Judge Rejects Bid for Public Inquest in Boy’s Death

A Superior Court judge denied a mother’s request Wednesday to hold a public jury inquest into the death of her 9-year-old son, who was in foster care.

Details of the ruling were scant because Judge Robert H. O’Brien sealed his order.

Richard Townsend, a lawyer for Los Angeles County, confirmed that O’Brien had ruled against the inquest. But he said he had been ordered by the court not to comment further.

“The only thing we’re authorized to say is that the judge has turned down the petition,” Townsend said.

Jonathan Reid, a diabetic who also suffered from severe asthma attacks, died June 9--six weeks after county social workers took him from his home, and 13 days after he was sent to a foster home in Pomona. County social workers had alleged that his mother, Debra Reid, was neglecting his medical needs.

Debra Reid said Wednesday night that she has “learned not to be disappointed” by rulings in the case.

“We are going to continue to do what we started out to do,” said her attorney, L’tanya Butler. “We are fighting not just for Jonathan, but so there doesn’t have to be another Jonathan.”

The district attorney’s office is investigating the boy’s death.

The county coroner at first ruled the death a homicide, attributing it to a combination of severe asthma and a lethal overdose of asthma medication. Later, the autopsy report and death certificate were amended, and the mode of death was listed as “undetermined.”

The boy’s mother sought the public inquest after learning that the chief medical examiner’s wife was one of the pediatricians who prescribed medications for her son while he was in the county’s care.

The court file remains sealed on the recommendation of a commissioner in Juvenile Dependency Court, who last week ruled that confidentiality rules governing minors could be violated if the documents were made public.

In a related development, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) released a copy of a letter to Atty. Gen. Janet Reno requesting that federal authorities look into possible civil rights violations by the Department of Children and Family Services and the Los Angeles County coroner’s office in the death of Jonathan’s death.

An independent inspector general for the Department of Children and Family Services is also looking into the death.

During a hearing on Tuesday, O’Brien warned Reid that she faced “a steep uphill battle” proving the need for what he called a “rather cumbersome and bizarre procedure.” He said in court that he lacked legal precedent to guide him when a citizen requests an inquest.

Usually, inquests are called by the coroner, at the request of police and prosecutors. In Los Angeles, the most recent inquest was convened during the early 1980s.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Brian Kelberg, who heads the office’s specialized MedicoLegal unit, has assured the judge that his office is conducting a thorough, impartial investigation.