Joseph Langenbahn, Sonoma West

District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced that on April 10, the California Board of Prison Terms denied parole for the 16th time to 70-year-old former Healdsburg resident Manuel Avalos Flores, who was convicted of the second degree murder of 23-year-old Ricoberto Arroyo in 1981.

At that time, Flores and victim Ricoberto Arroyo each lived in Sonoma County and had known each other in their native state of Mexico. According to Flores, he held a grudge against Arroyo because he believed him to be responsible for ending a romantic relationship that Flores had in Mexico. Witnesses stated that Flores always carried a .38 caliber handgun with him.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Giving gropers a break? How California state workers stay employed after big payouts

Marjie Lundstrom, The Sacramento Bee

Officials at the Porterville Developmental Center in the Sierra foothills won’t allow public tours so the privacy and dignity of the mentally disabled people who live there are protected.

Behind the walls, though, the state facility allegedly was a hotspot of sexual harassment and retaliation among peace officers charged with protecting vulnerable residents.

According to a 2013 federal lawsuit – which cost California taxpayers $1.6 million – five peace officers accused five fellow officers of groping, leering, making vulgar comments, spreading sexually explicit rumors, penning anonymous threatening notes, playing suggestively with a banana, displaying pornographic images on a work computer and other demeaning conduct.

OPINION

Keep young offenders out of state prisons

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

A recent deadly South Carolina prison riot didn’t make as much news here as they did back East.

But the headlines are enough of a cautionary tale: Seven inmates dead. Seventeen inmates injured. Guards waited hours before going in to break up the melee, which sounds terrible — but so does the fact that the guards were so vastly outnumbered that they were scared for their lives to do so.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-18T16:25:00.001-07:00

CALIFORNIA INMATES

California death row inmate to be freed; no retrial planned

The Associated Press

A man who spent nearly 25 years on California's death row for raping and killing a toddler before his conviction was overturned won't be retried and could be freed within days, authorities said Tuesday.

Vicente Benavides Figueroa, 68, has remained in prison even though the state Supreme Court last month overturned his 1993 conviction on grounds that medical testimony at his trial was false.

Many doctors who testified to the cause of the girl's injuries recanted.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Youth offenders share about domestic violence's effects, raise funds to help end cycle

Megan Diskin, VC Star

Jessica Beall knew it was right to choose the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence to receive a donation because many people like her at the Ventura Youth Correctional Facility could relate.

“Nobody understands how it is unless you’ve been through it,” said Beall, 19.

She spoke of an abusive family member and the abuse she later experienced in a dating relationship.

More than $3,100 in cheesy pizza was purchased by young people at the correctional facility to raise funds and help victims of domestic violence.

CDCR Installs Aspirating Smoke Detection at Kern Valley State Prison

Del Williams, Correctional News

DELANO, Calif. — Kern Valley State Prison in Delano is the latest California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) facility to implement aspirating smoke detection, which stops nuisance alarms, speeds detection and requires minimal maintenance

Under the guidance of CDCR, the largest nonfederal correctional system in the nation, Kern Valley State Prison is now joining a growing number of correctional facilities implementing aspirating smoke detection technology for fire protection. Specified by the CDCR in the bidding process, aspirating smoke detection systems draw in air through small flexible tubing secured in air ducts. The air is analyzed continuously for the presence of minute smoke particles in a remote area up to 300-feet away that is inaccessible to inmates

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

OC District Attorney files lawsuit accusing California Board of Parole Hearings of violating victim’s rights

Sean Emery, OC Register

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has filed a lawsuit against the state parole board, alleging that a parole hearing for a man convicted of killing his friend by beating him and tossing him out of a Cessna was improperly advanced by a year.

By filing the lawsuit, Orange County prosecutors are hoping to head off a parole hearing scheduled next month for Lawrence Cowell, who is currently serving 25 years to life for the 1982 murder of Scott Campbell, the son of former San Juan Capistrano mayor and longtime victim’s rights advocate Collene Campbell.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

California leads the nation in sending former inmates to college. Will other states follow?

Michael Walsh, Yahoo News

After years behind bars at Kern Valley State Prison and the state lockup in Chino, Calif., Martin Leyva had grown accustomed to the brutal violence and volatility of prison life. Showing up for his first day of college following his release, on the other hand, was truly frightening.

Leyva got off the bus in 2007 at Santa Barbara City College, looked up at the buildings, but couldn’t bring himself to step onto the campus. Shaking, he turned around and returned to his sister’s house in the nearby town of Goleta.

Lawsuit alleges prison didn’t accommodate pregnant officer

Michael Balsamo, The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California correction officer who said she fell while responding to a fight between inmates at a maximum-security prison, causing her to subsequently lose her child, filed a discrimination lawsuit Tuesday claiming state prison officials wouldn’t provide reasonable accommodations when she was pregnant.

Sarah Coogle’s lawsuit, filed in Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield, alleges officials at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation would not allow her to take a less strenuous position without taking a pay cut and losing her benefits or going on unpaid leave.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA INMATES

On this day: Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of Robert Kennedy's murder

Frances Mulraney, IrishCentral

On this day, April 17, 1969, Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of the premeditated murder of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He is currently serving a life sentence.

On June 5, 1968, after scoring a major victory in winning the California primary, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian. Months later, on April 17, 1969, Sirhan was convicted of the premeditated murder of the senator and potential Democratic candidate for the Presidency. He was initially sentenced to death but later had his sentence commuted to life in prison. The 74-year-old is still in jail having last been refused parole in February 2016.

Born in Jerusalem on March 19, 1944, Sirhan moved to the US when he was 12 years old, graduating from college in California after spending some time in New York.

MS-13 Member Admits to Trafficking Narcotics From California Prison to Edison

Tapinto Edison

NEWARK, NJ - A member of the MS-13 gang admitted Monday to trafficking illegal narcotics from inside a California prison to a business center in Edison.

According to a release from the United States District of New Jersey Attorney's office, Luis Calderon, 32, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to an indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine.

The drugs were concealed inside a box of brand-name snack cakes.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Survivors of violent crime raise their voices in California to call for a new approach to criminal justice

Jazmine Ulloa, The Los Angeles Times

Her father, uncle, a cousin and two older brothers. Those are some of the family members 16-year-old Aaliyah Smith has lost to gun violence. Then there are her friends.

Jermaine Jackson Jr., 27, was shot and killed in 2016 while he painted over graffiti in San Francisco. Toriano “Tito” Adger, 18, was shot there a year later at a bus stop. He called Smith, who was nearby, and warned her to run. She made it inside a library moments before the crack of gunfire.

SPEAR conference brings “shadows of the prison” to light

Isabel Ting, The Daily Princetonian

Activists, authors, and individuals with histories of incarceration discussed the racism and inequality surrounding the criminal “(in)justice” system in Students for Prison Education and Reform’s fifth annual conference, “Shadows of the Prison.”

SPEAR defined “shadows of the prison” as the “lesser-seen, under-discussed features of the criminal (in)justice system which impact human lives through the pervasion of carceral logics — punishment, supervision, violence, and control — beyond the prison’s walls and deep into ‘free’ society.”

Social activist Susan Burton shared her experiences with grief, incarceration, and recovery in the keynote address on April 13 at 4:30 p.m. Although Burton was named a CNN Hero in 2010 and is now the successful founder of the nonprofit A New Way of Life, through which she works with ex-convicts fighting problems of re-entry, in the past she struggled with experiences of abuse as a child, six incidents of incarceration, and the tragic loss of her five-year-old son.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-16T16:55:00.002-07:00

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Former Death Row inmate gets life in prison for 1981 Newport Beach murder

Sean Emery, Orange County Register

SANTA ANA – A former Death Row inmate who more than three decades ago killed a man in Newport Beach was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A Santa Ana jury last year convicted James Andrew Melton, 66, of special-circumstances murder for the 1981 killing of Antony Lial DeSousa, ending the third trial Melton had faced for the slaying.

Prosecutors say Melton used advertisements in gay magazines in order to meet rich, older men who he could rob. Prosecutors said that Melton – who had two rape convictions – met DeSousa, a 77-year-old retiree, through such an ad, robbed him and strangled him at his condo.

8th DUI Arrest Logged For Man In Monterey Co.

In the latest arrest, the 60-year-old's blood alcohol level was .24, three times the legal limit, officials said.

California News Wire Services

MONTEREY COUNTY, CA – A man was convicted and sentenced to four years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for driving under the influence, his eighth conviction for DUI in Monterey County, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Carlos Morales, 60, was seen by sheriff's deputies on Feb. 18 weaving in and out of his traffic lane. An investigation revealed that Morales was driving under the influence.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Residents react to prison mental hospital

Marianne Napoles, Champion news

Residents from the College Park neighborhood in Chino are protesting the 50-bed mental health hospital proposed for the California Institution for Men (CIM).

The neighbors, who live north of CIM, attempted to voice their concerns to the prison’s citizens advisory committee on Tuesday but missed the 8:30 a.m. opening by 30 minutes, as did the Champion, because of misinformation given by prison officials on the meeting time.

The residents ended up at the California Institution for Women’s citizens advisory committee that was held immediately following the men’s meeting in a conference room on the Chaffey College campus.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

It’s not easy being Charles Manson’s grandson

Chris Anderson, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Bradenton resident Jason Freeman is selling funeral pamphlets and pieces of the sheet that covered his infamous grandfather’s body.

MANATEE COUNTY — The funeral was open casket, and Jason Freeman wanted to place the ring on his grandfather’s finger but his body had so badly decomposed he had to wear gloves during the service.

Freeman set the ring on Charles Manson’s chest and walked away instead.

Upon conclusion of the service the six pallbearers carried Manson’s casket to the crematory, where Freeman stood in a waiting area during the process. When Freeman was presented with the ashes of perhaps the most notorious criminal in American history he was given something unexpected in addition: The ring.

Charles Manson’s grandson attends funeral, speaks on family’s past

Laura Jazmin Tolliver Palm Beach Post

A Florida man wears the ring of one of the most notorious criminals in history.

The alleged grandson of Charles Manson, 41-year-old Bradenton resident Jason Freeman, was unexpectedly given the keepsake at his grandfather’s funeral.

Charles Manson was convicted of organizing the gruesome murders of actress Sharon Tate and six other people in 1969. At the funeral, his grandson wanted to place his grandfather’s ring on his finger but couldn’t because Mason’s body was so extensively decomposed.

Meet our 23ABC Pet of the Week, Kino!

Feven Kay, ABC 23 News

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - 23ABC's Pet of the Week, Kino, is a Corgi mix.

Kino is six-years-old and a great lap dog. He graduated Marley’s Mutt’s Pawsitive Change Program, a progressive and intensive rehabilitation program that matches their dogs with inmates inside California state prisons.

Kino has a mild temperament. He is house-trained, kennel-trained and leash-trained.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

DEATH PENALTY

LA Times and Others Suing Over New California Execution Rules

Don Thompson, The Associated Press

The Los Angeles Times and other news media organizations sued over California's new execution rules Wednesday, saying they would bar journalists from fully reporting on the lethal injection procedure. The lawsuit is the latest challenge as the state seeks to resume executions for the first time since 2006.

The execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison leaves critical steps out of public view, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco against the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the corrections secretary and San Quentin's warden.

OPINION

Life After ‘17 to Life’

What it looks like to re-enter life in Stockton, Calif., after a long stint in prison.

Joseph Rodriguez and Nell Bernstein, The New York Times

STOCKTON, Calif. — In California, known for decades as one of the nation’s most avid jailers, the trajectory of law and order is shifting. Through litigation, legislation and a series of ballot initiatives, the state’s prison population has dropped 25 percent over the past decade.

The photographer Joseph Rodriguez has been documenting crime and punishment in California for years and recently focused his gaze on the migration home, in Stockton — a barren outpost in California’s Central Valley.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Bill to accelerate sex offender registry notifications clears Riverside assembly

The bill was approved unanimously.

City News Service

RIVERSIDE, Calif.- - A Riverside County lawmaker's bill to require prisons, county jails, mental institutions and other facilities to hasten alerts to the California Department of Justice regarding the release of registered sex offenders was unanimously approved today by the Assembly.

Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, D-Corona, authored AB 1994 as a public safety measure that she says would close a loophole in existing law.

The bill, which is now bound for the Senate, specifically addresses time criteria established in 1998 under Penal Code section 290.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

DEATH PENALTY

California news media sue state to make public all portions of executions

Maura Dolan, The Los Angeles Times

California news media organizations sued the state Wednesday to make public all portions of executions, including the preparation of the deadly chemical used for lethal injection.

The Times and two Bay Area media outlets said California's execution protocol "intentionally places critical portions of the execution beyond public observation."

A new death chamber at San Quentin State Prison provides for no public viewing of the "Infusion Control Room," where the drugs are prepared and administered, the suit said.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Las Vegas mass shooting survivor no longer a victim

Billy Khang, KYMA

Calipatria State Prison hosted the Crime Victims rights memorial ceremony Wednesday. Giving awareness and spotlight on those who have been victims to crime.

Many in attendance had the chance to hear the stories of victims who overcame their hardships....

One of those speakers, Meriah, a survivor of last year's mass shooting in Las Vegas.

Overton said, "it has forced us to dig deep and find the inner strength that maybe some of us didn't necessarily know we had."

Female inmates at Inland Empire facility graduate with training in carpentry, coding

Josh Haskell, ABC 7 News

CORONA, Calif. (KABC) -- Jonala Jones has spent the last seven years serving time at the California Institution for Women in Corona after being convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.

She's eligible for parole early next year.

"It's scary, thinking about going home. Not knowing how you're going to handle things. I heard it's hard out there, especially when you're getting out of prison. These skills give me more peace of mind knowing I obtained something that can help me get a job," Jones said.

Jones was one of 70 inmates who graduated from the California prison industry authority's pre-apprentice program. These women are now trained in carpentry, construction labor, healthcare facilities maintenance and for the first time - coding.

CDCR NEWS

CAMARILLO IN THE LINE OF FIRE | Proposed parolee fire training center near Camarillo irks officials, residents

Chris O'Neal, Ventura County Reporter

A proposal to convert the existing Ventura Conservation Camp near Camarillo into one which would house parolees for firefighting training has been met with resistance from city officials who say that it could bring unwanted trouble to the area.

The camp, currently operated by CalFire and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, is located at 2800 Wright Road on county property, but adjacent to Camarillo city limits. The proposal would convert the facility into the so-called Ventura Training Center (VTC), operated by the two aforementioned agencies plus the California Conservation Corps.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Inmate Charges Another, Kills Him In Salinas State Prison Sunday

Bay City News Service

Salinas Valley State Prison officials are investigating the death of an inmate on Sunday morning as a homicide, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The CDCR said that just after 10 a.m., inmate Michael Ellison attacked inmate Jason Lewis with a self-manufactured weapon. Officers quickly intervened and used chemical agents to stop the fight.

Convicted murderer Eric Menendez now shares Gospel with fellow inmates

Jardine Malado, The Christian Times

Erik Menendez, who was convicted along with his brother Lyle of murdering their own parents, has reportedly turned to God and is now sharing the Gospel with fellow inmates.

In an interview with ABC News, the brothers' paternal aunt Marta Cano said that Erik had recently asked her to send him some books and told her that he had been teaching religion to a group of inmates.

"So, he was really making sure that the prisoners knew that there is a God that loves us. That was marvelous to me because he never got that at home," Cano told ABC News.

Two jailed men charged in Twain Harte, Strawberry burglary spree

Giuseppe Ricapito, The Union Democrat

A Sonora man in custody at the Tuolumne County Jail and a transient Tuolumne County man incarcerated at Folsom State Prison will face new felony charges after being connected via DNA evidence to a spate of 2017 burglaries in the Strawberry and Twain Harte areas.

Sgt. Andrea Benson said the eight burglaries, which included locations on Old Strawberry Road and on Bumble Bee Road in Strawberry, and on Bluebird Hill Road and The Rock of Twain Harte restaurant on Fuller Road in Twain Harte, amounted to an estimated “thousands of dollars worth” of total items stolen.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Police: Suspect In Art Student’s Murder Was On Parole For Attempted Murder Charge In California

CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The suspect who was arrested for the murder of a Philadelphia art student last November was previously arrested in California on an attempted murder charge.

Philadelphia police announced Thursday the arrest of 22-year-old David Grier of North Philadelphia. He is accused of killing 21-year-old Kierra Johnson, an art student at Hussian College, last November.

California Mother Who Killed Her 3 Daughters Comes Up For Parole

Maria Medina, CBS San Francisco Bay Area

SAN MATEO COUNTY (KPIX 5) – A Bay Area mother convicted of killing her three young daughters could soon be set free.

It’s described as one of the worst criminal cases in San Mateo County history.

Three girls, ages 2, 3 and 7 were murdered by their own mother, Megan Hogg.

San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Sean Gallagher said, “She taped their hands, she taped their mouths, and smothered them one by one by one.”

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Bay Area restaurants host Tip-A-Cop/Special Olympics fundraisers

Officers will wait on tables at Claim Jumper, CPK, Elephant Bar, Black Bear, Malone’s, The Point and Noelani’s

Linda Zavoral, Bay Area News Group

There’s good reason to tip lavishly at these upcoming restaurant fundraisers.

Law enforcement officers will be waiting on tables — and doing it for a good cause.

Called Tip-A-Cop, the events will raise money for the Special Olympics of Northern California via the Law Enforcement Torch Run and other benefits.

THE POINT BISTRO: Officers from the California Department of Corrections will volunteer as waiters from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 27, at The Point Bistro and Cantina, 555 Main St., Vacaville.

OPINION

A Convicted Fraudster Was Released and Then Un-Released from Soledad Prison

The Story of David Lack and Proposition 57

Nick Welsh, Santa Barbara Independent

Poor David Lack. I don’t know whether to feel sorry for the guy or to kick him while he’s down. I’m inclined to do both. Not so Brian Cota, the prosecuting attorney who put Lack away in 2014 on a nine-year sentence for bank fraud and embezzlement. If Cota has his way, he’ll send Lack off to yet another stint in the hoosegow. That is, if Lack doesn’t die first from cancer.

Back in the day, Lack — a onetime Minnesota farm boy and successful building contractor — was a certified highflier in statewide and local Republican Party circles. One year he donated $42,000 to political campaigns. The office walls of Lack Construction were plastered with glossy photos of Lack — friendly, easygoing, and a little goofy — gripping-’n’-grinning with every major Republican figure dating back to Ronald Reagan.

I didn’t really know Lack, but I liked him anyway. I mention him now because he’s becoming the poster child for Proposition 57, the state ballot initiative passed in 2016 that grants early release to nonviolent criminals. During his three years behind bars, Lack has been a model prisoner. He takes classes. Before his conviction, he had zero record. If he ever hurt a fly, no one’s said so. And recently he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Do we really want to spend $80,000 a year to pack him in the sardine can of Soledad State Prison?

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

CDCR NEWS

State officials make case for parolee fire training camp near Camarillo

Jeremy Childs, Ventura County Star

State officials proposing a fire training camp for parolees near Camarillo presented their case for the project to concerned citizens and rehabilitation advocates at an informational meeting Tuesday night.

More than 100 people, including residents and civic leaders, filled the City Council chambers to learn about and share their thoughts on the $26.6 million Ventura Training Center.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

'I felt one inch tall': Stockton nonprofit helping former inmates get second chance

Friends Outside is a state wide non-profit since 1955 that provides job help, transitional housing and much more to former inmates.

Kurt Rivera, ABC10.com KXTV

Julian Balderama, 39, spent 27 months at Pelican Bay State Prison for dealing crystal meth.

One day he said his wife sent him a photo of his daughters wearing matching shirts that read: "My daddy is my favorite superhero."

"It was at that moment that I felt one inch tall," added Balderama.

Healdsburg man, 70, denied parole for 1981 murder

Santa Rosa Press Democrat

A 70-year-old man from Healdsburg convicted of a 1981 murder was denied parole for the 16th time Tuesday during a hearing at San Quentin State Prison.

Manuel Avalos Flores shot and killed 23-year-old Ricoberto Arroyo outside of a bar in Windsor in January 1981 with a .38 caliber handgun, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Flores held a grudge against Arroyo for his role in ending a previous romantic relationship Flores had in Mexico.

Podiatrist who hired killer found suitable for parole

San Mateo Daily Journal

At his seventh parole hearing Tuesday, a podiatrist serving a life sentence for the 1976 murder of his business partner was found suitable for parole, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

A state board found William Moalem, 78, was found to pose a low risk for reoffending if he is released from prison, having complied with the rules of the California Men’s Colony State Prison in San Luis Obispo, according to prosecutors.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Why Inmates Are Converting to Islam

Imaeyen Ibanga, Shreen Khan, AJ+

Islam isn't just the fastest-growing religion in the world, it's also the fastest-growing faith in U.S. prisons. But why do so many inmates turn to this religion?

10 to 15% of U.S. prisoners are Muslim, and many of them had to fight to practice their faith behind bars. So how different is observing Islam while incarcerated? And what happens to their faith when new converts are released?

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Accused Pomona Police Killer Spent Less Than a Month in the Army

Eric Leonard, NBC Southern California

The man accused of murdering a Pomona Police Department officer after a car chase and shootout served less than one month in the US Army before being discharged for an unknown reason.

Isaias DeJesus Valencia, 39, joined the Army in Los Angeles on June, 18, 1998 and "separated" from the Army 22 days later, on July 6, 1998, according to records obtained by NBC4 under the Freedom of Information Act. Valencia was briefly assigned to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, the documents said, and the reason for the abrupt separation from military service was not made public.

OPINION

VALERIE SCHULTZ: Retirement is not for the faint of heart

VALERIE SCHULTZ, The Bakersfield Californian

It’s official: I am old.

I know this because I am keeping a list of words I have been unable to remember during a normal conversation. The list so far: philanthropist, co-ed, aphrodisiac, eccentric. (As this list grows, I may learn more about myself.)

I know this because when I try to get out of the car after an hour or more of driving, a groaning noise that arises from the depths of my being must emanate from my mouth before my muscles will actually move to a standing position outside the car. I have no control over this process.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-10T17:10:00.001-07:00

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

UPDATE: CDCR names inmate killed at Salinas Valley prison

Joe Szydlowski, The Californian

An inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison was killed Sunday, according to the state's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Just after 10 a.m. Sunday, inmate Michael Ellison, 35, attacked fellow inmate Jason Lewis, 42, with an inmate-made weapon, according to a press release from CDCR.

Corrections officers quickly intervened and used chemical agents to quell the attack, officials said. Lewis died from his injuries.

Cellmate is suspect in death of 77-year-old Mule Creek State Prison inmate

Cathy Locke, The Sacramento Bee

A 77-year-old Mule Creek State Prison inmate was found dead Monday morning and a fellow inmate is a suspect in what is being investigated as a homicide, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Robert E. Hunter was found unresponsive in his cell during a routine security check at the prison in Ione. He had blunt-force injuries to his face, and prison medical staff members pronounced him dead at 7:57 a.m., according to a department news release.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Major Crimes Task Force’s Gang Force Sweep Apprehends Armed Parolee At Large

Barbara Reilley, Crime Voice

POMONA – A late Friday-night gang enforcement in the area of the 2100 block of Arroyo Ave. led to a series of unanticipated events for the PPD.

Members of the Pomona Police Major Crimes Task Force in conjunction with the California Department of Corrections (Parole) Officers were monitoring a global positioning device of a known Pomona gang member when they saw Joseph Hernandez (23) of Pomona walking away from a black Mercedes.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Will Senate Committee Vote to Eliminate Construction Opportunities?

Associated Builders & Contractors INC.

If passed, Bill 825 will have punishing effect on women-owned companies, veterans, and the formerly incarcerated

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA(MPG) - A committee of the State Senate will this week consider a dual-action bill that would simultaneously prohibit most construction companies from competing on Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation projects for 10 years and eliminate pre-apprenticeship curricula that has facilitated employment opportunities for thousands of men and women in California.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-09T16:55:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

Echo Yard, where normal prison rules no longer apply

Peter Rowe, San Diego Union Tribune

Echo Yard, Donovan prison's newest unit, is built around a dirt and concrete lot the size of two football fields. The prairie-flat expanse is bordered by sheer concrete walls, rising 70 feet, with ground-floor doors leading into cell blocks.

To civilian visitors, Echo looks harsh.

To Anerae “X-Raided” Brown, Echo looks wonderful.

“You have to earn your way here,” said Brown, 43, a convicted murderer who logged 20 years in other prisons before entering Echo Yard last November. “This is as close as you get to a field trip to Disneyland in here.”

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

DA: Tulare County 'Monster' denied parole by governor

Sheyanne N Romero, Visalia Times Delta

After spending nearly two decades behind bars, a Tulare County man is fighting to be set free.

Tulare County prosecutors are fighting back and now have Gov. Jerry Brown in their corner.

This week, Brown reversed the California Parole Board's decision to release Gerardo Zavala, 46.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Signature Gathering Underway for Initiative Aiming to Release Non-Violent 'Third Strikers' from California Prisons

A ballot initiative being pushed by a California social justice advocacy group would provide relief for some "Third Strikers" left behind by previous reform efforts.

NBC Bay Area Staff

A California social justice advocacy group is hoping to bring relief to a section of the state’s prison population the group says was left behind by recent criminal justice reform efforts. “We The People Org,” founded by long-time California criminal defense attorney Tom Loversky, is gathering signatures in an effort to get the “Fair Sentencing and Public Safety Act of 2018” onto the November ballot.

The initiative would be a further step toward dismantling the State’s “Three Strikes Law,” Loversky said. If approved by voters, the initiative would require a “Third Strike” in most cases to stem from a violent offense and would require inmates serving life sentences for a non-violent third strike to be re-sentenced.

Fentanyl making inroads into Central Valley

Drug bust in Turlock keeps large quantity from hitting the streets

Sabra Stafford, Turlock Journal

For so long methamphetamine has been the scourge of the Central Valley, but now law enforcement is concerned a new drug — fentanyl — is being introduced to the area, and should it gain the same stranglehold as methamphetamine, it could have deadly consequences.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is highly addictive and powerful, with a potency ranging from 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.

OPINION

We can’t roll back progress on criminal justice reform

Thomas G. Hoffman, Times-Standard

California in recent years has made great strides in reducing its unsustainable incarceration rate by embracing smart justice strategies for achieving public safety. These strategies include addressing the causative factors of crime, shifting to risk based decision making throughout the criminal justice system, developing effective rehabilitation programming and significantly expanding community support for victims of crime.

We must not allow that progress to be rolled back. Last week, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors made a shortsighted decision to endorse a proposed ballot initiative that would once again increase the number of people we send to state prison and force state taxpayers to waste more money on our failed prison system. It’s a proposal that is out of step with California voters, who know that reducing our investments in incarceration in favor of increased investments in community-based crime prevention programs is a smarter, more effective way of achieving safety.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

CDCR NEWS

Council, residents upset over plans to bring parolees to training camp

Cameron Kiszla, Camarillo Acorn

The Camarillo City Council took a strong stance against Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to create an 18-month fire-training program for parolees just northwest of city limits.

The program, which is set to begin with 20 parolees in October, would eventually house 80 trainees at the Ventura Conservation Camp at 2800 Wright Road—property in unincorporated Ventura County—as they learn about wildfire and urban firefighting techniques to compete for jobs with Cal Fire and possibly the U.S. Forest Service.

The camp, built in 1989, was a coed fire camp for inmates until 2012, when it closed. The Ventura Conservation Camp reopened in 2014, housing only male inmates, according to the state’s website.

If the parolee program comes to the area, the 80 inmates would be moved to other state conservation camps, according to a report from the legislative analyst’s office.

The Ventura Conservation Camp is maintained by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation together with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire.

Unlike the inmates who have been housed there, the parolees would be allowed to leave the camp during the day, returning before curfew to sleep at the facility while serving their parole.

That additional freedom has the council and nearby homeowners concerned. All five council members spoke against the plan and voted unanimously at their March 28 meeting to send a letter to Brown to express their views.

In addition, Mayor Charlotte Craven and Councilmember Tony Trembley plan to lobby key legislators in Sacramento and to oppose the project at an April 5 state Senate budget subcommittee meeting on corrections, public safety and the judiciary.

“The concern with the governor’s proposal is that it creates a de facto halfway house on the city’s border,” City Manager Dave Norman said.

Council members said the parolees may have been convicted of burglary or robbery, and the camp sits near several residential neighborhoods.

Councilmember Mike Morgan said he was concerned there wouldn’t be enough parole officers for the number of trainees at the center.

The plan is for two parole officers to oversee the trainees, who will be tested for drugs and subject to a curfew and other parole rules but otherwise free to leave the facility once their work is done each day.

“To have two parole officers for that many people . . . is really not thinking correctly,” Morgan said.

Council members cited the legislative analyst’s report that said the training center would not be the most cost-effective way to decrease recidivism or increase employment for parolees.

“When they get out of the program after 18 months, I don’t think there is any public fire department in the state that will take them because they’ve been convicted of felonies,” Craven said. “These are not light offenders. . . . These people have done the bigger offenses.”

“These are prison parolees,” Morgan said.

A community meeting on the topic is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tues., April 10 in the council chambers at 601 Carmen Drive.

Representatives from Cal Fire, the governor’s office and other state agencies will be on hand to answer questions from the council and members of the public.

“We need to get the word out to the public and we need to be sure that we fill (the council chambers) that night (the representatives) are here and ask them the tough questions,” Councilmember Jan McDonald said.

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

5C Students Head Behind Bars For Classes

Sophia Sun, The Student Life

More than 100 5C students are going to prison next year — for class.

As the latest step of a program launched in 2014, Pitzer College will be offering 10 “Inside Out” courses next year — four in the fall semester and six in the spring — which will allow more than 100 students to take a class at two prisons: the California Rehabilitation Center, Norco and the California Institution for Women.

They will learn alongside an equal number of inmates — or, as organizers call them, “inside students” — who will receive free academic credit from Pitzer for the course work.

The classes offered in the fall at CRC Norco are Linguistics Discrimination, taught by Nicole Holliday; Intro to U.S. Politics; taught by Thomas Kim; and HIV-AIDS: Science, Society, and Service, taught by Karl Haushalter.

Pitzer has offered three Inside Out courses a year since forming the program in 2014, according to Tessa Hicks Peterson, assistant vice president for community engagement. In the past, students took classes at CRC such as Prison Autobiography, Latino Politics and Linguistic Discrimination.

Pitzer’s program is modeled on the Inside-Out Prison Education Program, founded in 1997 by Lori Pompa, a criminal justice professor at Temple University. More than 100 colleges and universities now take part, though Pitzer is one of very few to offer credit to inmates for its prison-based courses. Ultimately, Pitzer is working with Norco Community College to set up a program providing admission to and credit transfer from Pitzer to a California State University campus for inmates upon their release.

“There have been over 10 such classes at the CRC already,” Pitzer College Dean of Faculty Nigel Boyle said. “In all case, the inside students, the outside students, and the faculty all say it was one of the best academic experiences they’ve ever had. I get to see all the teaching evals, so I can vouch for that. Plus every faculty member that does such a class wants to do more.”

Although students will be mixed with inmates in classes, Boyle said safety is not a major concern, because inmates are specially selected by prison officials.

“The education staff at the prison are in charge of selecting who can participate in the class, and the inside student must not have any behavior violation record,” he said.

Faculty and students are trained and prepared for the class, “but there has not been a single problem,” Boyle said. “Parents sometimes express a concern, but, in my opinion students are as safe taking classes at CRC prison as they are at any of the 5Cs.”

The inmates selected have all at least finished high school, and some attended community college.

By bringing two different groups together to share experiences beyond campus gates and prison walls, Pitzer aims to improve students’ understanding of others and sharpen their political and social thinking, according to Pitzer press release.

Giang Nguyen PZ ’19, who has participated in the Inside Out program before, said the students and inmates interacted well.

"We would chat casually at the beginning of each class, then have discussions which were initiated by the professor,” she said. “We managed to have normal and interesting conversations but I also felt that both parties were quite reserved."

Simone Bishara PZ ’18, who took two courses through the program, said the experience was similarly impactful.

"It’s important to give prisoners an idea of what’s on the outside," she said, "just as it’s important for us to realize what they have gone through. There’s a vulnerability, an openness that comes from the discussions we have there.”

The Inside Out program influenced Bishara’s future career plans.

The experience “changed how I see my future. I’d like to be a lawyer who focuses on prison abolition or criminal justice reformation,” she said.

The interactions with the inmates also had an impact on Nguyen.

“It was an important reflection on my own education and privilege,” Nguyen said. “To see inside students working so diligently and sharing their knowledge under any circumstances was inspiring. I remember one insider saying to me that ‘the chance to take this class is my light in prison. It keeps me alive.’ His words are unforgettable.”

Boyle referred to the feedback the inmates provided about the class.

“Some inside students commented on the power of the openness of their conversations,” Boyle said. “They said they felt like they opened up to one another and they felt like they were treated equally and that made them feel ‘normal’ and connected with the world outside.”

Bishara said the inmate she interacted with was surprised to learn people in the outside world cared about the lives of prisoners.

"He felt there was something on the outside he could be a part of,” she said. “His reaction reaffirmed for me that vulnerability and empathy exist in every corner of the world, including the really dark ones."

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Menendez brothers who killed parents reunited in prison

Don Thompson, The Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Menendez brothers, who were convicted of killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion nearly three decades ago, have been reunited in a Southern California prison.

Erik Menendez, 47, has moved into the same housing unit as his 50-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, Corrections department spokeswoman Terry Thornton said Thursday.

The brothers are serving life sentences for fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989.

Lyle Menendez was moved in February from Mule Creek State Prison in Northern California to San Diego's R.J. Donovan Correctional Facility, after his security classification was lowered. But the brothers lived in separate housing units and would not have seen each other, Thornton said. The prison houses nearly 3,900 male inmates.

That changed Wednesday, when Eric moved into the same housing unit as his brother, a unit where inmates agree to participate in educational and other rehabilitation programs without fighting or creating disruptions.

"They can and do interact with each other, all the inmates in that facility," she said, though she didn't know how the brothers reacted during their reunion.

The brothers had asked two decades ago, after they were sentenced, to be sent to the same prison.

Prison officials said then that they often balked at putting partners in crime together, and the Beverly Hills detective who investigated the slayings argued that the brothers might conspire to escape if they were together. Leslie Abramson, Erik Menendez's attorney, at the time called housing the brothers separately "exceedingly cruel and heartless."

Lyle, who was then 21, and Erik, then 18, admitted they fatally shot-gunned their entertainment executive father and their mother, but said they feared their parents were about to kill them to prevent the disclosure of the father's long-term sexual molestation of Erik.

Prosecutors contended there was no evidence of any molestation. They said the sons were after their parents' multimillion-dollar estate.

Jurors rejected a death sentence in favor of life without parole.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA PRISONS

HOW SAN QUENTIN PRISON PROPOSES A COOKING INTERVENTION

Rehabilitation through food? Oxygen looks at San Quentin State Prison’s efforts to give incarcerated people lifelong cooking skills.

Tamara Palmer, Oxygen

California’s San Quentin State Prison is notorious for housing famous killers as well as the only death row in the state. It’s also home to an inspiring annual program called Quentin Cooks that teaches inmates how to chef it up guiding them towards a state food handling license that would certify them to work in food service upon release.

Just as San Quentin’s Prison University Project is the largest college-level education program in the state, Quentin Cooks offers real-life skills that people can walk away from prison with. Most formerly incarcerated people struggle to find economic stability — and education and skill building programs reduce recidivism, illustrating the importance of classes like this and at Cook County Jail.

Oxygen spoke with Quentin Cooks founders Lisa Dombroski and Helaine Melnitzer to talk about the creation of the program. Dombroski is a chef and sales rep for food and restaurant supply distributor Chefs’ Warehouse, which helps sponsor the program, while Melnitzer is an executive advisor for TRUST (Teaching Responsibility Utilizing Sociological Training) at San Quentin.

OXYGEN: How do people get selected for Quentin Cooks?

Helaine Melnitzer: There are 500 people in this one area called H Unit. We were told that that's where the warden wanted us to do our kitchen because these men have what’s called determinate sentencing... men that have up to eight years, but they know they’re going home. They don't go to the parole board, they don't have all of these incentives that the other men have that will shorten their sentence.

It was a little bit of a struggle because of the fact that the men didn't have to do anything, they weren’t inclined to think about their future — they were just going to get out. But we kind of keep it at 10 to 11. Or 10 new students with a couple teaching assistants, men who have been in the program before. And I interview them and I just try to discern as best I can men who are serious.

(Note: This year’s course was rescheduled for the summer because of a six-week lockdown at the prison.)

What kind of dishes do students learn to make?

Lisa Dombroski: Our first class was super into Asian stuff and wanted to do stir fry, teriyaki chicken, sweet and sour chicken. We had another class that was really into seafood. You know, crab everything! Doesn’t matter what season it is, we want crab! This last class, we only made two things, but it was heavily Latino flavors. They wanted burritos, they wanted beans, we were going to do mole.

In working with Lainy [Helaine] we are able to modify [the menu]. Each class is different because every group of men has its own identity — and we learn about these identities every time. We wrote a loose curriculum — like, these are objectives we want them to gain, these are techniques we want them to learn. I don’t know of a kitchen where you go in and you have everything strategized and it works out the right way the first time. You do a lot of shooting from the hip and that's just like in real life.

Have you had luck placing students in restaurant jobs?

LD: I don't know entirely how Lainy does it but she has managed to place a number of our men in Sacramento. She was working super diligently on someone in Bakersfield. We have a couple people, one employed at [Oakland’s] Homeroom and one who was interviewing.

What have you learned from hosting Quentin Cooks?

LD: These men teach us more than we could ever teach them. And it's about everything. It's about decisions that you make, it's about staying calm, it’s about finding solutions and a different way to go about things.

HM: When you’re with them a lot, you see that all of us are much more than the mistakes we make and we’re certainly more than some of our worst actions. And a lot of these guys have come from communities where they have never had one person hold out a hand to say, “Come on up, let me help you.” And it’s huge, the first time our groups put on their aprons that say Quentin Cooks, it’s transformative. You see it on their faces. They feel like they’re no longer wearing their prison blues and they’re hopeful. One guy even made a comment at one of our dinners: “Thank you for treating us as humans.” And we see it all the time.

CALIFORNIA INMATES

The Menendez Brothers Finally Meeting Face-To-Face in Prison

Erica Steiner, Melissa Parrelli, The Blast

After being separated for nearly 22 years, the infamous Menendez brothers are back together.

A spokesperson for California’s Department of Corrections tells The Blast Erik Menendez was transferred to a facility within Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility Wednesday evening, the same facility that his brother Lyle Menendez is currently housed.

We’re told the facility where the brothers now stay inside the San Diego prison allows the inmates to interact as they please. While the prison wasn’t able to confirm if Erik and Lyle ran into each other yet since last night, however Tammi Menendez, Erik’s wife, claims the “heartfelt reunion” already happened. She also said Erik is “settling in” to his new digs.

In February, Lyle had asked to serve his time at the same prison as his brother, and the DOC decided that “There was no reason that they could not be housed at the same institution.” Lyle was moved at the time, but still kept separate from Erik in a different facility within the prison.

The Menendez brothers were found guilty of the 1989 murder of their wealthy parents inside their Beverly Hills mansion. On March 20, 1996 they were sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in person. Neither were given the possibility of parole and both attempted to appeal their cases, which were denied at the time.

For nearly 22 years, the brothers were separated by more than 500 miles, with older brother Lyle in Mule Creek State Prison near Sacramento and Erik inside Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

The last time Lyle and Erik saw each other was back in 1996 when they were interviewed by Barbara Walters for “20/20.”

Looks like RJD just got a brand new doubles team for Dominoes!

CORRECTIONS RELATED

California lawmakers want to roll back some criminal sentencing laws, keep young offenders out of adult court

Jazmine Ulloa, Los Angeles Times

In a legislative hearing packed with criminal justice experts and former youth offenders, California lawmakers pushed forward a bill this week to keep minors who commit crimes out of adult courts.

The proposal, one of several in a package of bills introduced by Sens. Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens), is part of an ongoing effort to divert young people from a path to prison and create parity in state punishment laws. Other bills would roll back mandatory sentencing rules that research shows disproportionally affect black and Latino defendants.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Mitchell pointed to the fatal Sacramento shooting of Stephon Clark, an unarmed, 22-year-old black man shot by police in his grandparents' backyard, challenging lawmakers and advocates to redefine the definition of public safety so that it applies to everyone.

The goal of the new legislation "is not about slapping a wrist and sending you home," she said, addressing the young people in the crowd. "It is about acknowledging that we as adults, as a society of adults, have failed you, our systems have failed you."

Gov. Jerry Brown signed nine bills into law last year to aid young people facing charges and serving time. Those laws increased parole opportunities for people who committed crimes as children or teens. They allowed courts to seal certain juvenile records, required children under 16 to consult with defense lawyers before waiving their rights in police interrogations and limited the administrative fees that counties charge families with children in juvenile detention.

Many of those bills were part of Mitchell and Lara's original "Equity and Justice" package to revamp California's approach to juvenile justice. The legislation brought hip-hop artist Common to the state Capitol to lobby lawmakers and publicize the cause with a free concert. At committee hearings and Sacramento rallies, former youth offenders shared stories of clashes with police and incarceration.

At a Senate public safety committee hearing Tuesday, some of those advocates returned to voice support for Mitchell and Lara's new legislation. One of the bills would bar prosecutors from asking that minors be tried in adult court if they were 14 or 15 years old at the time of the crime.

Lara said the practice of moving young people into the adult system started in the 1990s, when researchers believed teens' brains were fully developed, and public attention tended to focus on so-called superpredators, youth believed to be prone to violent crime due to how they were raised.

Recent studies have debunked those myths, Lara told committee members.

"The youngest teens in our system need to be held accountable for their actions," he said. "But they also require age-appropriate services, to rehabilitate and grow into healthy and mature adults."

California voters have largely agreed, helping spur a shift in how young defendants are treated in the justice system. Proposition 57, a 2016 law that has overhauled the state parole system, prohibits prosecutors from charging youth in adult court without a judge's approval. The California Supreme Court, affirming a lower-court ruling in February, found that provision could retroactively apply to pending cases.

Other bills introduced this year by Mitchell and Lara would repeal a one-year sentence enhancement for prior felony convictions and give judges discretion to strike prior serious felony convictions that may require a defendant to serve an additional five years in prison. The two senators also have pledged to try again on a proposal that stalled in 2017, legislation to prevent children younger than 11 from being placed in juvenile detention.

At Tuesday's hearing, law enforcement lobbyists and Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Temecula) opposed proposals to keep all youth offenders out of adult court and rescind sentence enhancements. Stone pointed to a case of a 15-year-old in Alabama who beat another man unconscious with a baseball bat, saying "there is a narrow window [of defendants] who should not be kept in the juvenile justice system."

Cory Salzillo, legislative director for the California State Sheriffs' Assn., said the criminal justice system had undergone enormous change in the last six years.

"We are not giving the system enough time to adjust," Salzillo said, pointing to the passage of Proposition 57 and other efforts to reduce the state's prison population.

But juvenile justice lawyers and youth advocates on Tuesday countered that young people swept into the adult court system are more likely to reoffend, while studies have shownlonger prison sentences do not reduce a person's chance of committing new crimes.

Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) drew loud applause and cheers from the audience when he said "black and brown kids" are more likely to be sent to prison.

"We have failed to rehabilitate," he said. "Let's talk about the trauma that has impacted many of these young folks who are on the wrong path, what has happened in the home, what has happened in the community. … Studies [have shown] some kids from 12 to 14 have the same symptoms as individuals who have gone to war."

Frankie Guzman, an attorney with the National Center for Youth Law, said he was 14 when prosecutors labeled him a hardened criminal after he and a friend brandished handguns as they held up a liquor store. But as his case dragged on, he was allowed to remain in the juvenile justice system, where he had access to education and counseling.

"I learned, I really learned, what I did wrong and why," he said. "I am not an exception, but a representation of what happens when young people who commit the most serious crimes get the support and services that they need."

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA INMATES

San Quentin Radio: Autism Behind Bars

Kelton O’Connor, KALW

Autism is extremely hard to diagnose, because it can’t be tested for blood or genes. It’s a behavioral disorder. Often a parent or teacher has to notice the signs and request that a child is tested. Many people are living their lives without realizing they have autism. This includes people in prison.

Incarcerated reporter Kelton O’Connor tells the story of a fellow inmate who has been living with autism for years — without knowing it. It took him coming to San Quentin prison to get diagnosed.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Salinas police: Two men, woman and teen arrested, $25k in heroin seized in King City

Chelcey Adami, The Californian

Two men and two women were arrested after authorities seized a stolen firearm and an estimated $25,000 worth of heroin in King City Tuesday.

On social media Tuesday, Salinas police wrote that three of the four arrested were associated with the Norteño gang, Sureño gang or Sinaloa cartel.

The Salinas Police Department's violence suppression unit, SWAT team and detectives worked with California Parole, Homeland Security Investigations and California Highway Patrol to simultaneously serve a two-location search warrant in King City, according to Salinas police.

The search warrant was served at a home in the 300 block of Bassett Street and a home in the 1000 block of Bluff Avenue.

Officers seized 2 pounds of heroin, a stolen Mossberg .22 caliber and a small amount of methamphetamine, police say.

Juan Pablo Armenta Rodriguez, 29, and Maria Martinez, 19, were arrested and booked into Monterey County Jail on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance for sales, said Salinas Police Sgt. George Lauricella. Rodriguez was also arrested on suspicion of possession of a stolen firearm.

Antonio Everardo Duran, 34, was arrested on suspicion of violating a court order, and Yesenia Mosqueda, 30, was arrested on suspicion of a parole violation, according to jail records. Both were also booked into Monterey County jail.

Lauricella said that the people arrested had "ties" to Salinas but declined to further elaborate. A fifth person, Juan Bastian, 53, was cited and released for possession of methamphetamine, Lauricella said.

Is man still imprisoned for killing his estranged wife at Arden Arcade home in 1990?

Cathy Locke, The Sacramento Bee

Q: Is Ronald Wayne Beard still in the California Medical Facility, or dead, or transferred? His name is no longer listed as an inmate in that facility.

MONICA, SACRAMENTO

A: Ronald Wayne Beard was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1990 gunshot slaying of his estranged wife at the Arden Arcade home they once shared.

He was sentenced in 1992 to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Luis Patino, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said in an email that Beard, now 80 years old, was referred to the Board of Parole Hearings, which found him suitable for parole on Sept. 21, 2017 under the Elderly Parole process. He was released Feb. 13 and is currently under parole supervision.

As a result of the state’s prison overcrowding, a federal court in February 2014, ordered the state to implement a parole process for inmates who are age 60 or older and who have been incarcerated for at least 25 years, according to the department’s website. Inmates sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, or who are sentenced to death are not eligible for the program.

Beard was credited with 871 days for time served in jail while awaiting adjudication of his case, Patino said. He also received “goodtime” credits while in prison.

Beard shot his estranged wife, Beverly Beard, a travel consultant, during a confrontation at the family home on Ellington Circle, according to stories in The Sacramento Bee. Beverly Beard had moved out of the home and filed for divorce shortly before she was killed.

Ronald Beard testified that he became enraged after his wife compared him unfavorably to a man with whom she had been having an affair.

The prosecutor said during the trial that Beard had basically “executed” his wife with one shot to the head after deciding “that if he couldn’t have her, no one would.”

The couple had been married 32 years.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Civil Rights Bill for Trans Prisoners Breaks Ground in State Capitol

Ellen McGrody, The Bay City Beacon

A new bill would allow transgender inmates in California the right to self-identify and ensure they will be granted equal opportunities regardless of separated housing.

State Senator Scott Wiener (D - San Francisco) introduced another bill in a string of proposals aimed at bettering the lives of transgender and gender-variant individuals throughout California. Senate Bill 990, the Dignity and Opportunity Act, attempts to alleviate difficulties faced by transgender people in the state penal system. The bill, which Senator Wiener describes as a “civil rights bill” for transgender individuals in correctional facilities, would require jail and prison employees to refer to gender-variant individuals by their preferred gender pronouns and names, while providing new protections for trans individuals being housed in solitary confinement.

Current law allows inmates to seek gender or name changes through a court order; however, facilities “are not required to address [the individuals] by their correct gender and name,” according to a press release from Senator Wiener. This legislation would allow trans individuals to attain proper identification within prisons and jails with much less difficulty while mandating that their identities be respected by corrections personnel.

Jeff Cretan, Senator Wiener’s Communications Director, says that the bill will apply to all facilities under the purview of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, including privately-owned prisons operated by state contractors. Staff at such facilities would be required by the new law to refer to people in custody by their registered gender identity and first name.

Additionally, SB 990 offers new rights and equality for trans individuals who are placed in solitary confinement. Gender-variant people frequently face more violence and abuse within correctional facilities from both other inmates and staff. Transgender women, by and large women of color, face a particularly heightened risk, and are often placed in solitary confinement or separate housing “for their own safety,” said Senator Wiener’s office. SB 990 would provide those individuals access to the same rehabilitative, educational, recreational, and religious opportunities as other inmates within the general population.

Transgender rights organizations have voiced many concerns over the years regarding the treatment of transgender people in prisons, and have pointed to previous state actions as being the root of the problem. In 2015, current U.S. Senator and former California Attorney General Kamala Harris worked on behalf of the state to block a district court ruling in favor of providing gender reassignment options to a transgender inmate.

In its current form, SB 990 does not prevent the denial of medical treatment to transgender inmates, though Cretan explained that Senator Wiener was aware of this gap in regulation. “There’s a lot more we can do,” said Cretan, “and we’re working with advocates to do more.”

Cretan added that Senator Wiener will continue to work with LGBT rights organizations to provide further equality to LGBTQ individuals. SB 990 counts organizations like the ACLU, Equality California, and Lambda Legal as sponsors; Senator Wiener’s office says the bill is supported by both the Transgender Law Center and the TGI Justice Project, an organization dedicated to providing legal assistance and other support to transgender inmates throughout the country.

In a legal environment that has been less than favorable to transgender individuals, given the current Justice Department’s frequent moves against LGBT rights, any step forward is important for the trans community. SB 990 is set for a hearing on the legislative floor in early April.

Daily Corrections Clips

2018-04-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

CALIFORNIA INMATES

Vacaville man loses appeal of fatal drive-by shooting conviction

Jess Sullivan, Daily Republic

FAIRFIELD — More than 10 years ago, a Vacaville man did a drive-by shooting. On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a ruling likely to have been the last chance to ever get out of prison.

One night in June 2007 on a residential street in Vacaville, Jospeh S. Duran sought revenge after being on the losing end of a fight he started earlier in the day. Duran, then 18, opened fire from a van, missing his intended target but killing a 19-year-old innocent bystander, Angelo Hurst, who was captain of the Solano Community College football team.

Duran fled to Mexico before Vacaville police could track him down in 2008.

In 2010, a jury convicted Duran of murder, attempted murder and five other felony charges. He was later sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

“It was a completely senseless act,” District Attorney Krishna Abrams said at the time of the killing which was prompted by a dispute over a woman.

After going to prison, Duran went through the state court’s appeals process. Once he lost those appeals, he turned to the federal courts claiming his constitutional rights had been violated because his trial lawyer had been incompetent.

A panel of Ninth Circuit justices disagreed, pointing to some of the strong pieces of evidence that contributed to the jury’s guilty verdicts.

Duran, now 29, is currently locked up at Salinas Valley State Prison.

CALIFORNIA PAROLE

Cops ID Parolee Suspected Of Attacking Torrance Resident

The parolee allegedly attacked a Torrance resident who interrupted the suspect burglarizing his home.

Emily Holland, Patch

REDONDO BEACH, CA – Police identified a parolee Monday who was arrested after allegedly attacking a Torrance resident who interrupted the suspect burglarizing his home. Joseph Valdes, of Lomita, was already on parole for an assault conviction; he was arrested about 1:30 p.m. last Thursday in relation to the burglary. The resident was treated by firefighters following the confrontation, which took place about three hours earlier in the 1900 block of 236th Street, near Western Avenue, according to Torrance police Sgt. Ronald Harris.

Valdes allegedly assaulted the resident with a shovel before grabbing the keys to the victim's vehicle, Harris said.

"The subject attempted to flee in the victim's vehicle, but was unable to maneuver around other parked vehicles," according to the sergeant. "The subject then abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot."

Police conducted a methodical search – involving officers, dogs and drones – that included Knoll's Lodge at 23701 S. Western Ave. and Valdes was taken into custody about 1:30 p.m., Harris said.

Harris credited an alert neighbor for calling police after observing suspicious activity. Valdes was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to sheriff's inmate records.

CORRECTIONS RELATED

Vegan non-profit develops inmate adoption program to rescue dogs from death row

Jemima Webber, Live Kindly

A vegan non-profit launched the Pawsitive Change Prison Program to rehabilitate prison inmates and rescue dogs by pairing them together for 14 weeks. The program saves over 100 dogs from death row every year and so far, has helped more than 200 inmates.

The innovative program, formed by non-profit Marley’s Mutts, partners up dogs on death row with inmates from state prisons in California. The program aims to rehabilitate both the dogs for adoption purposes and the people involved, offering “a second chance for both ends of the leash”.

For the duration of the program, ten rescue dogs live inside prisons with inmates. The course includes 13-hour training days, guided by four experienced trainers.

The first six weeks of the program focuses on rehabilitation and educating inmates on dog psychology. The remaining time is spent completing the American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen test. This test is considered the ‘gold standard’ for dog behavior. Notably, all of the graduated dogs of the Pawsitive Change Prison Program have been awarded this title.

The program’s success is measured in a number of ways. For inmates, participants should show an increased willingness to cooperate and engage positively in team environments. A bettered ability to experience and manage emotional discomfort is also witnessed, as well as the improved ability to express this discomfort in a constructive manner.

One inmate revealed to Marley’s Mutts: “We live inside a place where we can’t show our emotion–it’s considered a weakness. But with this program, we can feel–give and received affection”.

They added: “We become cold in here, much more cold than when we entered. But these dogs give us a chance to be human”.

Inmates also reflect an increased awareness of the needs and emotions of themselves and others, with the added skill of responding appropriately. Inmates show an understanding of how canine-handling principles could be applied to interpersonal relationships.

An enhanced sense of self-esteem and social value is also reported, as well as an improved ability to reflect on the self honestly.

One participant revealed their program experience to Marley’s Mutts, saying, “I have laughed more in the last three months then I have in the last 13 years I’ve been incarcerated”.

Another person said: “The hardest part of the program is realizing I’m not as social as I thought I was. It’s forcing me to break down barriers I didn’t know was there. So even though it’s hard it’s a bonus for me because I’m learning more about myself every day in this program”.

Naturally, a deepened understanding of canine behaviour, as well as improved canine-handling skills are reported. The organization noted that these skills can be used for professional application after custody.

The program expands even further than inmate rehabilitation. The dogs themselves display increased signs of obedience, trust, and respect towards people, as well as more positive social interaction with other dogs. Additionally, participating canines display decreased symptoms of nervousness, insecurity, and fear, and less possessive and territorial behaviour.

The organizations website states: “Both man and mutt will use the skills gained in this program to better their lives and stay out of prisons and/or shelters–respectively”.

To become involved, inmates can apply by writing an essay. The program is open to people from medium to maximum California State Prisons. However, those with a history of animal abuse or sexual abuse are not permitted to participate. After completion, inmates are free to re-enroll as much as they like.

For those interested, donations can be made to the organization by clicking here.