A DEATH IN THE COUNTY JAIL

The Events Surrounding A Fatal Beating Pose Serious Concerns.

Deeply troubling questions surrounding the operation of the Nueces County jail under Sheriff Larry Olivarez. Those concerns become sharper in the wake of a $900,000 settlement in a civil suit stemming from the death of a prisoner, and pending federal court charges against two deputies alleged to have severely beaten another prisoner.

After three days of testimony in the civil case, attorneys defending Nueces County settled rather than proceed to a verdict. Still, the testimony over three days painted a picture of a jail whose oversight is distant and so disengaged that excessive force, by the admission of deputies, was used with little apparent concern for discovery by the highest law enforcement officer in the county.

The focus of the civil suit was Andrew Sokolinski, arrested in August 1997, on suspicion of criminal mischief and possession of marijuana. He was no big-time criminal. If he was guilty, his penalty should have been set by a court. After meeting its terms, he would then have been allowed to get on with his life.

By state regulation and department rules, Sokolinski should have been promptly examined shortly after incarceration to identify any mental problems. The department failed to do that, though inmates who were there that night testified that Sokolinski exhibited signs that his mental state was unstable.

On Aug. 12, witnesses said, deputies took Sokolinski out of his cell and beat him, strapped him to a chair, and shot pepper spray at close range into his face. Sokolinski died shortly afterward. De-fense attorneys had said reasonable force had been used on a combative inmate. But after Sokolinski's death, one of the deputies involved in the beating was fired for alleged use of excessive force.

Operation of the jail is a major portion of the sheriff's budget, making it one of the department's prime responsibilities. That makes Olivarez's testimony all the more puzzling.

He said he was unaware of the full allegations concerning use of excessive force. Underlings handled those matters, he said, until it was brought to his attention, though the deputy in question had previously been suspended.

Running a metropolitan jail is no picnic, especially at the high levels of occupancy this facility has experienced. Pay issues have repeatedly been raised within the department.

But even aside from those tough challenges, the Sokolinski case and the criminal charges awaiting two other deputies demand that Sheriff Olivarez immediately address the serious questions of oversight and safety that surround the operation of the county jail.