Nine deputy sheriffs and two health care workers face abuse charges after a man was found unresponsive in a Santa Rita jail cell.
Adanté Pointer, the family lawyer for Maurice Monk, who was found dead in 2021 after being left for several days without adequate medical care, has brought to light the Dublin jail’s reputation, further enforcing KQED’s classification of the jail as dangerous and unforgiving.
“We’re hopeful that by way of criminal prosecution, Santa Rita Jail must shape up [as] the community will not stand by and watch their loved ones receive substandard treatment and allow all these deaths to continue,” said Pointer, according to a KQED report on November 13.
Initially, Monk’s family was told that his death was of natural causes, however after Pointer filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court, the family reached a $7 million settlement with Alameda County. The lawsuit ultimately proved that natural causes were not the true reason for Monk’s death.
His story is one of many. And while the settlement is encouraging, it is only a temporary fix to the ongoing issues that not only affect state facilities, but also federal detention centers.
The Office of the Inspector General published a report in 2023 titled “Examining and Preventing Deaths of Incarcerated Individuals in Federal Prisons,” which highlighted foundational challenges and operational issues that contribute to failures in these four areas; Challenges with staffing, faulty infrastructure that is breaking down, faulty internal auditing practices, and ineffective procedures for disciplining staff.
“As our continuing BOP [Board of Parole] oversight and investigative work demonstrates, these issues are interrelated. We have consistently seen how understaffed prisons with overburdened employees create security and safety issues,” said the report.
The report notes approximately 66 people have died since 2014 in the Dublin facility, some from a lack of care and some from overdose.
“No one told the family that the guards and the medical professionals were just throwing medications into his cell and not asking or checking in on him as if he was some animal at the zoo,” Pointer said, according to KQED.
Deputies Donall Chauncey Rowe, Thomas Mowrer, Ross Ohalloran Burruel, Robinderpal Singh Hayer, Andre Gaston, Troy Hershel White, Syear Osmani, Mateusz Laszuk, and Christopher J. Haendel, were all charged with dependent adult abuse in Monk’s death. Doctor Neal Edwards of Alameda County Forensic Behavioral Health and David Everett Donoho, a nurse from private prison health care company Wellpath, face the same charge.
Pointer noted that even in the wake of the recall of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, he hoped the case continued moving forward. San Francisco’s former district attorney, Chesa Boudin, was recalled in 2022, and his successor, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, has not moved forward on prosecuting officers charged under Boudin’s tenure, said the story.
“They’re charting the course of criminal justice here in Alameda County, and I would hope that they do not play politics,” said Pointer.
