News

Arpaio faces jail probe

U.S. inquiry into abuse of inmates by staff

by Susan Leonard - Sept. 10, 1995 01:43 PM The Arizona Republic
Recommend Nick Hentoff recommends this.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio gets a kick out of being called ''the meanest sheriff in America.'' The U.S. Justice Department now is investigating whether Arpaio is carrying that image to such extremes as allowing jailers to physically abuse inmates. The department last month began looking into whether the civil rights of county inmates have been violated and whether jail commanders have failed to address allegations of abuse or adequately discipline abusive staff members. The investigation is to determine whether there is a pattern of abuse at the jail and, if so, whether it is ''informally or formally sanctioned,'' Janet Napolitano, U.S. attorney for Arizona, said last week. ''I think it's in everybody's interest to get to the bottom of it and clean up the situation, if there's a situation to be cleaned up,'' Napolitano said. The probe has ''nothing to do with tents, lack of coffee, bologna sandwiches or any of those kind of policies'' that have given Arpaio a hard-nosed reputation, she said. ''Sheriff Arpaio can run a strict jail,'' she said. ''That's the sheriff's prerogative - as long as it's a safe jail.'' In recent months, questions have been raised about whether the county jails are safe. Since May, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office has filed charges against two jailers accused of assaulting inmates in separate incidents. One jailer, who hit and kicked a handcuffed inmate, has since pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. The county attorney also is considering charges in a third incident, one that was captured on the jail's video equipment. It involved Eric Johnson, who was in jail Nov. 2 on a traffic warrant. After he called a jailer a name, Johnson was yanked from a cell and thrown against a wall by three jailers, which left his arm broken at the elbow. Johnson filed a claim against the county asking for $600,000 for permanent injury and pain, but county officials did not respond to the claim. Last week, Johnson and two other inmates filed lawsuits against the county and Arpaio, claiming that they were assaulted by jailers.

'JAILHOUSE ROCK'
One of the inmates, Arthur Moore, claimed that two jailers broke his arm Jan. 14 after a verbal exchange prompted by his singing of Elvis Presley's song Jailhouse Rock. Moore, a permanently disabled veteran, was being held on a misdemeanor warrant, according to the suit. Phoenix lawyer Nicholas Hentoff, who filed all three suits, suspects that jailers have become more aggressive since Arpaio took office in 1993 because his tough talk gives the impression that he condones abuse of inmates. Hentoff and Kevin Van Norman, a Scottsdale lawyer who is assisting with two of the suits filed last week, say that impression was reinforced in a February interview with CBS News. In it, Arpaio was asked whether he knew how Johnson's arm was broken.

He responded, ''No, I'm not, but so what? I'm sure that my officers had a reason to slam him against the cellblock.'' Privately, some law-enforcement officials say that they are concerned about such an attitude and fear that it transcends to detention officers. Arpaio refused to be interviewed in person about the Justice Department probe. His spokesman, Sgt. John Kleinheinz, declined to comment, ''because it's an ongoing inquiry.'' The probe is the third civil-rights investigation undertaken by the Justice Department of Arizona law-enforcement officials in the past year. The other two involve Edward Mallet's death in 1994 at the hands of Phoenix police and allegations that Arizona Department of Corrections employees sexually abused female inmates. Both were begun earlier this year and are pending. Napolitano and Lee Douglass, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department in Washington, declined to say when any of the three investigations might be concluded. It is unusual for such probes to be undertaken and is done only when Justice Department officials suspect there are problems. An official with the Justice Department said it gets thousands of requests annually for such probes but undertakes only a small percentage. This year, for example, it is probing about 40 jails and 10 prisons nationwide. Usually, such probes turn up problems that jail and prison officials agree to correct, a Justice Department official said. But if they aren't voluntarily corrected, the department can file suit in federal court and ask a judge to order changes.

INVESTIGATION'S FOCUS
Last month, Napolitano delivered a letter to county officials that said the Justice Department plans ''to investigate conditions at the Maricopa County jails . . . to determine whether conditions at these facilities violate the federal constitutional rights of detainees and inmates.'' A Justice Department official said the department will send in penal experts to talk with inmates and jail staffers. Besides possible physical abuse, the probe will focus on accusations of: Inadequate supervision of staff. False reporting regarding use of force and allegations of abuse. Denial of access to counsel. Inadequate medical care. Napolitano and other Justice Department officials declined to say what sparked the investigation. But civil-rights probes commonly begin after complaints are made to the department. In February, Hentoff wrote to the Justice Department, saying sheriff's officials may be violating inmates' civil rights. As an example, he said he knew of an inmate who was allegedly beaten so severely that he has permanent loss of vision. ''The assault was so severe that the inmate defecated in his pants during the beating and was not allowed to change his clothing or shower for 24 hours,'' Hentoff wrote. Kleinheinz refused to say Friday whether the Sheriff's Office has taken disciplinary action against the three jailers who broke Johnson's arm back in November. As of May, however, no action had been taken against Sgt. P. Rogers, Officer R. Douglas and Officer B. Cluff. Kleinheinz also would not provide information on what action, if any, the Sheriff's Office has taken against Michael Corrales, one of the two jailers who are being prosecuted on assault charges. Corrales, 27, was charged in July with assault, touching with the intent to injure, a Class 2 misdemeanor. He is accused of assaulting inmate Shayne Kolpack of Phoenix after Kolpack made a remark to him. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. The Sheriff's Office fired the other jailer charged with assault, Daniel Comer, 44. He is accused of punching and kicking a handcuffed inmate, Julio Campos, on April 10.

Comer originally was charged with a felony, but on Tuesday, he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor assault. He faces six months in jail and a $2,500 fine when sentenced next month. Hentoff, who is representing Campos, opposes the plea deal as too lenient. ''My feeling is that it sends a terribly frightening message to other police officers and detention officers that beating a fully restrained inmate will only get them a misdemeanor,'' he said. ''It's a green light for excessive brutality. ''Comer will now have the same level of offense on his record as someone who left their dog at large.'' Kleinheinz said his office was surprised that Comer was allowed to plead to a misdemeanor. ''We felt the situation was a lot more serious than a misdemeanor,'' he said, although the Sheriff's Office has no plans to oppose it.