The Region - News from May 31, 1987

The family of Gary Mims, a young Texas man who died while in custody at the Los Angeles County Central Jail earlier this month, filed a $10-million lawsuit against the county, claiming that an unduly slow jail-release process triggered psychiatric instability that led to the man’s death. Mims was ordered released on his own recognizance on May 8 by a judge after he pleaded guilty to a narcotics charge. While waiting in a holding cell for his release to be processed, Mims passed out and later refused to answer questions. He was placed in a psychological observation module for the night, and was found dead on the morning of May 16, according to the suit. An autopsy was inconclusive, and lab tests are still being performed, a coroner’s spokesman said. “There have been over 50 such deaths at the Men’s Central Jail in the last 10 years, and yet (county officials) take little or no effective action to prevent this continuing tragedy,” said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.