Meeting With Client : Lawyer Says She Was Hit by Deputies in Visit to Jail

A woman criminal defense attorney has sued San Diego County, contending that she was forced to the ground and struck by sheriff’s deputies in a “despicable” incident inside County Jail downtown, where she had gone to meet with an inmate she was representing.

The lawsuit brought by Lucy Gilcrest Mesecher marks the second case this week in which a person other than an inmate claimed to have been assaulted by jail deputies.

Earlier this week, the Sheriff’s Department acknowledged that deputies strip-searched an electrical contractor at the Vista Jail and forced him to stand naked and handcuffed in a safety cell after they apparently did not like the way he was installing new computer and telephone wires.

Was Visiting Client

In the Mesecher suit, she said she went to the downtown jail Dec. 9 last year to represent a client in a video arraignment proceeding. She said that, when she arrived, jail officials did not provide her with proper jail identification, nor was she given any instructions “whatsoever” in connection with rules and regulations in the detention facility.

As she was leaving the video arraignment room, an unknown number of deputies rushed up to her and “displayed threatening gestures of force and violence,” the lawsuit said. She said she then was “physically struck” and forced to the ground to prevent her from leaving the jail.

The lawsuit further characterized the incident as “despicable conduct, which was carried on by (the deputies) with a willful and conscious disregard of (her) rights.”

Mesecher, who has been a lawyer with Community Defenders and the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Likewise, her attorney, Peter Friesen, did not return several telephone calls.

No Charges Filed

A check of court records indicated that Mesecher was never charged with any crime stemming from the incident.

Sgt. Bob Takeshta, a sheriff’s spokesman, declined to discuss the allegations.

“We cannot talk about it because it is pending litigation,” he said. “And, frankly, I didn’t know anything about this case until today.”

Thomas L. Brown, the county claims supervisor, also declined to discuss why his office earlier this year rejected her original claim, in which she asserted that she suffered an injured right arm and hand and extensive emotional distress.

After the claim was rejected, Friesen filed the lawsuit in October on behalf of Mesecher.

In the case of the electrical contractor, Floyd Craig filed a claim against the county in September, contending he was assaulted at the Vista Jail in March.

Craig said he was working on an electrical contract at the jail when deputies ordered him to remove drilling tools, grabbed him, slammed him into jail bars and forced him to stand naked for about an hour in an isolated cell. As with Mesecher, no charges were filed, but deputies at the time contended that Craig was interfering with officers for having the drill tools inside the jail.