TEXARKANA, Texas -A federal judge heard arguments Thursday afternoon in a civil case stemming from the July 1, 2016, death of a severely diabetic 20-year-old in the Bi-State Justice Building jail in downtown Texarkana.
Texarkana lawyer David Carter, who represents the family of Morgan Angerbauer, recently filed a motion to compel the defense to turn over documents in the case, which the defendants argue aren't relevant.
Defendants in the suit include LaSalle Corrections - the private company which has managed the jail since 2013 - Bowie County and former Licensed Vocational Nurse Brittany Johnson, who served a six-month jail term after pleading guilty to misdemeanor negligent homicide in the death.
U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder listened to arguments Thursday from Carter and Texarkana lawyer Paul Miller, who represents LaSalle.
Carter began by telling Schroeder that Angerbauer was booked into jail June 28, 2016. Angerbauer provided a false name to a police officer and was arrested on a motion to revoke probation she was serving for possession of methamphetamine.
Carter said that LaSalle's medical protocol in place at the time of Angerbauer's arrest required blood sugar checks three times daily for diabetics. Carter noted that Angerbauer's sugar was first checked July 29, 2016, and that readings on a glucometer at the jail showed repeated readings of "high," which meant her level was so high it could not be measured by the device and indicated a level of at least 500.
Carter played a video clip for Schroeder recorded the morning of June 30, 2016. In the clip, Angerbauer is sitting on the floor in the jail and appears weak and listless. A correctional officer brings Angerbauer a trash can and when three officers help Angerbauer to her feet, she appears unsteady and unable to stand upright.
Carter said Angerbauer was then walked to the nurse's station before being placed in a medical observation cell just a few feet from the nurse's station and emphasized that Angerbauer "never came out" of the cell alive.
Miller described Angerbauer as a "brittle diabetic" whose diabetic condition is fragile and rare and was unknown to jail staff. Miller said jail staff believed Angerbauer's lethargy and inability to stand unassisted stemmed from drug abuse.
Carter said that records show jail and nursing staff failed to conduct the required face-to-face checks of Angerbauer as required by Texas Jail Standards. Inmates in special cells, such as isolation or medical, must be checked every 30 minutes while all other detainees must be checked at least once hourly.
Carter argued that failing to perform checks as required was not an anomaly in Angerbauer's case as such failures have been documented in multiple other in-custody death investigations in Bowie County and in other Texas jails run by LaSalle. Carter said LaSalle routinely conducts "critical incident reviews" and sometimes "serious incident reviews" when a death occurs in a LaSalle-managed facility.
Carter said he has asked LaSalle to provide copies of such reports detailing internal LaSalle investigations in 19 other cases involving jail deaths in Bowie and several other Texas counties to determine if LaSalle staff failed to conduct face-to-face checks in other Texas jails.
Miller said the in-custody deaths for which Carter is seeking reports aren't similar to one another or to Angerbauer.
"I think this emphasis on the checks is a bit of a subterfuge considering what we're dealing with here," Miller said.
Disciplinary actions and protocols
Also discussed Thursday was Carter's request for LaSalle records concerning any disciplinary actions taken against staff for failing to conduct required checks and/or falsifying records to show they were performed. Miller argued that searching through paper files at other LaSalle facilities would be overly burdensome.
Carter said LaSalle has refused to turn over a copy of new medical protocols put in place when a new doctor assumed the role of medical director for the Bowie County jail.
Miller argued that the only policy that is relevant to the case is the one in place at the time of Angerbauer's death.
Schroeder questioned Miller about how the new policy could be used to impeach a witness who might testify that a medical protocol was impossible or impractical if the new policy contradicts such an assertion.
Carter and Miller told Schroeder they are still working to resolve Carter's request for an information search of emails stored in a cloud server which might contain terms such as "offender checks" and "falsification."
Financial statement request and jail's compliance
The final issue discussed was Carter's request for financial statements from the main company managing the Bowie County jail and for an associated company also named as a defendant in the case. Carter said the second company is listed on the jail's management contract as a guarantor and should be required to provide the financial information.
Schroeder encouraged Carter and Miller to continue to work to resolve the issues they think they can and promised to rule on the other disputes either next week or shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday.
Meanwhile, Bowie County remains on the Texas Commission on Jail Standards list of non-compliant jails.
Bowie County has been on the commission's list of noncompliant jails since August. A special inspection triggered by the July 6 death of Michael Rodden found that jail staff were documenting required face-to-face checks of inmates despite video surveillance footage that showed the contacts did not occur.
Rodden, 48, allegedly hung himself in his cell with two socks fashioned together and tied to a bolt in the window of his one-man cell, according to a death report submitted to the Texas Attorney General by Bowie County Sheriff's Office.
Bowie County began 2019 in noncompliant status. An annual inspection in December 2018 found that some staff had expired licenses and that a ratio of one correctional officer to every 48 inmates was not being maintained. The jail was deemed compliant during a reinspection in February and deemed noncompliant again during a special inspection in April triggered by the in-custody death March 11 of Franklin Greathouse.
The April report cited Bowie County for failing to conduct required cell checks. According to the April report, cell checks were documented but video surveillance contradicted the paperwork.
Greathouse, 59, was found unresponsive on the floor of his cell by a fellow inmate. He had complained the day before of having a seizure, but his claim was discounted by medical staff because he could walk, according to a BCSO death report.
A special inspection report dated Oct. 15 states LaSalle failed to follow the instructions of doctors treating inmates and failed to maintain accurate medication records. An annual inspection report dated Oct. 15 to Oct. 17 notes five areas of deficiency, including failure to maintain accurate medical records and failure to conduct face-to-face checks.
Minutes from a Nov. 7 meeting of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards notes that Bowie County Sheriff James Prince, Bowie County Judge Bobby Howell and LaSalle staff were present to address Bowie County's status as non-compliant. The minutes state that Bowie County's maximum jail capacity for the Bi-State and annex will be lowered and capped if the jail is still deemed non-compliant as of Jan. 1.
Bowie County officials are to appear at the commission's next meeting in February to address the action being taken to bring Bowie County into compliance.