![]() ![]() In both cases, the men had shown signs of mental illness. The county has acknowledged, under questioning from WW, that two of the deaths this year were suicides. “These deaths are devastating,” County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson tells WW, “and something that has to change immediately.”īut to know what to change, one must first know what went wrong. Whether this crackdown will be enough to stop the death toll from rising further remains to be seen. It’s believed to be a response to suspicions that deputies failed to follow protocol prior to one of the deaths, then forged their logs to suggest they had. Earlier this month, WW has learned, Sheriff O’Donnell showed up at staff meetings with a stern warning: Falsify jail logbooks and you will get fired. In recent weeks, the sheriff has gone on a publicity tour touting recent changes, including an aggressive new strip search policy.īut not all of her appearances have been publicized. Internal documents and WW interviews with current and former staff reveal the jails’ struggles to adapt to a series of interconnected crises: the influx of the deadly new drug fentanyl, the increasing severity of inmates’ mental illnesses, and a staffing crisis that some say has made the jail more dangerous. That’s certainly what he’s saying in the days after his firing-and his account fits into a larger picture of a county jail system where dysfunction has turned deadly. “He’s a disgruntled employee saying, ‘I just do it how they train me.’” “ might be a great witness,” Kaplan says. On the other hand, it could provide prospective litigants with powerful ammunition. “That’s the jail covering their ass,” explains Matthew Kaplan, a litigator with experience filing wrongful death lawsuits against county jails. Whether or not staff is ultimately found negligent, imposing discipline helps protect the county from claims it violated inmates’ civil rights. The quick firing of Evanoff prior to completion of an investigation is likely an attempt to shield the county from liability. But it will be months, if not years, before the public learns what they find. O’Donnell has called in state and federal agencies to help figure out what went wrong. “The death of Clemente Pineda is an active and ongoing investigation, and we cannot comment further,” a spokesman for her office said. Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell declined an interview with WW. The county had said in a press release that Pineda was “found unresponsive in their cell” at around 4:15 and “corrections deputies immediately began lifesaving measures.” But Evanoff’s note implied that jail staff were aware of his condition far earlier. His documentation undermined the official story. In the days following Pineda’s death, Evanoff’s log message was circulated by jail staff shocked by the circumstances of the death. “He showed no signs of distress and was breathing.” The county offered no explanation, Evanoff says, but he believes he was made a scapegoat. Pineda’s was the sixth death of an inmate in Multnomah County jails since May. Jail employees rushed to resuscitate him, but it was too late. Her trial was set for February.Around an hour after Evanoff’s shift ended, Pineda stopped breathing. Harris was initially booked into the jail on murder charges, although these were later reduced to manslaughter and Harris was released to await trial.īut in December 2021, prosecutors asked for Harris to be returned to jail, citing a history of violent behavior and her failure to enroll in a residential treatment program. They talked to her daughter, who said the two had a history of domestic violence. He’d just been released from prison and had come to her home and attacked her, she told police. Harris had been in county jail in 2021 after running over her ex-husband with her car. I had no reason to believe that any would be fatal.” “I’m devastated,” her latest attorney, Alicia Hercher, tells WW. She had been given a psychiatric evaluation while in jail last year after her defense attorney raised concerns she wasn’t mentally capable of contributing to her own defense, but those concerns were later dropped after Harris petitioned for a new attorney. It is not clear what health problems Harris had. ![]()
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