Care Would Have Saved Inmate, Lawyer Says

The Sheriff’s Department is investigating the Jan. 1 death of a Los Angeles County jail inmate whose attorney says would have survived if deputies had obeyed four court orders to provide him with medical care.

The death of Henry A. Torres Jr. at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood comes amid a federal review of health care in the enormous county jail system, which handles about 180,000 inmates annually.

Torres, 32, of Hawaiian Gardens, was facing trial in Superior Court on three heroin-related charges. He lost consciousness in his cell shortly after 2 p.m. on New Year’s Day and was pronounced dead at King/Drew Medical Center.

The coroner’s office later found what appeared to be a piece of hypodermic syringe in Torres’ right lung that he apparently had swallowed accidentally before his jailing and that caused the organ to fill with blood and other fluid. Torres had repeatedly complained about something stuck in his throat since he was jailed Nov. 8, case records show.

“Being a heroin addict shouldn’t be a death sentence,” said Stephanie Lofton, Torres’ defense attorney. “I’ve never seen court orders ignored like this before. The whole thing is so egregious.”

Norwalk Superior Court Judge Michael Cowell said that over a period of almost two months he issued four orders for Torres to receive medical care in jail. Two orders explicitly requested that the inmate’s throat be thoroughly examined.

Sheriff’s deputies contend that Torres was not totally ignored and that he had at least one doctor’s appointment while in custody. They could not provide details because the investigation has just begun.

Lofton said the court orders were issued Nov. 9, Dec. 12, Dec. 22 and Dec. 26. Had he seen a doctor, Torres would still be alive because the piece of syringe would have been discovered and removed, she said.

Preliminary results of an autopsy conducted Jan. 5 suggest that the piece of syringe triggered the condition that led to Torres’ death. His post-mortem indicated that Torres had swallowed the piece of syringe, probably by accident.

The coroner’s office is waiting for the results of toxicological tests before determining the official cause of death.

Inmate May Have Seen Doctor Once

Capt. Frank Merriman, head of the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, said his office is investigating the case, as required in all inmate deaths. He cautioned that it was too soon to reach any conclusions.

Torres apparently saw a doctor at least once while in custody, he said. “There were court orders at some point,” Merriman said. “I know of one visit, because the investigator told me about it. We will be looking at the medical records to substantiate what happened.”

In addition to the homicide investigation, Merriman said the division of the Sheriff’s Department in charge of the jails will conduct its own evaluation.

Lofton, whose office is in Long Beach, disputed whether Torres was actually seen by a doctor while incarcerated. He had received cough syrup at one point, but there are no indications that the judge’s orders, including the requests for detailed examinations, were followed, she said.

After some, if not all, of the court orders were issued, the Sheriff’s Department failed to notify the judge of any medical appointment although deputies were required to do so, Lofton said.

Generally, court orders for medical care are turned over to deputies who serve as bailiffs. They dispatch the records to the Sheriff’s Department or send them by fax.

Cowell, who has been temporarily assigned to the Downey courthouse, said he repeatedly issued the court orders because it appeared that Torres was not receiving care. He declined to comment further.

Inmate’s Family Considering Lawsuit

“I don’t understand how those court orders were ignored so many times,” said Lori Torres of Hawaiian Gardens, who married Torres several months ago. “It is very hard for me right now. They took away a special part of my life.”

Family members said they are considering a claim for damages and a wrongful-death suit against the Sheriff’s Department. In addition to contending that deputies ignored court orders, Lofton said, she will allege that jailers took an extraordinary amount of time to help Torres after he started choking and collapsed in his cell.

Based on interviews with Torres’ cellmate, Lofton contends that it took 10 to 15 minutes for deputies to reach her client. By that time, she said, it was too late to save him.

Jail division commanders declined to comment on the death because the investigation is pending.

“This is something that should not have happened,” said Torres’ grandfather, Ray R. Benavides of Long Beach. “If we don’t put a stop to this kind of thing, it’s going to continue. More people are going to die.”

Torres’ death occurred during an ongoing review by the U.S. Department of Justice of medical care in the county jail system, which has eight facilities. As part of that effort, federal officials visited the Sheriff’s Department last week.

The sheriff’s Medical Services Bureau treats up to 20,000 inmates a year. Authorities estimate that about 15 inmates die annually in the jail system of natural and accidental causes.

In addition to the federal review, attorney Merrick Bobb, a special counsel for the county, monitors the Sheriff’s Department, including its jail conditions, for the Board of Supervisors. He is scheduled later this week to release his semiannual report, which will discuss medical care for inmates, among other things.

“Our investigation over the last several years demonstrates a chronic and difficult problem,” Bobb said. “Nor are we alone in sounding the alarm. Concerns have been raised by the county Department of Health Services, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Justice Department, doctors, as well as inmates and their relatives and friends.”