A civilian guard has testified he forged official logs in the Orange County jail system for several years at the direction of sheriff’s deputies to make it appear they had conducted routine security checks when they had not.
Correctional Safety Assistant Quentin Blakely told authorities he felt bullied to falsify the logs for deputies who were supposed to check hourly on a man who died July 19, 2017, of a drug overdose in his cell at the jail’s Intake Release Center.
Blakely testified March 11 during the arbitration hearing for fired Deputy Shaun Stewart, who allegedly failed to conduct required checks on inmate Robert Freeman. Freeman, 38, was found dead in his cell after the overnight shift.
According to transcripts of the hearing obtained by the Southern California News Group, Stewart was disciplined twice previously — for failing to properly conduct a security check in the January 2016 escape of three inmates, and for texting while a nearby deputy was involved in an altercation with inmates who had surrounded him.
“One of the main duties of deputies working in jails is to ensure the health and well-being of the inmates in their custody,” said Deputy County Counsel Cynthia Inda, representing the Sheriff’s Department at the hearing. “(Stewart) was well aware of the need to follow policies in the jail.”
Missed checks not uncommon
But forging jail documents and failing to make required checks seems to be a constant stumbling block for the Sheriff’s Department. Consider:
- The October 2006 killing of John Chamberlain by inmates at the Theo Lacy jail in Orange. A grand jury investigation found that napping deputies regularly missed welfare and security checks at Theo Lacy.
- The 2016 escape from the Men’s Jail in Santa Ana, which left the fugitives on the street for a week.
- The July 3, 2017, strangling of nonviolent inmate Danny Pham by his cellmate — accused of serial killings — at the Santa Ana jail.
- And, two weeks later, the death of Freeman.
Investigations into the incidents showed missed checks played a part in each case.
After the Chamberlain killing, and years later after the escape, the department declared it had made the necessary reforms to a broken system and the problem no longer existed. Still, problems occurred.
Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department, said the agency takes seriously policy violations at the jail.
“Sheriff (Don) Barnes remains committed to operating the nation’s best jail system. Local jails across the state have seen an increase in inmate violence, drug overdoses and open mental health cases,” Braun said. “In the past nine months, the sheriff has worked to implement a jail reorganization that addresses the increasing complexity of the inmate population.”
‘They are doing their checks’
Tom Dominguez, president of the union representing deputies, said the vast majority of his members do their required checks, which he said is confirmed by security cameras mounted in the jails.
“They are doing their checks and they are saving dozens and dozens of lives every year,” Dominguez said. “That doesn’t get reported, that’s not something we brag about.”
Dominguez noted that, so far this year, 33 opioid overdoses were reversed in the jail with the use of naloxone and CPR, while deputies in 2018 made 7,586 referrals for medical treatment at the jails.
Dominguez added he doesn’t believe the excuse by Blakely or anyone that they were bullied into forging documents by sworn deputies.
“Being bullied to ignore policy is not an excuse,” Dominguez said. “We are all trained that if anything like that were to occur, there are specific ways to deal with it.”
‘Make the log work’
Blakely testified that he started working at Theo Lacy in 2013 and began forging the logs on behalf of deputies on an “inconsistent” basis. After he started working with Stewart in 2017, Blakely testified, the deputy indicated he should continue.
During the hearing, Blakely was asked, “Had Stewart ever suggested to you to falsify the logs?”
Blakely testified: “Multiple times when we first started working together. … He said to make the log work.”
Blakely also was asked why Stewart refused to do the required checks.
“He told me that he wasn’t very motivated because he wasn’t eligible for promotion based off an event that occurred a couple years prior,” Blakely testified. He said Stewart often sat in the guard station “playing on the computer” or leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed.
Blakely refused to be interviewed by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office during the Freeman in-custody death investigation. Prosecutors found no criminal culpability by the Sheriff’s Department in Freeman’s death.
Continues to work at IRC
Blakely continues to work for the department at the Intake Release Center. Stewart, who joined the agency as a deputy in 2012, was terminated by the department in August 2018.
Orange County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Kimberly Edds said the office may take another look at the Freeman case.
“As with any case, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office will review any evidence that comes to light and consider it in light of our legal obligation of proving a case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Edds said.
Officials at Stewart’s hearing said there were at least two types of required checks at the jails, all to be done by deputies, at least twice every shift. Book counts require the deputy to compare a photo of the inmate to the occupant of the cell. Safety checks require a visual check of the inmate every hour. This check can be merged with the distribution of meals and medicine.
Testimony shows Stewart allegedly lied to sheriff’s investigators about doing the required checks on the night Freeman died and tried to get others to lie as well. In fact, Blakely testified Stewart sent him phone texts to that effect and then instructed him to delete them, which he did not.
After Pham’s death but before Freeman’s demise, Blakely also said he counseled Stewart about the need to do security checks as required. During the night Freeman died, Blakely said, he and another deputy did one count using photographs, although Blakely was unqualified because he was not a deputy.
Testimony in the arbitration hearing was limited to the Stewart case, and authorities purposely tried to keep from learning the full extent of the problem from Blakely. Arbitrator David B. Hart told lawyers, “At this point I don’t care to ‘out’ any deputy over there (Lacy) who may have indicated to (Blakely) you do it.”
