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| California Jailers Arrested in Death |
| By The Bakersfield Californian |
| Published: 12/12/2005 |
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The weapons used by three Kern County jailers to kill a defenseless inmate in August were simple, District Attorney Ed Jagels said last week. "Boot. Fist. Elbow," he said. Sheriff's officials arrested five officers last week, some on suspicion of murder and others solely on suspicion of assault. James Moore of Bakersfield was bound, hand and foot, when three detention deputies struck heavy blows to his head on Aug. 15, Jagels said. Moore, 30, died of blunt force head trauma six days later at Mercy Hospital, according to coroner's reports. Arrested on second-degree murder charges were Daniel Thomas Lindini, 48; Ralph Contreras, 32,; and Roxanne Fowler, 41, according to Jagels and jail records. Lindini is a 23-year veteran of the department. Contreras and Fowler have 11 and 10 years of experience, respectively, the department said. Two other jailers, 34-year-old Angel Lopez Bravo and 20-year-old Lisa Diane Romero, struck unnecessary but non-lethal blows to Moore's body, Jagels alleged. Both face charges of assault under the color of authority and were released after posting $50,000 bail, officials said. Bravo was hired by the department 10 years ago while Romero was hired in June, according to the department. All of the suspects were booked into the downtown jail where the beating occurred months ago. Moore was arrested Aug. 15 on suspicion of making threats after he got into an argument with the mother of his younger son, his family and sheriff's officials said. Jagels said Moore got into a total of four "violent confrontations" with jail staffers that same day, but the jailers' actions were only criminal during the fourth incident. "Mr. Moore was acting extremely irrationally and violently. According to all the witnesses, he was incredibly strong," Jagels said. Jagels added Moore wasn't under the influence of drugs because a test done at the time of his arrest ruled that out. During the first three incidents, detention personnel used a baton, pepper spray and a carotid-artery hold to try to subdue Moore, according to the investigation of the incidents, Jagels said. No criminal violations were found in those incidents, Jagels said. The fourth incident was another story. It began when detention deputies took Moore into the parking garage, intending to put him in a patrol car and take him to Kern Medical Center, Jagels said. They wanted him checked out because of the artery hold and because of his behavior, Jagels said. Detention officials cuffed Moore's hands to a waist restraint and they restrained his legs, Jagels said. Moore was on the ground when one detention deputy kicked his head, Jagels said. After Moore was strapped to a gurney, he said, multiple deputies hit Moore in the head with their fists and elbows. The investigation of the beating began when a sheriff's deputy who witnessed part of the incident wrote a memo to a supervisor, Jagels said. Sheriff Mack Wimbish said the arrests marked a "sad day" in the Kern County Sheriff's Department. The sheriff said the jail system was getting a fresh look and changes would be made. With the criminal investigation completed, Wimbish said, an internal affairs investigation will proceed within the department. Jagels praised sheriff's investigators for the thoroughness of their work in the case. The investigation took months to complete because some tissue samples were sent to a private lab for analysis, Jagels said. Lawyer David Cohn, who represents Moore's son James Jr. in a lawsuit against the Sheriff's Department, said he's not sure the public is getting the entire story on the beating. Cohn said he found it "perplexing" that Jagels differentiated between the four incidents in August, which he described as "beatings," not "confrontations." |
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