‘97 O.C. Jail Beating Threatens to Bolster Other Abuse Cases

A little-publicized beating case that led to the first criminal convictions in memory for brutality at the Orange County Jail threatens to come back to haunt the county--and possibly taxpayers as well.

The case involves an inmate who was repeatedly kicked and punched by jail officials. Unlike the flurry of beating allegations to hit the Sheriff’s Department in recent years, investigators quickly determined Leonard Mendez’s allegations had merit.

Now, civil-rights attorneys representing other inmates in brutality suits are using what happened to Mendez to bolster their own cases by alleging a pattern of abuse by jail deputies.

Mendez’s beating is considered significant because the Sheriff’s Department concluded that jail staff acted improperly. If these attorneys can prove that beatings are not rare, isolated occurrences but a “pattern or practice,� the amount of civil damages the inmates could receive from the county would rise dramatically.

The Mendez case was closed more than a year ago, when the county paid the former inmate $95,000 to settle a civil lawsuit and until now has received no public airing. But a review by The Times of investigative reports and court documents provides a window into the growing dispute over the treatment of inmates and the way officials handle allegations of abuse.

Sheriff’s officials deny that the Mendez beating is anything but an aberration, insisting that their swift response to the incident underscores how the department won’t tolerate abuse of inmates.

“I can point to this as an example of how the Sheriff’s Department reacts to allegations of wrongdoing by a staff member,� said Asst. Sheriff Rocky Hewitt, in a written statement. “We will react swiftly and harshly to any behavior in violation of our policies and procedures.�

But to others, the case offers evidence of a rough form of justice used by deputies against inmates they label as possible problems.

It “shows that excessive force is . . . used to control and intimidate the inmate population,� said Newport Beach attorney Jonathan Slipp, who is representing 12 other Orange County Jail inmates who say they were beaten up.

County Faces More Than 20 Inmate Suits

The controversy comes as the county fends off lawsuits filed by more than 20 inmates and as the FBI probes two alleged beatings at the Orange County Jail.

Legal experts said finding a “pattern or practice� of police abuse is rare but not unheard of. A federal judge, for example, ruled a year ago that Ventura County sheriff’s deputies used a special restraining chair in a “pattern or practice� of abuse against jail inmates.

“We have to show that they were indifferent to the rights of the inmates,� said R. Samuel Paz, the plaintiff’s attorney in the Ventura case who is now suing Orange County. “We [must] prove that there was a pattern of excessive force and a failure to investigate them.�

In the Mendez case, the sheriff’s investigators suspected almost from the beginning that the allegations held merit, according to court records and reports prepared by detectives who investigated the charges.

Mendez, a 29-year-old laborer, was booked into the county’s Intake Release Center in Santa Ana on Jan. 24, 1997. No stranger to the jail, Mendez was back for failing to pay an earlier fine on a minor drug charge.

As he entered the jail’s clothing room, Mendez saw two civilian jail workers--known as “correctional service technicians�--standing behind a plexiglass screen, taking in personal property from other inmates.

The technicians, Domingo Castro and Arnulfo Quintans, took Mendez’s clothes, including a Mighty Ducks jacket that they placed aside from the rest of his property, according the investigative report.

Worried that his jacket would be stolen, Mendez raised his voice, asking them to place it in a sealed plastic bag. Until they did, he told them, he would not sign a property form.

According to records, Castro grabbed Mendez’s hand and pulled it through a hole in the plexiglass. Quintans allegedly grabbed the other. As nearly a dozen inmates looked on, Castro then punched Mendez twice in the stomach, according to investigative reports.

The technicians called for help, and eventually let Mendez go when a group of deputies arrived. One ordered Mendez to sit on a bench. The deputies left. Another soon returned and ordered the inmates--all but Mendez--to leave the clothing room, according to the report.

Mendez later told investigators that after about 10 minutes, four or five deputies entered the room and confronted him.

Mendez said he was punched and kicked repeatedly. He said he was struck on the back, in the side and on his neck until the deputies eventually stopped and left.

Five minutes later, another deputy entered the clothing room. The deputy told investigators he saw a huge scrape along Mendez’s face, as if the inmate had hit his head or been struck. About five minutes later, two other deputies arrived and took Mendez away to a holding cell.

The next morning, Mendez called his girlfriend and told her about the beating. She telephoned the Sheriff’s Department and complained to a sergeant about what had happened.

According to investigative reports, the sergeant immediately interviewed Mendez and sent him to see a nurse. Within hours, homicide investigators grilled 23 inmates, 10 deputies and the two technicians about the episode.

During interviews, investigators made it clear they were taking Mendez’s allegations seriously, telling people they were working around the clock to determine who beat the inmate.

Castro acknowledged during interviews with detectives that he and Quintans had hurt Mendez’s arms and that he had thrown punches at the inmate.

Investigators reviewed videotapes from jailhouse surveillance cameras in the hallway outside the clothing room and identified four deputies who were alone with Mendez for a few minutes.

Two Deputies Deny Involvement, Resign

In interviews with detectives, two of the deputies denied any involvement in the beating. Soon after, both resigned; records do not give a reason. They were never charged with a crime.

The other two deputies, Eric Baum and Joshua Beeney, refused to talk to detectives, records show. Every other deputy interviewed told investigators he didn’t see or hear any scuffle inside the clothing room.

Baum and Beeney were each suspended for five days without pay, according to records. Citing a lack of evidence, prosecutors did not file charges against them.

Since then, Beeney and Baum have been accused in civil lawsuits of using excessive force against inmates in two separate cases.

Baum is accused of taking part in the alleged beating of John Kenneth Lolli, a diabetic man who says he suffered two broken ribs. Lolli says eight deputies beat him for requesting a snack to maintain his blood sugar level.

Beeney is accused in a lawsuit of helping other deputies beat Howard Faulkner, who says he was attacked in an incident last year while returning to his cell after dinner.

Both declined to comment.

Orange County prosecutors eventually filed misdemeanor assault and battery charges against the two technicians involved in the Mendez case. Castro and Quintans later pleaded guilty and agreed to complete 40 hours of community service and pay $811 fines as part of their sentences.

In an interview with The Times, Castro said he had signed a legal agreement with the county preventing him from talking about the incident. Nevertheless, he said he remains upset about being fired by the Sheriff’s Department.

“I lost my job. I lost everything. I’m really upset,� he said.

A federal judge is expected to decide this month whether the county must hand over internal documents related to the use of force against inmates in the jail.