by Mark Wilson
The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a criminal proceeding when the victim refused to comply with a subpoena to appear for trial.
Alex David Murray Lorenzo was charged with attempted third-degree assault, constituting domestic violence, for attempting to physically injure his stepfather. ...
by Mark Wilson
On July 20, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment on a prisoner’s retaliation claim. The court found that suspicious timing alone is insufficient evidence of retaliatory motive.
Illinois prisoner Elijah Manuel’s disabled cellmate became hostile ...
by Mark Wilson
A longtime California prison warden abruptly retired during an investigation into alleged theft, lying and bribery.
Joe Lizarraga began working for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) in 1986. He was appointed warden of the Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) in 2013, where he was named Warden of the Year by the California Prison Industries Authority in 2017.
Lizarraga reportedly stole from the Interfaith Food Bank Thrift Store in Sutter Creek, California on September 14, 2018. Despite earning an estimated $150,000, annually, he allegedly removed price tags from merchandise, then suggested lower prices to the cashier.
When Sutter Creek police investigated the matter, Lizarraga allegedly lied to the police chief, claiming that he did not suggest prices to the clerk. He also told the chief that he purchased the equipment for his family when it was allegedly for personal financial gain.
Lizarraga wrote a $125 personal money order in an attempt to dissuade a witness from participating in a criminal prosecution and later made a second bribery attempt using prison charitable funds, according to investigative reports.
On January 25, 2019, FBI agents raided Lizarraga’s Mule Creek office, seized his computer and escorted him off the ...
by Mark Wilson
The state of Maine and medical provider CorrectCare Solutions (now Wellpath) paid a 14-year-old $250,000 after two guards at a juvenile detention center “bashed” his face into a metal bed frame, knocking out two teeth when he was age 11. Parts of the December 9, 2019 settlement, ...
by Mark Wilson
We are never again going to take a commission or make money off of products and services provided to incarcerated people and their support networks, their families,” declared Anne Stuhldreher, director of the San Francisco Treasurer’s Financial Justice Project, as she announced the county’s unanimous July 14, ...
by Mark Wilson
On November 8, 2019, three New York detectives agreed to pay $50,000 to settle false arrest claims brought by an informant they charged with conspiring to kill an Assistant District Attorney (ADA), the settlement agreement and court records show.
In March 2014, Russell D. Towner was a ...
by Mark Wilson
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held on Dec. 6, 2019, that a lower court incorrectly granted guards summary judgment on a prisoner’s failure to protect claim.
Connecticut prisoner Christopher J.M. Lewis was a member of the PIRU or PIRU Bloods gang. He was ...
by Mark Wilson
On March 25, 2020 an Oregon federal court held that the statute of limitations for filing a federal civil rights action is tolled during Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) exhaustion.
Anthony Sam White is a paraplegic prisoner of the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC). He was denied ...
by Mark Wilson
An Oregon federal court in January 2020 compelled NaphCare, Inc., the private medical care provider for the Washington County Jail (WCJ) in Hillsboro, to disclose lawsuits and financial records in a wrongful death action stemming from the June 2017 detox death of a detainee.
County officials terminated ...
by Mark Wilson
On October 31, 2019, an Oregon federal court held that a claim that extended parole postponement pursuant to the retroactive application of a new law violates the ex post facto clause and is not cognizable in a 28 USC § 2254 federal habeas corpus proceeding. Such a ...
