Family of Dead Inmate Calls for Inquiry

By Matt Lait

May 31, 2006 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

In an emotional appearance before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the family of an inmate who died in County Jail asked Tuesday that an independent investigation be launched into the death.

Ramon Gavira, a 43-year-old drunk-driving suspect, was found in a single-man cell hanging from a makeshift noose on July 11, 2002. Sheriff’s investigators and the coroner deemed the death a suicide. However, the family contends in a lawsuit that he had been beaten.

An autopsy revealed that Gavira had suffered six broken ribs, a broken clavicle, internal bleeding and bruises during his six days in jail.

“My husband was a good man,” said a tearful Patricia Reyes Gavira, who was joined by her attorneys and four of her five children. “Please, the people who did this to my husband have to be punished.”

Jose Gavira, 19, said he also wanted to know what really happened to his father. “I don’t think anyone who goes to jail deserves to be beaten. We need to know what happened,” he told supervisors.

Following the family’s comments, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky directed county counsel to brief supervisors on the case at an upcoming session.

Ramon Gavira’s death in the nation’s largest jail system was detailed in a Times article Sunday. The story revealed that several inmates alleged that a female deputy -- one who trains as a boxer -- taunted and assaulted Gavira.

Steve Whitmore, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman, called Gavira’s death an unavoidable tragedy and denied that any sheriff’s employees were responsible for harming him.

He said there “is no credible evidence” to support the family’s contention that jail staff had a role in Gavira’s death.

Records also show that Gavira did not receive medications that he was supposed to get in jail for diabetes and alcohol withdrawal.

Attorneys for Gavira’s family contend that Gavira may have been killed, or driven to suicide because he was tormented by the female deputy.

As part of the family’s wrongful-death lawsuit against the county, the attorneys have submitted a declaration from a medical expert who contends that a broken bone in Gavira’s neck was indicative of manual strangulation, not hanging.

The expert said he believed that Gavira was slain.

“This is not about [seeking] more money, it is about accountability, it is about truth, it is about finding out who tortured Mr. Gavira,” attorney Sonia Mercado said during a news conference before the board’s meeting. “Somebody knows.... How can they turn their heads on a beaten, tortured man?”

Mercado said the Sheriff’s Department is covering up alleged misconduct in the case.

“This family wants justice,” she said. “We’re not asking for a miracle, we’re just asking that people do their job.”