San Diego sheriff can't claim immunity in jail death of schizophrenic man

SAN DIEGO (CN) — The San Diego County sheriff’s department can’t claim immunity to dodge claims that its failure to train employees led to the death of a schizophrenic detainee in 2022.

That’s according to U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo, a Barack Obama appointee, who in an order Wednesday threw out a motion to dismiss from sheriff’s department officials, including former Sheriff Bill Gore and current Sheriff Kelly Martinez.

The suit was brought by the family of Lonnie Rupard, who died of dehydration and malnutrition on March 17, 2022, while being held at San Diego Central Jail.

It was part of a pattern of deaths in San Diego jails, state regulators said in a report shortly before Rupard died. According to the sheriff’s department, seven people have died in custody so far in 2024.

Rupard, who had schizophrenia, was arrested by National City Police for a parole violation and booked on Dec. 19, 2021. Although the arresting officer noted his history of psychotic disorders, Rupard’s family says jail staff neglected his mental and physical health as he rapidly deteriorated.

In Rupard’s autopsy, his cause of death was described as “pneumonia, malnutrition, and dehydration in the setting of neglected schizophrenia, with Covid-19 viral infection, pulmonary emphysema, and duodenal ulcer listed as contributing condition.” He lost 60 pounds while in custody despite spending less than three months in jail.

Citing his dependence on the care of others, a medical examiner classified Rupard’s death as a homicide. His family then sued for a variety of claims, including wrongful death, negligence and violations of Rupard’s Fourteenth Amendment rights.

In her order, Bencivengo noted that shortly before Rupard’s death, state officials had conducted an audit of 815 deaths in San Diego county jails. The ensuing report, released in February 2022, found “deficiencies with how the sheriff’s department provides care for and protects incarcerated individuals,” which state regulators said “likely contributed to in-custody deaths.”

Those 815 deaths, which occurred between 2006 and 2020, were among the highest rates of inmate deaths anywhere in the state, the audit found.

Another 2022 report by the San Diego Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board found that excess deaths “only appear among those who have not yet been sentenced.”

In light of factors like these, Rupard’s family had sufficiently argued claims against sheriff’s department officials, Bencivengo found on Wednesday. She said the audit backed up claims by his family that jail supervisors “were aware they needed to take steps to act and prevent these deaths.”

“The county was on notice of multiple instances of insufficient care of dependent pretrial detainees leading to in-custody deaths from at least 2017, when the National Commission on Correctional Health Care found that the County failed to meet 26 of 38 essential health care standards, to February 2022 when the state audit report of 815 deaths in the County of San Diego Jails was released,” Bencivengo wrote.

The lawsuit from Rupard’s family also named third-party medical providers, including two nurses and a mental health professional, as defendants. Bencivengo granted a motion from the nurses to dismiss claims against them, finding that their failure to assign Rupard to the jail’s Psychiatric Stabilization Unit did not rise to the level of deliberate indifference that “shocks the conscience.”

Bencivengo declined, however, to dismiss claims against that mental health professional, Christina Anosike, as well as Correctional Healthcare Partners, a third-party medical company. Anosike was assigned to assess Rupard two months after he was booked.

“A reasonable medical professional likely would have appreciated the risk of failing to recommend decedent further medical care," Bencivengo wrote, explaining her decision to allow claims to proceed against both parties. “These facts adequately allege a reckless disregard for decedent’s schizophrenia rising to the level of conscience shocking that cannot be dismissed at this stage in the litigation.”

In her order, Bencivengo also separately ruled on which of Rupard’s relatives could remain in the case — leaving his children Justino and Ronnie as the only remaining plaintiffs.

Rupard’s family has asked for damages and a jury trial. Attorneys for the Rupard family did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Adam Anthony Ainslie, an attorney for San Diego County, declined to comment, citing the active litigation.