The wife of a mentally ill Hanford man who died in San Luis Obispo County Jail in November 2017 alleges that her husband's death was the result of "horrible and inhumane" treatment and that the county tried to suppress facts surrounding his death.
Margo Benson-Hammer alleges in a claim for damages filed Friday that her husband, Russell Alan Hammer, 62, was taken to County Jail and left in a solitary cell for days rather than receiving emergency treatment at the county's psychiatric health facility. The claim alleges those actions were taken in spite of reforms announced last summer aimed at improving treatment for the mentally ill — including alternatives to jailing.
Hammer's widow seeks unspecified damages and names SLO County, the Sheriff's Office, Health Agency, Sheriff Ian Parkinson, former Public Health Administrator Jeff Hamm and several other officials and Sheriff's deputies as respondents.
In a related claim also filed Friday with the City of Morro Bay, Benson-Hammer alleges that Morro Bay police officers, who initially responded to a report that Hammer attacked his wife with a knife Nov. 6, 2017, ignored her pleas to not arrest him and rather place him on an emergency mental health 50-51 hold.
Administrative claims, which represent only one side of the story, are the first step in filing a lawsuit. If the county rejects the claim, Hammer's family can file a lawsuit in civil court.
County Counsel Rita Neal said in an email late Friday that the county had yet to be served with the claim. But after a cursory review of a copy provided by The Tribune and based on the information the county has about Hammer's death, Neal said her office will likely deny the claim.
She said the county will vigorously defend itself in court if a lawsuit is filed.
Morro Bay officials could not be immediately reached for comment late Friday.
Benson-Hammer's claim was prepared and filed by Bay Area attorney Paula Canny, who over the past year has peppered the county with litigation on a variety of specific issues all related to how the county treats inmates at County Jail.
Canny previously represented the family of Andrew Holland, a 36-year-old Atascadero resident whose restraint in a plastic chair for nearly two straight days and subsequent death led to a $5 million settlement.
Since 2012, 12 inmates have died in County Jail custody. The FBI is currently investigating allegations of civil rights abuses at the jail.
Hammer died in County Jail Nov. 27, 2017. According to a Sheriff's Office news release, Hammer told jail staff he wasn't feeling well that afternoon and lost consciousness as he was being wheeled to the jail's medical facility.
The county's medical examiner found that Hammer died of pulmonary thrombo-embolism and deep vein thrombosis of his left leg, and ruled the death natural.
Records show that Hammer was in custody awaiting a court-appointed psychiatric evaluation to determine his competency in the criminal case against him.
According to Benson-Hammer's claims, she told Morro Bay police and Sheriff's deputies upon his arrest that her husband was not violent, but suffered from Parkinson's disease and was in the midst of a mental-health crisis. She claims she said she didn't want him arrested.
Saying he was hearing voices that told him to stab his wife, Hammer was taken to a hospital for medical clearance before being booked in jail. Hospital records allegedly show hospital staff noted Hammer was suffering from dementia and psychosis.
At the time of his death, Hammer was "plagued" by several physical and mental ailments, the claim states, including impaired ability to think, paranoia, psychosis and auditory hallucinations.
"Based on these symptoms, the deputies should have known that Russell Hammer was experiencing a mental health crisis by taking him to be evaluated at a mental health treatment facility," the claim reads.
Instead, Hammer was housed in a one-man "safety" cell without receiving any of his medications. The claim states that after 24 hours in the cell Hammer had decompensated to the point of eating and smearing his own feces.
"(Jail staff) have a history and pattern and practice of putting mentally ill people in 'safety' cells, isolating and torturing them rather than providing them treatment," the filing reads.
Hammer was transferred to the psychiatric facility Nov. 8, 2017, and was returned to the jail two days later, where he went without meaningful treatment for 10 more days.
On Nov. 20, 2017, a blood clot formed in Hammer's left leg, and he died while being taken via wheelchair to the jail's medical facility.
His widow claims county officials violated Hammer's constitutional rights, that they had prior knowledge of the dangers of so treating mentally ill inmates in the jail, improper record keeping and continue to use improper customs and practices at the jail.
"(The respondents) neglected, ignored, tortured, misclassified, mis-housed, improperly diagnosed, improperly medicated, took clothing, withheld food and water and clothing at various times and ... overall mistreated Russell Hammer," the claim reads.
According to the claim, Hammer leaves behind Benson-Hammer and two adult sons, including a San Luis Obispo resident.
The claim is seeking unspecified monetary damages for funeral home expenses, loss of familial relationship, loss of economic support, emotional distress, pain and suffering and psychological therapy, as well as injunctive relief, demanding the jail provide "constitutionally adequate healthcare to inmates."
This story was originally published April 20, 2018 6:27 PM.