Prisoners Say Grand Jury Won’t Listen to Them About Abuses

Many of the current and former inmates who allege they were assaulted by San Diego County sheriff’s deputies are growing impatient with the county grand jury because they say the panel has not offered to hear their side to the allegations of widespread brutality.

The inmates are equally concerned that a new grand jury, should it take over the investigation after it is impaneled next week, will also gloss over the allegations and clear the Sheriff’s Department of any misconduct.

Nita Van Heest, a Las Colinas jail inmate for five months in 1986 and 1987, has raised serious allegations about the deaths of two inmates to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the county Board of Supervisors and the press.

But she said the grand jury has not even telephoned once.

‘Like to Have Faith’

“I’d like to believe in them,” she said Thursday. “I’d like to have faith in them. But I haven’t heard anything from them. Nothing. Zero.”

However, Judy Hejduk, who alleges she was beaten in the Vista jail in April, 1986, said she testified before the grand jury for about two hours Thursday morning.

But she said she was invited only after she complained to Supervisor Susan Golding’s office that the grand jury did not seem interested in hearing the inmates’ allegations.

“They were good listeners and they did thank me for coming forward,” Hejduk said. “But I’m sticking with the FBI. I really feel that’s where our strength is going to lie in all this.”

San Diego County Sheriff John Duffy has categorically denied that his deputies are committing widespread assaults on inmates in the six detention facilities.

But, in the face of persistent allegations of abuse, the sheriff on June 1 asked the grand jury to investigate the charges and issue a report on its findings.

The next day, the grand jury announced that it would start an investigation, with the hopes of completing the probe before its term ends next Thursday. Edward C. Malone, grand jury foreman, said the panel could complete the review in time “by making this investigation the No. 1 priority.”

Malone gave the assignment to an ad hoc committee of grand jurors chaired by Deputy Foreman Ray Tieger. Early in the probe, the grand jury met with investigators from the sheriff’s Internal Affairs unit.

Allegations of Abuse

More than 50 former and current inmates have raised allegations of deputy abuse over the last several years. But Hejduk was apparently the first to be called into the grand jury room.

Tieger said the ad hoc committee is trying to finish the investigation before the end of the month. If it is unsuccessful, he said, its work will be turned over to the new grand jury that is to be impaneled Friday.

Asked whether his committee really wanted to hear testimony from inmates, Tieger said: “I would just as soon not answer that question. And you can draw your own conclusions from that.”

He declined to discuss any other details of the investigation.

It is unclear yet who will head the new grand jury. But, since the names of the new panelists were announced earlier this month, many of the inmates have begun expressing doubts about the objectivity of those grand jurors as well.

Of the 19 new grand jurors, one of them, Paul Kincade, is a member of the Honorary Deputy Sheriffs’ Assn.

Another, Pat Fordem, is the wife of former Supervisor Paul Fordem, a conservative politician who often backed Duffy and the Sheriff’s Department. Six are retired military officers.

Conflict of Interest?

Kincade said he is seeking guidance from the county counselor’s office, the district attorney and the Superior Court as to what role, if any, he should have in the jail investigation. He said he has already taken himself out of consideration for appointment as grand jury foreman.

“I don’t want to be in a position where my affiliation would dilute the credibility of the jury,” he said. “I think we have a excellent group of people on the jury.”

The deputies’ association is composed of volunteer citizens, he added, who raise funds to provide educational support for sworn personnel in the Sheriff’s Department.

“It is a nonprofit, volunteer citizens’ association that Sheriff Duffy has no say in,” Kincade said. “We are nothing more than citizens who are concerned with having well-equipped, trained and qualified law enforcement personnel.”

Pat Fordem said she did not think her husband’s past political endeavors would create a problem in her participating in the jail investigation.

“He has been off the board for four years, “ she said. “Although we are married, we certainly never got into any deep discussion of things like that. So no, I don’t think it would pose any problem. Oh, goodness, no. There would be absolutely no conflict at all.”

Duffy on Advisory Board

Also of concern to the inmates is the fact that Duffy has been a member of the advisory board that nominates judges, who in turn nominate grand jurors.

“I kind of think that means that no grand jury is really going to ever put Duffy on the hot seat,” said Orned (Chicken) Gabriel, who allegedly was beaten by deputies earlier this year in the El Cajon jail.

“It doesn’t add up,” added Jim Butler, who claims he was attacked by deputies in the Vista jail several years ago. “I feel very uncomfortable with what’s going on.”

Even Hejduk, who appeared before the grand jury, was worried about the members’ sensitivity. She said the five grand jurors who were present to hear her testimony seemed concerned about the situation.

But she noted that most of the questions dealt with her original hesitancy to come forward after she was allegedly beaten, rather than about the assault itself.

“I kind of got the feeling they wanted me to have faith in them,” she said. “That’s a little shaky for me right now. But I am willing to give everything to them that I have.”