Former Pima County jail inmates or their families are suing the Sheriff’s Department, alleging the inmates were injured — or died — as a result of negligence, court documents show.
The three separate and unrelated claims seek up to a total of $7 million in damages. The Sheriff’s Department runs the jail. The claims are precursors to filing lawsuits against the government entities.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office, which represents the Sheriff’s Department, does not comment on pending civil cases, said Chief Deputy Attorney Amelia Cramer.
Claim alleges physical, emotional abuse
In late July, the attorney representing Kevin Delao filed a $1 million preliminary claim against the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Pima County Adult Detention Center and Pima County Public Defender’s Office, alleging he was injured due to negligence by all three parties.
On Jan. 26, Delao, who has Parkinson’s disease, was accused of domestic violence and booked into the Pima County jail.
“Officers noted at the time that Mr. Delao was initially jailed that he appeared both mentally and physically challenged and had trouble communicating,” Joseph W. Watkins, Delao’s attorney wrote in the claim.
Although deputies noticed Delao’s state, they didn’t take him to a hospital for a mental-health evaluation, but took him straight to jail.
Delao was initially placed in the medical unit, but was transferred to general population for an unknown reason, despite the fact that he is legally considered an incapacitated adult, the claim says.
The claim says that during the two months he spent in jail, Delao suffered physical and emotional abuse, and the Pima County Public Defender’s office did not act to secure his release in a timely manner.
Delao was charged with domestic violence but in an August court hearing Pima County Superior Judge Danelle Liwski ruled he was incompetent and the charges were dismissed.
Claim in Jail death
In a preliminary claim filed in April, Doretta Calvin, the mother of a woman who died in Pima County Jail, is asking the court for $5 million in damages.
Leticia Colter was booked into jail on the morning of Oct. 8, for an undisclosed crime that video evidence later disproved, the lawsuit says.
Because of her alcohol and heroin abuse, the jail staff identified Colter as being at risk for having withdrawal symptoms while detoxing, and noted that she had visible tremors.
She was taken to the infirmary shortly before 10 p.m., after having seizures. “At that time, Leticia was vomiting, groggy, slurring words, and drooling on herself,” attorney Joseph M. Leal wrote in the claim.
At noon the next day, she was discharged from the infirmary and taken back to prisoner housing.
She needed the assistance of two corrections officers to walk to her cell, remained “largely unresponsive” and didn’t move from the floor once she arrived, the lawsuit says.
Over the next several hours, guards ignored attempts by Colter’s cellmates to alert them of her worsening condition, the suit says.
Shortly before 10 p.m., help finally arrived, and Colter was found to be in cardiac arrest due to a large brain bleed that developed and worsened while she was in custody, the suit says.
A separate claim has been filed on behalf of Colter’s other relatives, but the details were not available.
Claim alleges
severe beating
Earlier this year, attorney Stephen M. Weeks filed a $1 million preliminary claim on behalf of a woman who was severely beaten while serving a 24-hour sentence for a DUI in October.
Mary Wedepohl was booked into jail Oct. 15, shortly before 8 a.m., and was asked upon arrival if she was taking any medication, the suit says.
“She explained that she had a prescription for a (long-lasting anti-anxiety medication) but that she wouldn’t need any medication during her stay,” Weeks wrote in the claim.
Even though Wedepohl wasn’t withdrawing, she was assigned to a detox” cell with two other inmates who were in withdrawal for meth and heroin, even though there were several empty detox cells, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit says that when Wedepohl’s cellmates tried to get her to help them escape, she declined and was subsequently beaten and choked by the women.
Wedepohl reported the attack, and was evaluated by a nurse who questioned her placement in a detox cell with violent inmates, the claim says.
After her release, Wedepohl was unable to return to work because of her physical appearance, the claim says.
