San Diego County Pays $15M in Jail Death Settlement, Faces Federal Oversight
Submitted by MAGA
Posted 3 days ago
San Diego County settles Elisa Serna jail death lawsuit for $15 million and limited federal oversight.
San Diego County has agreed to a $15 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Elisa Serna, a 24-year-old pregnant woman who died in the Las Colinas jail after a sheriff's deputy and medical worker watched her collapse in her cell and left her alone to die.
The county and one of its private healthcare contractors will pay $15 million to the family of Elisa Serna, with San Diego County taxpayers bearing the brunt of the monetary damages, absorbing $14 million of the agreed-upon amount. The Coast Correctional Medical Group, which provides medical professionals to treat people in jail, will pay $1 million.
The settlement was reached after a negotiating session that stretched more than 12 hours, and the agreement calls for the Sheriff's Department to conduct new training for deputies and jail medical staff, with at least some of the remedial education focusing on what is called "training on compassion" for department employees.
The resolution also calls on the sheriff to update the policy on checking vital signs of people incarcerated in the medical observation unit and requires Martinez to meet personally with Elisa's parents, Michael and Paloma Serna, who have become fierce advocates for reform in the years since their daughter died.
Paloma Serna said the cash payment was not the driving force in her decision to settle the case, and she wants to keep fighting for reforms inside the Sheriff's Department.
"The dollar amount doesn't matter," said Serna, who plans to continue to advocate for other men and women in sheriff's custody. "These things do not change the fact that Elisa is never coming back."
The settlement allows the San Diego federal judge who oversaw the litigation to monitor the Sheriff's Department's compliance with its agreement for the next 12 months, believed to be the first time the elected sheriff will be under formal U.S. government oversight.
The case has highlighted the need for reform in the San Diego County jail system, which has overseen one of the deadliest jail systems in the country for years. According to Sheriff's Department records, 75 people have died in custody since Elisa Serna died five years ago this fall.
San Diego County has now paid more than $75 million over the past five-plus years for deputy negligence or misconduct, sheriff's records show. The Sheriff's Department has declined to comment publicly on the Serna case, except to defend the quality of its medical practices and to offer condolences to the family.
The settlement is a landmark resolution that will drive the Sheriff's Department to do better going forward, according to lawyers representing the Serna family.
"Elisa Serna died in an isolation cell in the Medical Observation Unit, where she received neither observation nor medical treatment," said attorney Eugene Iredale. "She died on the floor after a nurse and a deputy witnessed her fall and seizure. Her family resolved to fight her case to insure that inmate patients would not be deliberately ignored and left to die as she was."
The settlement is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to ensure that the San Diego County jail system is safe for everyone who is incarcerated and for all Sheriff's Department employees.
Sources:
yahoo.com
sandiegouniontribune.com
pressdemocrat.com
San Diego County has agreed to a $15 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Elisa Serna, a 24-year-old pregnant woman who died in the Las Colinas jail after a sheriff's deputy and medical worker watched her collapse in her cell and left her alone to die.
The county and one of its private healthcare contractors will pay $15 million to the family of Elisa Serna, with San Diego County taxpayers bearing the brunt of the monetary damages, absorbing $14 million of the agreed-upon amount. The Coast Correctional Medical Group, which provides medical professionals to treat people in jail, will pay $1 million.
The settlement was reached after a negotiating session that stretched more than 12 hours, and the agreement calls for the Sheriff's Department to conduct new training for deputies and jail medical staff, with at least some of the remedial education focusing on what is called "training on compassion" for department employees.
The resolution also calls on the sheriff to update the policy on checking vital signs of people incarcerated in the medical observation unit and requires Martinez to meet personally with Elisa's parents, Michael and Paloma Serna, who have become fierce advocates for reform in the years since their daughter died.
Paloma Serna said the cash payment was not the driving force in her decision to settle the case, and she wants to keep fighting for reforms inside the Sheriff's Department.
"The dollar amount doesn't matter," said Serna, who plans to continue to advocate for other men and women in sheriff's custody. "These things do not change the fact that Elisa is never coming back."
The settlement allows the San Diego federal judge who oversaw the litigation to monitor the Sheriff's Department's compliance with its agreement for the next 12 months, believed to be the first time the elected sheriff will be under formal U.S. government oversight.
The case has highlighted the need for reform in the San Diego County jail system, which has overseen one of the deadliest jail systems in the country for years. According to Sheriff's Department records, 75 people have died in custody since Elisa Serna died five years ago this fall.
San Diego County has now paid more than $75 million over the past five-plus years for deputy negligence or misconduct, sheriff's records show. The Sheriff's Department has declined to comment publicly on the Serna case, except to defend the quality of its medical practices and to offer condolences to the family.
The settlement is a landmark resolution that will drive the Sheriff's Department to do better going forward, according to lawyers representing the Serna family.
"Elisa Serna died in an isolation cell in the Medical Observation Unit, where she received neither observation nor medical treatment," said attorney Eugene Iredale. "She died on the floor after a nurse and a deputy witnessed her fall and seizure. Her family resolved to fight her case to insure that inmate patients would not be deliberately ignored and left to die as she was."
The settlement is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to ensure that the San Diego County jail system is safe for everyone who is incarcerated and for all Sheriff's Department employees.
Sources:
yahoo.com
sandiegouniontribune.com
pressdemocrat.com
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