County Liable for Jail Suicide, Judge Rules

A federal judge has held Los Angeles County liable for an inmate’s suicide because a jail solitary confinement policy violated his constitutional right to protection against cruel and unusual punishment.

Sergio Alvarez, 26, of North Hollywood was arrested in October, 1983, for stealing an orange from a backyard tree, according to Stephen Yagman, a lawyer representing the family. (The Times reported in January, 1984, that Alvarez was under sentence for a narcotics violation and was awaiting prosecution on a burglary charge.)

Alvarez, a stained-glass artist, used an Ace bandage to hang himself from a towel rack Jan. 3, 1984, while in solitary confinement at County Jail, Yagman said.

U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer issued the ruling Monday in response to preliminary motions in a suit filed by Josefina Cabrales, Alvarez’s mother, against the county. Yagman said the case will go to jury trial Sept. 2 to determine damages.

‘Too Much Stress’

“Our contention is that they’re putting too much stress on these people in solitary confinement,” Yagman said.

“There were good and justifiable reasons for placing him in the disciplinary module,” said Kevin C. Brazile, associate county counsel, but he declined to say what those reasons were other than that they were “infractions that occurred while in the jail.”

Yagman said the county never revealed what the infractions were.

Yagman said administrative regulations set by the state Department of Corrections provide minimum standards for jail conditions, ranging from food and sanitary conditions to staffing. The regulations must be maintained in every jail in the state.

“Among other things, it contains rules governing how long a prisoner can be confined in solitary confinement in California,” Yagman said. “No person can be kept for more than 10 days.”

Yagman said Alvarez was placed in solitary confinement on Christmas Day. He died alone 11 days later.

Pfaelzer’s ruling determined that Los Angeles County violated Alvarez’s civil rights because the county’s solitary confinement policy allows inmates to be held alone for up to 13 days.

Yagman has argued that Alvarez should not have spent more than 10 days in solitary and that guards should have more closely supervised the inmate because he had tried to commit suicide the previous Dec. 16.

Yagman said Pfaelzer’s ruling, which establishes liability against the county in Alvarez’s death, is rare because it is difficult to show that a governmental entity is responsible in such cases.

Brazile declined to comment on the ruling until he has a chance to review it, and he disputed the description of Alvarez’s cell as “solitary confinement.”

“It wasn’t solitary confinement. It’s just a one-man cell. I just would disagree with the characterization of solitary confinement,” he said.