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| Grand jury clears jail in Alzheimer's death |
| By Red Bluff Daily News |
| Published: 07/04/2005 |
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Tehama County (Calif.) Jail staff and the District Attorney's office "acted responsibly, and according to policy," in handling an 86-year-old inmate suffering from Alzheimer's disease, according to the Tehama County grand jury report. Raymond Luvern Wells died in September from hitting his head during a fall while in the Tehama County Jail. As reported in the Daily News in December, Wells had been declared incompetent eight days before his fall, yet he remained in custody while the sheriff said the jail awaited paperwork from the district attorney's office and the courts. "Both departments were willing to make better arrangements for the inmate, but did not have other options available to them," according to the grand jury. The report included a recommendation that several county agencies including the sheriff's department, the district attorney, mental health and social services work together to develop and implement a plan for inmates with special needs. Jail commander Capt. Ronald Dodd said officials have held two meetings since the visit from the grand jury and have set in place a policy to meet when the jail takes in an inmate with special needs. "We'll look at each one on an individual basis," Dodd said. "We'll meet immediately to decide on the best course of action." He added that in most cases, the meetings would occur within 24 hours of the jail taking in a special needs inmate. "Ideally, we want to get something going before they go to court and are arraigned," he said. Options for placement include county mental health facilities or facilities in neighboring counties that could better care for the individual. Dodd added that placement will depend on the type of crime the individual is charged with and in some cases, the inmate may be still be housed in the Tehama County Jail. Dodd said that overall, he felt the grand jury report was fair but added that there were extraordinary circumstances surrounding Wells' death. He said that after Wells fell, hospital doctors wanted to operate and could have saved him, but his brother, who had conservatorship, declined the procedure. Dodd added that when Wells was first taken into custody, he contacted some of the same people on the new committee. "We were making the contacts but all we were getting was we'll look into it,"' he said. "But there was no help." Dodd added that he believes the committee will lead to solutions. "We'll have to come up with a good plan," Dodd said. "It's probably going to happen again where we get someone with this condition." |
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