A Death in Custody – Lessons Learned.

Lawfully shared data collection and analysis among multiple Santa Barbara County law enforcement agencies (Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, Santa Barbara County Public Defender, Santa Barbara County Probation Department), the municipal police departments in Santa Barbara County (Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Barbara, and Santa Maria), mental health (County Behavioral Wellness) and public health (County public health) agencies would provide relevant county personnel with better tools to effectively serve community members with mental health illness. The Santa Barbara County District Attorney agrees with Finding 5. The existing Santa Barbara County Data Sharing Committee includes the Santa Barbara County District Attorney, Santa Barbara County Probation Department, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Barbara County Public Defender, Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness Department, and the County of Santa Barbara Superior Court as participating partners. Together, the Santa Barbara County Data Sharing Committee has developed and worked diligently to establish the Integrated Justice Information System (IJIS). The IJIS is a platform that allows each agency to share, analyze, and report data between the participating partner agencies. The IJIS has refined a process for matching data from disparate agency systems that are otherwise incompatible. This system is both flexible and efficient, as it allows agencies to request only the data that is required to work on a particular project, and outlines limitations on using that data to ensure each agency’s confidentiality requirements and regulations are met. However, the local municipal city councils with police agencies (Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Barbara, and Santa Maria) currently do not participate in the Santa Barbara County Data Sharing Committee. The District Attorney agrees that the participation of these agencies would be beneficial. However, the County does not have jurisdiction over these local municipalities. As a result, the police agencies listed above must willingly volunteer to participate in the Santa Barbara County Data Sharing Committee.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner investigation and the District Attorney’s Office review of the medical cause and manner of JT’s death that (sic) left the Jury with questions: (a) whether within reasonable medical certainty, the custody staff’s use of on-stomach prone restraint and JT’s vigorous resistance to it was the direct cause of JT’s cardiac arrest; and (b) whether the custody staff followed Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office training policies when they employed the on-stomach prone restraint hold on JT. The Santa Barbara County District Attorney disagrees wholly with Finding 6(a). The County’s forensic pathologist performed a post-mortem examination of JT and determined that JT died of sudden death due to the combined effects of morbid obesity, dilated cardiomyopathy, acute methamphetamine intoxication, active resistance, and restraint. The Grand Jury’s finding that two medical professionals concluded that the restraint applied by the custody officers and JT’s resistance caused his death is questionable. It is not known what information these two medical professionals reviewed. The doctors suggested that the custody deputies placed their weight on JT’s back. There is no evidence to support this suggestion. In fact, there is no evidence that anyone put their body weight on JT’s neck, back, or head. Rather, the custody deputies used appropriate control holds on JT’s shoulders, arms, and legs to stop his resistance. They exercised due caution to use safe restraint methods to stop his resistance so they could safely leave the cell. The Santa Barbara County District Attorney disagrees partially with Finding 6(b). It is not the purview of the District Attorney’s Office to review whether the custody staff followed Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office training policies when they employed the restraint hold on JT. Rather, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney reviews in-custody deaths to determine whether anyone has state law criminal liability for their use of force on a decedent.