After West Valley Detention Center inmate Latesha Smith attempted suicide by hanging, her family brought a suit against San Bernardino County.
They argued that West Valley staff was negligent, and deprived Smith of her civil rights, by not monitoring her or conducting hourly safety checks.
The family did not have a case, said California Central District Judge Jesus Bernal, who threw out the case March 10.
Attorneys for the family and the county have not yet responded to our requests for comment.
Smith was booked into West Valley Jan. 5, 2019, according to Bernal’s ruling. She was booked for setting an establishment on fire, and then trying to set someone on fire, according to a nurse’s assessment included in the ruling. She also had a past murder charge.
Smith’s mother and court-ordered conservator, Dora Higgins, told a deputy that Smith had mental health issues. Nurses agreed with Higgin’s assessment, and placed her in a sheltered housing unit for inmates with severe mental illness.
Smith denied having suicidal ideations in multiple assessments, and did not appear to have any suicidal risk, Bernal said, citing a memo of undisputed facts.
“(Patient) did not appear to be a danger to herself or others and would not meet criteria for (suicide watch) at this time,” one therapist wrote March 4, 2019, according to Bernal’s ruling.
Smith attempted to hang herself April 10, 2019. She had been checked every hour, according to Bernal’s ruling.
Smith survived the hanging, but is now expected to be in a “persistent vegetative state,” according to Bernal.
Higgins, and her husband Vinson Higgins, filed suit against the county Feb 19, 2021 in San Bernardino Superior Court. The case was moved to federal court May 6, 2021.
The suit originally brought charges of negligence, battery and deprivation of civil rights.
The suit claimed a charge of battery because jail staff pepper sprayed Smith around March 2019. The Higginses agreed to drop the negligence charge, while the battery charge was dismissed.
Bernal threw out the deprivation of civil rights cause March 10 because the Higginses conceded that no action by county employees caused Smith to attempt suicide.
The Higginses also failed to show evidence that Smith required additional monitoring, Bernal ruled.
John Litterll, Michael Williams, Nancy Sandoval and Page Kalish of San Clemente’s Bienert Katzman Litterll Williams LLP represented the Higginses.
Amy Margolies, Anita Clarke and Shannon Gustafson of Orange’s Lynberg and Watkins represented San Bernardino County.
Case No. 5:21-cv-00807
Read the complaint here.
Read the ruling here.
