Family of man who died after being found in Sacramento jail cell files lawsuit
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- Family sues Sacramento County and Sheriff’s Office over inmate Barabino death
- Lawsuit alleges staff ignored screening, monitoring and treatment for withdrawal risks
- Case spotlights Mays consent decree shortcomings and repeated jail drug deaths
The family of a man who died after he was found unresponsive in the Sacramento Main Jail has filed a lawsuit against the county and its Sheriff’s Office.
Jarred Barabino, 32, died Aug. 18, about a month after staff found him unresponsive in his cell in the Sacramento Main Jail, according to the coroner death report.sutt The coroner determined the cause of death to be mixed drug intoxication.
The Sheriff’s Office did not announce the death to the public because Barabino “did not die in custody,” according to spokesperson Sgt. Amar Gandhi. Barabino died after he was released, at Sutter Medical Center, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit, which his parents and two daughters filed Nov. 3 in Sacramento Superior Court, alleges jail staff did not take proper steps to prevent the drug-related death, which occurred three days after Barabino was booked.
Barabino, who had several disabilities and multiple substance use disorders, needed hospitalization and treatment, which included medication, the lawsuit alleges.
When he was booked into the jail on July 14, his intake records stated he had past medical problems, including a fentanyl and benzodiazepine dependency and opioid and methamphetamine abuse, the lawsuit alleges. Jail staff did not “take reasonable available measures” to prevent Barabino from medical risk.
“Sacramento County Department of Health Services ... were deliberately indifferent to Jarred Barabino’s serious medical needs,” the lawsuit states. “Barabino’s conditions of confinement which created a substantial and obvious risk of harm ... did not take reasonable available measures to abate that risk, including timely and sufficiently assessing, evaluating, diagnosing, housing, monitoring, treating, and/or summoning care for (Barabino).”
Mark Merin, the attorney representing Barabino’s family, said his death is another example of neglect from both the custodial staff and medical personnel at the county jail.
“(Inmates) under the influence of narcotics and going through withdrawal, they have to be observed, they have to be treated, and they have to be given the support that they need to go through that withdrawal process,” Merin said. “Too many people are just neglected during that time, with the consequences (which were) suffered by Jarred Barabino, that they die.”
The lawsuit alleges county staff failed to follow county procedure and were in violation of multiple state laws including “failure to medically screen inmates/patients,” and “failure to recognize the inmates/patients’ serious medical needs.”
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges Sheriff’s deputies failed to properly search and screen for contraband in the jail, and failed to observe and supervise inmates.
Ghandi and Elizabeth Zelidon, a county spokesperson, each declined comment, stating they cannot comment on pending litigation.
The incident
During his medical intake at 5:23 p.m. on July 14, Barabino reported his substance use to a jail nurse, the lawsuit states. Later, at 11:42 p.m., another nurse reported Barabino needed to be monitored for substance withdrawal and detox. He was showing anxiety, sweating, nausea, body pain, yawning and “gooseflesh” on his skin.
Barabino told staff he was struggling with detox and asked to be moved to a detoxification cell, the lawsuit states.
During a check at 2:46 a.m. on July 16, staff noted Barabino was “not in distress,” “walk(ed) independently)” and was only “a little bit drowsy,” the suit alleges. Despite this report, Barabino was found unresponsive around 12:03 p.m.
Medical personnel transported Barabino to the hospital, where he died on Aug. 18, the coroner death report said. The cause was mixed drug intoxication.
An autopsy found meth, fentanyl and other drugs in his blood at the time of his death, the lawsuit states
Overdose jail deaths
Barabino was the fourth known Sacramento County jail inmate who died this year of drug-related causes.
The Sheriff’s Office announced two of those deaths. The Sacramento Bee learned of the other two from a California Public Records Act request for coroner records.
Sacramento County is under the Mays Consent Decree, which is the result of a lawsuit regarding the Main Jail’s conditions. The ruling of Mays v. Sacramento County requires Sacramento County to improve mental health and medical care as a result of its 2019 decree.
According to the suit, a July 30 monitoring report, required by the decree, found, “Nurses do not consistently complete withdrawal monitoring in a timely manner, as ordered and required by (Adult Correctional Health) policy, and do not monitor patients placed in the sobering cell as required by ACH policy.”
