County to pay $7 million in jail neglect case
Santa Clara County has agreed to pay $7 million to resolve a lawsuit alleging that a man who fell in his jail cell three years ago became a quadriplegic because jail staff ignored his pleas for help then improperly moved him despite being told he could have a serious spine injury.
The case of Juan Martin Nuñez gained public attention last fall as part of a wave of scrutiny on the county's jail operations, initiated by the Board of Supervisors and spearheaded by board members Joe Simitian and Otto Lee. It was one of several instances of alleged neglect and misconduct the supervisors cited in requesting external probes from entities including the state attorney general, who last month launched a patternor-practice civil rights investigation.
So far the most serious of the responses to the board's actions has been a formal corruption accusation filed by the county civil grand jury against longtime Sheriff Laurie Smith, which if affirmed by a trial jury would lead to her removal from office.
The Nuñez settlement, which became public record Tuesday, is the second high-figure jail-neglect settlement by the county in recent memory. In March 2020, the county paid a record $10 million to Andrew Hogan and his family to settle a lawsuit after the mentally ill man became severely disabled when he repeatedly injured himself while riding unrestrained in a jail transport van in August 2018.
Nuñez's attorneys contended that jail staff “knew or should have known” that “Nuñez's demonstrated history of self-harm, his placement in involuntary psychiatric custody, and his prescription of a powerful anti-depressant were all strong indicia of mental instability,” and that they “should have placed Mr. Nuñez under increased supervision in order to prevent further self-injury.”
After Nuñez suffered a fall in his cell in August 2019, his lawyers attest that he screamed for deputies' help and said he feared he might be paralyzed, but that several deputies lifted him onto his bed without stabilizing his spine. Jail staff then waited more than 24 hours before calling paramedics, who also failed to properly stabilize Nuñez, according to his lawsuit.
The claim states that Nuñez “sustained severe and permanent injuries, including spinal cord injuries that have left him a quadriplegic, unable to communicate, and in need of a ventilator to breathe.”
The settlement agreement entails the county admitting no fault and paying $6,950,000 to Nuñez through his attorneys. The county had paid Nuñez $50,000 as part of an interim settlement after he filed his initial claim against the county.
In a statement to this news organization Feb. 16, plaintiff attorney Matthew Davis said that while jail staff did not directly cause his client's injuries, they “failed to respond appropriately to his initial injuries and thereby made them worse.”
“The sheriff and Santa Clara County Counsel did treat Mr. Nuñez's claim seriously,” Davis wrote. “Mr. Nuñez will have no further comment and he asks that he and his family be given privacy and he focuses on his recovery.”
Addressing the settlement, Simitian evoked the memory of Michael Tyree, a mentally ill man who was beaten to death in 2015 at the Main Jail by three correctional deputies who were later convicted of murder. Tyree's death led to a $3.6 million county settlement with his family and spurred an array of proposed jail reforms and an elevated level of scrutiny on jail conditions that continues to this day.
“Mr. Tyree, Mr. Hogan and Mr. Nunez. One life lost, two lives irreparably damaged, and $20 million in taxpayer liability,” Simitian said Feb. 15. “Yet another tragic and costly failure under the sheriff's administration of the jail, and a painful reminder that these are not isolated incidents. We need new leadership in our jails and we need it urgently.”
Lee added, “The fact that these are the issues that happen in our custodial operations is unacceptable and tragic. I'm hoping that through the investigation of both the grand jury and state attorney general's office, we will able to improve our operations so these things will not happen again.”
The sheriff's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
In the board's referrals calling for outside investigations into the county jails, Simitian and Lee held up Nuñez's case next to Hogan's in asserting a pattern of troubling conduct and culture. The board also tasked Michael Gennaco, who heads the county's Office of County Law Enforcement Monitoring — a civilian auditor role — with finding out why an internal investigation into Hogan's case was abruptly ended and why no serious discipline was issued, even after video footage showed several jail deputies and supervisors standing outside Hogan's van as he screamed for help before lapsing into unconsciousness from serious head injuries.
Gennaco's investigation has been complicated by a stalemate over records access with Smith's office, to the point where Gennaco has issued subpoenas to continue his probe. Simitian and Lee raised suspicion in their referral that the aborted internal investigation might have been affected by the fact a commander on scene was Amy Le, who was then president of the correctional deputies union that would endorse and financially support Smith's 2018 reelection bid.
Le has denied any favortrading, and just months after Hogan's injury and after Smith's reelection to a sixth term, she resigned and claimed she was forced out after a falling out with Smith's administration that prompted her to sue her former employer for retaliation and discrimination. The lawsuit was formally settled last month for $140,000. Neither Le nor her attorney offered comment on the settlement.