Federal judge to decide liability in Santa Clara jail suicide

SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) — How much must a jail do to prevent inmate suicides? It’s the question at the heart of a lawsuit that could be decided soon in the Silicon Valley.

Attorneys for Santa Clara County argued in federal court Thursday asking for summary judgment on whether the county jail and one of its therapists should be held liable for the suicide of an inmate while in custody.

U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman said she would likely not advance claims against the inmate’s therapist but left the door open to claims that the county itself violated the man’s rights through practices related to its suicide prevention policies.

“A policy can violate rights,” the Barack Obama appointee said. “And the employees that implement them are not liable for deliberate indifference.”

The plaintiffs, the three children of decedent Frederick Inea Regal, claim that at the time of his death, the jail had failed for years to comply with court-mandated suicide prevention procedures which could have saved his life.

“The county had a custom and practice of putting known suicidal inmates in cells with obvious hanging points with no reasonable measure to abate the risk,” Pamela Glazner of Emanuel Law Group, who represents Regal’s children, told the judge.

“There are reasonable measures the county knew about, could have taken and didn’t,” she said.

Regal’s family mainly takes issue with the lack of suicide resistant cells, which the jail agreed to build in 2019 to resolve other lawsuits related to jail conditions. They also criticize the jail’s wellness checks on Regal while he was in custody, saying they weren’t staggered randomly and provided the “moderate suicide risk” prisoner a predictable window to act.

The county maintains it did everything it reasonably could have to prevent the suicide.

“At bottom, plaintiffs sue defendants for not being able to do the impossible: definitively predict Regal’s suicide,” the county argued in its summary judgment motion.

San Jose police officers arrested Regal in July 2020 after the man said he was under the influence of a substance and asked to speak to a psychiatrist. A medical health intake assessment documented Regal’s history of mood swings and depression and that he was thinking about suicide. Regal was labeled a “moderate suicide risk” and placed alone in a cell with bed linens and an upper bunk out of guards’ sight, with no video or audio monitoring.

The county says Regal was checked every 15 minutes as a precaution against suicide. One of the checks was performed by Consuelo Garcia, a licensed marriage and family therapist who reported Regal saying, “Yes I’m suicidal,” “I’m depressed” and “Personal things are going on in my life.” About one hour later, a correctional officer found Regal hanging from a bedsheet attached to the upper bunk in his cell. Regal was transported to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and placed on life support until he died on Aug. 5, 2020.

His family sued in July 2022, claiming Regal’s death was the result of “deliberate indifference” by officials as to his mental health needs.

The county previously moved to dismiss the case, but Freeman allowed several claims to proceed in February 2023.

At Thursday’s hearing, the judge noted that Garcia couldn’t have done much more than she already did, as at the time she didn’t have the authority to move Regal or remove his bedsheets.

“So, I don’t think I can hold her accountable for constitutional violations,” Freeman said.

However, even if the judge finds the jail’s suicide prevention policies on their face did not violate Regal’s federal rights, she said it’s possible the county acted recklessly in carrying out “customs and practices” that allowed “a moderate suicide risk” to be placed in a cell with a double bunk and bedsheets.

“That’s the trial issue,” she said.

Ultimately, she said the decision will be “a really close call” but that she’d issue an order soon.

“A just verdict should result in vindication for the Regal family and more humane treatment for jail inmates,” Todd Emanuel of Emanuel Law Group said in an email.

The county did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Santa Clara County Main Jail’s annual budget is approximately $76 million. Each year, the main jail facility receives and books about 30,000 persons, most of whom are cited and released or post bail.

This case, filed in the Northern District of California, was argued at the Robert F. Peckham Federal Courthouse in San Jose.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). Visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources * for a list of additional resources.*