Allowing Violent Inmates in Orange Jail at Issue in Trial

Under severe pressure to relieve overcrowding in the Orange County jail system, Sheriff Brad Gates unilaterally changed an inmate classification system to make violent offenders eligible for transfer to Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange, attorneys for that city charged in court Wednesday.

Attorney Geoffrey K. Willis, opening a trial in which the city is attempting to keep maximum-security inmates out of Theo Lacy jail, said the sheriff’s actions beginning in 1991 violated two separate agreements in which the county promised not to house dangerous inmates in the branch jail.

Willis said that Gates admitted in a January, 1992, letter to the Orange County Board of Supervisors that he had effectively “broken his promise” to the city by changing a system and allowing inmates charged with major crimes ranging from rape to mayhem to be housed in the Orange facility.

The city’s claims came on the first day of testimony in the trial, which also represents an attempt by Orange city officials to prohibit the expansion of Theo Lacy from 1,326 beds to as many as 2,200.

“The city had asked for a cap on the number of inmates and type of inmates housed at Theo Lacy and the county accepted that offer,” Willis said in his opening remarks to Superior Court Judge Norman Dowds. “The sheriff complied with those conditions until Nov. 6 (1991) and the sheriff acknowledged that he broke that promise.”

But Deputy County Counsel David Chaffee, acknowledging that classification changes were made, said the sheriff’s separate “screening” of inmates prevented truly dangerous prisoners from being transferred to the Orange facility.

The separate screening process, Chaffee said in an interview outside the courtroom, allows sheriff’s officials to make case-by-case judgments about the dangers posed by individual inmates.

In some cases, Chaffee said, inmates charged with kidnaping or other serious crimes are not considered immediate dangers because of the specific circumstances of their alleged crimes or past criminal history.

“Changes in inmate classification have not resulted in housing maximum security inmates at Theo Lacy,” Chaffee said, adding that the changes allowed the sheriff “only some flexibility” in dealing with the overcrowding crises.

Willis disputed that contention in an interview outside the courtroom, saying he believes maximum security inmates were sent to Theo Lacy when the Central Men’s Jail was nearing capacity in 1991.

It was on Nov. 6, 1991, that Willis said Gates risked breaking terms of a federal court order regulating jail population unless inmate numbers in the maximum security Central Men’s Jail were immediately reduced.

At that time, Gates, with only hours to act, reportedly changed the jail classification system, allowing inmates charged with more serious crimes to transfer to minimum and medium security facilities--such as Theo Lacy--for the first time.

Among those made eligible at the time were inmates charged with rape, kidnaping, robbery, throwing acid with intent to burn, child molestation, mayhem and assaults on police officers or firefighters.

Willis also charged that another change was made last July that allowed some of the 150 striking drywall workers jailed in a mass arrest to be transported to Theo Lacy, even though some of the initial charges involved violent crimes.

The classification changes, according to the city, violated the terms of an environmental agreement for use of the jail and a separate pact between the city and county which prohibited dangerous criminals from being housed there.

“This self-created crisis of overcrowding is not an excuse for the sheriff to violate the California Environmental Quality Act or agreements with the city of Orange,” Willis said.

Quoting from the sheriff’s written response to questions posed by Orange attorneys in preparation for trial, Willis said the sheriff acknowledged that maximum security level prisoners had been housed in Theo Lacy.

The written response was later changed to indicate that no maximum security inmates had been housed there.

In an interview after Wednesday’s proceedings, Gates said the written response was caused by an attorney’s “error in communication” with the city.

“The bottom line is, there wasn’t a maximum security inmate at that jail,” said Gates, who nevertheless acknowledged that maximum security inmates should be allowed at Theo Lacy.

The sheriff, who was expected to testify Wednesday but is now scheduled to take the witness stand today, also said that he never promised to keep maximum security prisoners out of Theo Lacy.

“I’ve always said that I would try to run any jail as I was supposed to until I get to a point where I can’t do it any more,” the sheriff said. “My use of the word promise was not a good thing.”

Judge Dowds, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, is hearing the case in Santa Ana. The city of Orange successfully moved last year to disallow any Orange County judge from overseeing the case.

As the trial progresses, Dowds will also hear arguments that may arise on whether county documents on jail security classifications should be disclosed in open court, Willis said.