Sheriff-Coroner Battle Off to Early Start : Jobs Would Be Made Separate by Bill to Be Introduced Next Year

At least three months before a bill is to be introduced, proponents and foes are already gearing up for a renewed battle over legislation designed to eliminate the perceived conflict when sheriff-coroners investigate the deaths of persons in their custody.

Few Capitol observers are surprised that the impetus on both sides appears to be emanating from Orange County, where controversy over the dual role of sheriff and coroner has continued for more than a decade.

Impartiality Questioned

In Orange County, the most populous of the 35 California counties in which one person holds both titles, critics have complained frequently since the two posts were combined in 1971 that impartial investigations of jail deaths are all but impossible.

When one of his deputies may be involved, the sheriff-coroner, in effect, is investigating himself, those critics say.

Last month, the Orange County Board of Supervisors decided to seek legislation calling for the district attorney’s office to assume all coroner duties when someone dies in jail, on the way to jail or in any incident involving a law enforcement officer.

Already, the statewide County Coroners Assn. has opposed the measure. A spokesman for the California Peace Officers Assn., which includes police chiefs and sheriffs, said that group probably will oppose it too.

‘Can Be a Problem’

Meanwhile, American Civil Liberties Union spokeswoman Marjorie Swartz applauded the concept.

“At least it shows that they (Orange County supervisors) acknowledge it can be a problem,” Swartz said.

So far, Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Brad L. Gates, who has often viewed concerns about a potential conflict as personal attacks upon his integrity, has taken no public stance on the proposed legislation.

But there are suspicions that the three-term sheriff-coroner, who is facing a reelection challenge next year, has been a behind-the-scenes player in the mounting law-enforcement opposition to the measure, which is expected to be introduced next year.

Gates’ chief deputy coroner, Jim D. Beisner, was elected president of the statewide coroners’ group on the same day the organization decided to take a position against a bill that has not even been printed.

‘Working Both Sides’

“Maybe he (Gates) is working both sides of the fence,” said Assemblyman Gil W. Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), who has agreed to carry the bill for county supervisors and to drop his own attempt to force separation in all but small counties.

Earlier this year, a bill by Ferguson to force separation of the two offices in nine California counties was defeated in an Assembly committee. Ferguson said he agreed to carry the new county-proposed measure next year only after being assured that county officials--including Gates--all endorse it.

“I am not going to beat my head against the wall. . . . I only agreed to carry the bill at the request of the county,” said Ferguson, who has been accused of attacking the arrangement to get even with Gates for endorsing an opponent in his Assembly race last year.

The legislation being sought is similar to a policy adopted in Orange County last June following an in-house county government study on the potential for an inherent conflict in allowing one person to be both sheriff and coroner. Supervisors say the law is needed in case a district attorney or sheriff elected in the future will not agree to the arrangement that Gates and Orange County Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks have accepted.

Study Followed Dispute

The study was begun after Gates became involved in a dispute with mental health officials over the records of an inmate who committed suicide in the Orange County Jail last December.

The proposed measure would allow, but not compel, all counties where one person holds both titles to adopt the policy of letting district attorneys assume all the duties of coroner--including supervising autopsies and signing death certificates--when there are in-custody deaths.

The measure would authorize district attorneys to contract with independent board-certified pathologists and forensics experts to conduct autopsies.

Since Orange County started a similar practice, as a matter of policy, last June, the district attorney’s office has overseen four investigations, including the death of a 19-year-old inmate who committed suicide the day after the policy took effect.

Measure Called Unnecessary

Critics say the measure that supervisors now want enacted into state law is unnecessary and could be costly.

Most of the counties that have dual sheriff-coroners already have procedures calling for independent or joint investigations by outside agencies when in-custody deaths occur, said Al Cooper, the Peace Officers’ representative in Sacramento.

Particularly because of the recurring controversy in Orange County and Ferguson’s unsuccessful bill last year, sheriff-coroners are eager to turn over investigations to either district attorneys or the state Attorney General’s office, Cooper said.

“They like to get rid of those investigations as fast as they can,” said Cooper.

In August, Tuolumne County Sheriff-Coroner Wally Berry immediately suspended one of his deputies and called in attorney general’s investigators after a man arrested at a tavern near Sonora died on his way to jail, Cooper said.

Man Died of Fracture

An autopsy subsequently showed that the man died of a fracture of the cartilage in the throat. The deputy who arrested him, Dennis Raymond, will go on trial Friday for second-degree murder, although a judge said the fatal neck injury may not have been intentional.

“That just shows that the checks and balances are in place . . . and they work,” said Beisner, who runs the coroner’s office in Orange County.

Beisner said the coroners’ association he was elected to head “feels the proposal is an unnecessary piece of legislation.” Although county administrators have estimated that the policy will cost $85,000 annually, Beisner predicted the county could spend $300,000 a year.

“Wait until they start getting those bills for independent autopsies,” he said.

Beisner said he could not say whether Gates is as adamantly opposed to the new county-sponsored measure as he was to Ferguson’s earlier bill to split the offices. But he acknowledged that the supervisors’ support for the new legislation “puts us in Orange County in a tough spot.”

“We are just trying to point out some of the pitfalls to our legislative people,” Beisner said.