Legal News

Grand jury finds negligence by O.C. jail deputies

By Jason Siegel

A grand jury transcript shows widespread negligence by O.C. sheriff's deputies at the county's largest detention center.

The 7,000 page transcript was released two weeks after Superior Court Judge James Stotler ruled that the Sheriff's Department had no legal reason to keep it secret, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The transcript comes from a grand jury investigating an inmate's death at Theo Lacy Jail in 2006.  Testimony revealed guards watched TV and slept on the job when they should have been patrolling the jail and denied inmates medical care due to the paperwork, KPCC Public Radio reported. (LISTEN)

The jury found that the murder of an inmate by other inmates could have been prevented if the deputy mandated to monitor the area wasn't watching TV and text-messaging instead.

"The main goal of the deputies described in this case was to do the least amount of work possible, while collecting their paychecks," Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas, who impaneled the jury, told KPCC.

Rackauckas said that there hasn't been enough evidence to file any criminal charges but believes deputies might get fired now that the transcript is public.

The Investigative Report From The 2007 Special Criminal Grand Jury Inquiry Into The Death Of John Derek Chamberlain, Orange County District Attorney's Office

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on April 09, 2008 (boomark / email).