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Inmate death lawsuit settled
2006-01-10

Inmate death lawsuit settled
Family alleged prison's negligence led to suicide in custody
By Amy Yarbrough, STAFF WRITER

Nearly three years since a young inmate killed herself in the showers at the women's jail, San Mateo County has settled a wrongful-death suit filed by her family.

Angela Ramirez's parents, Lisa Fidler and Rito Ramirez, will receive $475,000 as part of the agreement reached Dec. 20. The suit alleged, among other things, that staff at the Women's Correctional Center in Redwood City was aware of the 23-year-old's mental health problems but denied her help.

Ramirez's parents sought $11 million in federal claims but agreed to settle, in part, because of the difficulty of trying a case in federal court, said one of their attorneys, Randall Scarlett. But they also felt the settlement had achieved their goal: holding the county's correctional system accountable.

Under state law, Ramirez's parents could have received no more than $500,000 — $250,000 for each of them — in claims for medical negligence, Scarlett said.

"They felt that by getting the $475,000, they had been vindicated, that Angela's death had been vindicated," he said. "This is in no way a loss." A diagnosed psychotic doing a 120-day sentence on a minor drug conviction, Ramirez hanged herself with a bedsheet in the jail's showers on April 6, 2003.

Minor drug conviction

While in jail, she had repeatedly harmed herself and made numerous requests for psychiatric medication, most of which were denied, according to a Times investigation published months after her death. Despite rules requiring hourly checks of inmates' dorms, Ramirez slipped undetected into the showers and hung there, possibly for hours.

The lawsuit further contends that jail staff knew about Ramirez's prior psychiatric treatment but failed to follow up. After Ramirez threatened suicide, a psychiatric technician took her off medication and prevented her from seeing a doctor, despite having no medical authority to do either, Scarlett said.

Though well-regarded, the county's suicide policy is ambiguous, at best, and staff at the jail were not familiar with it, he said.

"Lisa (Fidler) has lived with this and the suspicion ... since the first time she saw her daughter's body, that this entire tragedy was avoidable," Scarlett said.

No admitted wrongdoing

While the settlement admits no wrongdoing on the county's part, County Counsel Tom Casey said "there were obviously some things that weren't done exactly as the manuals prescribed.

"Whether that had anything to do with this particular death is just pure speculation," he said.

Casey said experts testified for the county that the sheriff's protocol on suicides was one of the best in the state but "sometimes things don't go way you would hope.

"The sheriff has a very, very strong program," he added. "There's no way he can guarantee that individuals won't do things that are just horrible for themselves, very tragic."

A sad case

There were a number of problems at time of Ramirez's death, said Sheriff Don Horsley — from a personnel shortage to an aging jail, with a poor layout that makes it difficult to supervise.

"It's a sad case," Horsley said. "If we had taken it all the way to trial, we could have won it ... But the truth of the matter is she came in there alive."

Despite claims made in the lawsuit, Horsley said that all staff members have been trained in suicide prevention. Even the deputy on duty the night of Ramirez death — who did not normally work at the jail — had received some such training, he said.

Horsley said he would like to have more female deputies on duty at the jail.

Horsley is also looking at the possibility of constructing a new women's jail. The county plans to submit a request-for-proposals for a new facility this year — possibly within the next 30 days.

Built in 1980, the jail was intended to be minimum security and to house 89 inmates. As when Ramirez died, the jail is home to 130 women, with a whole host of problems and criminal backgrounds.

Fidler, Ramirez's mother, said she hopes the settlement will lead to changes that, ideally, help prevent another death like her daughter's.

"All this time, all we've been looking for is the answers," she said.

Staff writer Amy Yarbrough covers police and public safety. She can be reached at (650) 348-4339 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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