Jail Care Criticized in Asthmatic Inmate’s Death

A retarded, asthmatic man who died last August in San Diego County Jail was subject to a shocking lack of medical care from a “coldly harsh and judgmental” nurse and other “mean-spirited and unprofessional” staff members who chastised him for requesting help, the district attorney’s office has determined.

In an eight-page report released Friday, Dist. Atty. Edwin L. Miller said he carefully weighed whether to file criminal charges against a jail nurse and deputies who tended to 18-year-old John C. Maes, who had asked repeatedly to be hospitalized for breathing problems.

But while the report was highly critical of jail procedures, Miller said the staff’s conduct was not so “aggravated, reckless or grossly negligent” that it caused Maes’ death and said no charges would be filed.

The report nurse said Colleen Heath scolded Maes repeatedly and ordered that he be placed in a padded cell, where he stopped breathing. Sheriff Jim Roache said Heath has since been fired because of an unrelated matter.