By Sarah Burge
The Press Enterprise
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. — The family of a Riverside County jail inmate beaten in his cell last year, leaving him paralyzed, has sued the Sheriff’s Department.
While the victim’s cellmate has been charged in the attack, the suit filed in federal court earlier this year accuses sheriff’s officials of negligence in placing William Ray Espinoza, 68, of Perris, in a cell with a much younger man who had a history of mental illness – including schizophrenia – and a propensity for violence. The complaint alleges sheriff’s officials acted “either intentionally or with conscious indifference” to Espinoza’s safety and security, in violation of his constitutional rights.
According to the suit, Espinoza is in a long-term care facility where he is paralyzed, suffering from severe brain injury and is “minimally conscious.”
Riverside County sheriff’s officials said they couldn’t comment on the Nov. 14 incident at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley because of the lawsuit.
Full story: FRENCH VALLEY: Jail violence that paralyzed inmate prompts lawsuit