Watchdog Group To Subpoena Santa Clara County Sheriff

By Eli Wolf, San Jose Spotlight

September 13, 2021

A law enforcement watchdog plans to subpoena Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith for more information about her office’s internal investigation of a mentally ill inmate who harmed himself in custody in 2018.

The Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring claims in a preliminary report that the sheriff refused to turn over records of an aborted internal investigation of how personnel handled an inmate named Andrew Hogan, who inflicted a severe head injury on himself while being transported between jails.

The independent monitor that oversees the sheriff said in its report that the county’s top cop turned over documents related to transporting inmates, as well as summary reports, photographs and videos of the incident itself. But the sheriff declined to turn over information about an internal affairs investigation of the incident that the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring claims was cut short.

“The heretofore unexplained closure of the Sheriff’s Office administrative case is itself highly irregular and problematic,” the report states.

The report, along with a previously confidential legal memo about the case, was made public as part of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors’ broader inquiry into Smith’s management of the jail system. Recently, the board held a vote of no confidence in Smith, and requested federal and state investigations of her office over possible civil rights violations. Supervisors will discuss both records during a Tuesday meeting.

“The two questions that I think have to be asked and answered are who suppressed the internal affairs investigation and why?” Supervisor Joe Simitian told San José Spotlight. “I’ll be asking those questions tomorrow, and I’m hoping we can get some answers sooner than later.”

Sheriff Smith told San José Spotlight that her department provided the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring with all of the information that could be legally disclosed.

“The subpoena power they have is the appropriate avenue to request this information,” she said.

Deputies booked Hogan on a minor offense in August 2018 after he failed to get treatment for his mental illness. After beating his head against the wall of his cell, Hogan was transported from the Elmwood Correctional Facility to the main jail. During the drive, Hogan beat his head against the van. Upon arrival, a sheriff’s supervisor and nurse looked at Hogan in the van, where the supervisor noted an “extreme amount of blood” coming from Hogan’s head, according to the watchdog report.

A correctional supervisor waited for the jail’s emergency response team to take Hogan out of the van, and according to the report the supervisor can be heard on video saying that Hogan “will do all the damage he wants” to himself. Video and audio footage has not been released to the public.

At the time, the sheriff’s office did not have a policy or procedure for transporting mentally ill inmates, the watchdog report says. Hogan sued the county and won a $10 million settlement.

A separate document requested from County Counsel James Williams was also made public Friday. The previously confidential memo assessed Hogan’s possible legal claims and found that the sheriff’s office potentially opened itself to greater liability by cutting short its internal affairs investigation.

Raj Jayadev, a criminal justice advocate and founder of Silicon Valley De-Bug, said he’s not surprised the sheriff has failed to turn over records.

“It’s a problem, it’s consistent and frankly it’s pretty predictable with how the sheriff has been reluctant for any transparency, particularly on matters of treatment of those who are under the jail’s care,” Jayadev told San José Spotlight.

The Board of Supervisors has repeatedly referenced the Hogan case as an issue that reflects a broader problem: Warehousing mentally ill people in jails. Smith herself has repeatedly spoken up about this problem.

Paula Canny, Hogan’s attorney who has previously spoken in defense of Smith, told San José Spotlight it’s frustrating to see the board focus on an issue she tried raising with them three years ago.

“I was screaming about this and they could care less,” Canny said. “So I don’t think this is about a desire to meaningfully assist people suffering from mental illness so much as a desire to use this issue to hate on Laurie Smith.”

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Learn more about how to watch and participate.

Contact Eli Wolfe at eli@sanjosespotlight.com or @EliWolfe4 on Twitter.

This story will be updated.

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