Inmate Inexplicably Pulls Out Restored Eye After Surgery

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By San Diego Union-Tribune

Published: 04/25/2003

Surgery to repair an inmate's eye gouged out in a deadly fight with a cellmate was nullified when the inmate inexplicably pulled out the restored eye, authorities said.
The latest development has further delayed investigators' attempts to find out exactly what happened in the March 27 fight, sheriff's homicide Lt. Terry Wisniewski said.
Both William David Pearson, 39, and Joel Patrick Varner, 48, lost an eye in the fight, which left Varner dead, officials said.
Pearson underwent successful surgery to restore his left eye, but later pulled the eye out, Wisniewski said.
It is not known if the eye has been restored again.
Varner's family, meanwhile, is still trying to figure out the circumstances surrounding his death.
Varner's stepbrother, Don Lierman, said Varner was a drug addict but not violent. He said he wondered why Varner was put in a cell with a much bigger inmate.
Varner was about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighed about 140 pounds. Pearson is about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs about 205 pounds, according to jail records. Varner 'was a passive person, in no way aggressive,' Lierman said. 'If he gouged this guy's eye out, it had to be in self-defense.'
An autopsy on Varner has been completed, but the Medical Examiner's Office is awaiting results of toxicology tests and the sheriff's investigation before determining a cause of death.
Wisniewski said that continuing medical treatment of Pearson's eye injury has delayed completion of the investigation.
Pearson has not been charged in connection with the death. He was in jail on suspicion of petty theft, records show.
Both men had lengthy criminal records, court records show, but neither had been convicted of a violent crime.
Pearson has three convictions for indecent exposure from 1992 to 2002, and two convictions for petty theft, according to court records. Varner had two felony convictions as an adult for selling drugs and three felony drug offenses as a juvenile, according to court records.
A probation officer, who recommended a year in jail and probation instead of three years in prison after Varner's most recent felony conviction, wrote at the time that Varner's 'past conduct does not reveal a pattern of regular or increasingly serious criminal conduct.'
Court records show Varner suffered from mental illness.
Relatives had worked out a plan to help Varner turn his life around, as soon as he was released.
'Joel was due to get out in June,' Lierman said. 'My stepfather had a job waiting for him and had a plan for him to live as a law-abiding citizen.'
'At this point, my family has more questions than answers,' Lierman added. 'We don't understand how something like this could happen. We assumed that he was in the custody and care of the Sheriff's Department.'
Lierman said Varner was a gifted athlete at Mission Bay High School. He played point guard on that school's basketball team as a freshman. However, Lierman said, he got poor grades and was kicked off the team. In 10th grade, Varner dropped out of school and found work as a deck hand on fishing boats.
During the past decade, Varner worked odd jobs, but was mostly unemployed. His relatives helped care for him.
'I wish he would have gotten an education,' Lierman said.

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