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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How did Sgt. Kevin Steele go from being a true believer in the institution of New Folsom to writing an explosive memo hoping to tear it down? We sift through video evidence, interrogation tapes and internal reports to find glimpses of his transformation. But when he feels his reports of corruption are ignored—he takes an even more drastic step.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7074451474\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warmline Directory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. If you have tips or feedback about this series please reach out to us at \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:onourwatch@kqed.org\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">onourwatch@kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer:\u003c/b> Before we start, just wanted to give you a heads-up that this episode includes graphic descriptions of violence and discusses a suicide. If you or someone you know needs support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A few months into our investigation, in late 2022, I get a call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hello?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Hello, can you hear me now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yes, hi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Can you hear me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I guess the other headphones I have ain’t working that good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The connection isn’t great, but the call is a breakthrough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I was at Sacramento for like about like two, two or three years off and on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This man isn’t at Sacramento’s New Folsom prison anymore, but he is still in prison. I wrote to Joel Uribe because Sergeant Kevin Steele mentioned him in his memo — that one he sent to the warden shortly before he was banned from prison grounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I finally just got your letter five minutes ago, just barely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Now, Joel is calling me ’cause he just got my letter five minutes earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In my letter, I didn’t mention anything about Steele or the memo, but before I bring it up, Joel starts talking about Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I remember ISU, uh, Sergeant Steele’s coming in and yelling at the COs saying, “Why didn’t you guys call me?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel is telling me about the first time he met Sergeant Steele, May 2017. Joel was in the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> You see in pictures of me in the hospital, the bed I’m laying on is, like, soaked in blood. I was bleeding a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I was able to get a video of Joel in the hospital. It was actually taken by Sergeant Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> This is Sergeant Steele. I am recording Inmate Uribe. What’s your CDC number?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele has the camera trained on Joel, who is lying in the hospital bed with a blood pressure cuff on his arm and monitors taped to his bare chest. Blood has seeped into the gauze pads under his head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> I want you to tell me in your own words what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Um, I was in my cell and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At one point, Steele swings the camera around to the right side of Joel’s shaved head and, you can see, there is still an open wound in his skull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I’ve still got the scar on my head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> On the phone, Joel tells me officers put him in the hospital that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> They broke my ribs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They broke his ribs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I lost my hearing on one of my ears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And he lost hearing in one of his ears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At any point, like have you pursued, uh, litigation? Have you tried to, you know, get any other remedy?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I’ve been trying to, and I’ve been trying to see if I can-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Automated Voice:\u003c/b> You have 60 seconds remaining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s gonna shut off any minute. Can you call back or do you have to go?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah. I’ll call back later on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay. Thanks. Bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Okay, bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Years before Officer Valentino Rodriguez died, years before Sergeant Kevin Steele met Valentino’s father and joined him on his mission, the sergeant had already begun gathering evidence, evidence that he’d one day cite in that memo, evidence of the times he felt the institution had broken its promises to officers and the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Sukey Lewis, and this is \u003ci>On Our Watch\u003c/i>, Season Two: New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> It is currently about 2:46 on Wednesday morning. Inmate Uribe…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> On May 3rd, 2017, at UC Davis hospital in Sacramento, Sergeant Kevin Steele interviewed Joel Uribe around 2:45 in the morning and then in greater depth around 12:20 in the afternoon, after he received medical treatment. You’ll hear audio from both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Inmate Uribe, have I told you anything to say?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In the video, Joel is clean-shaven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He’s got dark brown eyes and tattoos cover his abdomen and creep up his neck and face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> I want you to tell me in your own words what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I was in my cell and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel tells Steele it all started when officers told him he was moving to a housing block in a different building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> They go, “You gotta go.” And I go, “Look, man, I already know what’s up, man.” I go-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> What do you mean when you say that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Um, I already knew they were gonna fuck my up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> How do you know that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Because of everything that’s been going on with Gomez. We knew it was retaliation. And, uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> And when you say Gomez, you’re talking about Officer Gomez?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, the one that got assaulted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> By-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> An officer named Joseph Gomez had been assaulted by a different incarcerated man about a week and a half earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel says officers thought he had something to do with it because he’d gotten in an argument with Gomez. And Joel was convinced this move was being orchestrated as a cover to get him out of his cell so they could beat him up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I just gonna get it out the way, dog, and get-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Get what out of the way?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Get their beating out the way. And they were like, “Mm it’s too funny, it’s too funny, don’t, man.” And, um-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Other inmates were telling you not to come out of your cell?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, not to come out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel says the circumstances of the move seemed strange. It was 7:00 at night. And not only that, he was set to be transferred to a different prison shortly. Why go to the trouble of moving him and all his stuff twice? But Officer Eric Shinnette and another officer came to take him to another housing facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Shinnette came, chained, cuffed me, walked me to the cage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Shinnette’s a big guy, about 5’9″ and 240 pounds. Joel is quite a bit smaller, two inches shorter and at least 80 pounds lighter. And it’s important to know that, because of problems with his back, Joel walked with a cane. He was shackled at the ankles and his wrists were cuffed to a waist chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> And we walked all the way over there. And then when we got in front of the block…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> And you were going from B Facility to A Facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Let me take a minute to describe the layout of the prison so you can picture what’s happening here. There are three main yards, or facilities, A, B, and C, that are all similarly designed. Each facility has eight housing blocks that can hold around 120 people each. These housing blocks are further subdivided into sections. They also each have their own administrative offices, dining hall, etc. Those eight blocks are organized around a central outdoor yard, kind of like the petals of a flower. So to get from B Facility to A Facility, Shinnette, holding Joel’s arm, had to walk quite a ways. And two of Shinnette’s partners followed behind, one of them pushing a cart with Joel’s belongings on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they got to the gate, a couple of other officers joined in the escort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> You know where you gotta come in through that gate? You come in this way and-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Yep. The bay gate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The group filed through a number of locking doors and security checkpoints that feed into the rotunda of the housing block, which you walk through to get into the housing sections or administrative offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> The first window you see to the office, they put me on that little concrete pillar where the door comes like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> What do you mean put you on it? What does that mean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Uh, he like, like, said “stand right here,” in front of the concrete thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> With your facing the con- You’re facing the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yes. I’m facing the wall and, and-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel says Shinnette took his cane and handed it to another officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Did he grab your cane because you were attempting to use it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> No. As soon as he did that, he spit on the floor and he just socked me, man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Socked you meaning?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> He s- like s- with his fist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Punch?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, he punched me hard-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Where did he hit you at?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Like right here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Here, you’re, it looks like you’re pointing towards your forehead area or your head, face?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah. Yeah, and then I fell down to the ground and I fell on my, I was laying on my right s- on my right side, but I couldn’t lay on my stomach because I was like, the concrete wall was holding me up. And they were just s- stomping my head, man, and socking me. And then I just seen the blood coming out and I go, “Oh man, they’re gonna kill me. They’re gonna kill me.” Then I just felt it crack, crack, right, uh, in, uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Where was that crack at?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Right here. And then he-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Just for reference, you’re referring to this, your chest area right here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At some point, they stopped. They put Joel in a holding cage. He says he was in pain and throwing up, but he refused treatment. Finally, he did get assessed by medical staff, and he told them he had a back spasm and had hit his head on the door knob.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> When you told him that, was that true?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Why did you say that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Um, because I was scared, man. I’m not gonna lie, I was scared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Scared of?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Them retaliating, because there were still a grip COs there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> When he got to the hospital, escorted by two correctional officers, initially Joel told doctors the same thing about the door knob. It wasn’t until Sergeant Steele arrived and told the other officers to leave that Joel changed his story and gave the explanation you just heard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay, we’re gonna go ahead and conclude this. It is now 12:50 on the same day, Wednesday. We’re gonna conclude this interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel was diagnosed with a concussion, three fractured ribs, and he received four sutures to close up the wound on his head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ambient sounds]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This seems to be working okay. Let’s just kind of scooch together so that we both are on mic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My co-reporter Julie and I are in the studio together to go over some stuff. We’ve gotten hundreds of pages of documents from CDCR about Joel’s case and more than a dozen audio recordings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What are you pulling up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So this is the CDCR recordings that we got that are associated with the case in which Joel Uribe ended up in the hospital and was very injured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tape I want to play for Julie, it’s a little scratchy. It’s from a recording of a prison phone call Joel made to his mother, Juana Lopez, about 10 days after the incident, and they start talking about Sergeant Kevin Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Like, like I was telling you before, be cool with Lieutenant Steeles, ’cause he’s helped me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> No, no, I am, I am. Yesterday I apologized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s clear from their call that Juana has also talked to Steele, and it sounds to me like she kind of went off on him. She was angry and scared for her son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Are you in a safe place? ‘Cause he promised me you were in, in a safe place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah. Yeah, he’s got me right here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel tells her Sergeant Steele is protecting him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Lieutenant Steele goes, “I don’t work here to protect my own. I work here to protect everybody. If I’m following the rules and following the laws, and I’m supposed to be doing this, then my partner should be doing this too. There’s no code of silence here or nothing like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The code of silence. It’s a term used for an unspoken agreement between correctional officers that they won’t report misconduct or turn on each other. It’s officially banned, but it still happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I was like, “Thank you, man. I appreciate that.” You know? And he’s for reals, mom. And he-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> I know, I know. That’s why I apologized, but he understands from where I was coming from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Because, um, ma, he, even he knows this was bullshit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Coming across this call — where Joel talks to his mom about Steele — way back in 2017… felt like finding one of Steele’s footprints in the snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s just interesting to me ’cause like this, uh, his term code of silence is not a term that I have ever heard Joel use. Like I don’t feel like that, like he is, to me it feels like he is quoting him, because that’s a term that Steele would use, ’cause he knows about the code of silence and everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mm. Yeah. Right. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Um, so I was just like that’s, you know, just very interesting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> And the, you know, the “I’m not here to just protect my own, I’m here to protect everybody,” that fits with everything we know and have heard about him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And it’s also like at this point it feels like he still believes it, right? Like h- this is in 2017 or whatever, and he’s saying there’s no code of silence, like it’s, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He feels like he can protect Joel and things will be figured out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You can trust- still trust the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While we’ve heard a lot about Steele from Val Senior, part of what Julie and I are trying to understand and retrace are the steps that led Steele, a sergeant who trusted and supported this institution, to become the man who sent that explosive memo, hoping to bring it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve gone over his memo many times, each time peeling back another layer of evidence and comparing it with the evidence we have been able to gather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> I’m Sergeant Steele. This is Sergeant Steele. It is the 20th of July. It’s about a little bit after 8:00, approximately 10 after 8:00 on the…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And through these records and tapes…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> It is Tuesday, the 16th…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> … We catch more glimpses of Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> This is Sergeant Steele, ISU… 19th of August… on a Friday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And we learned that Steele was often the guy who did “use of force” interviews. The department has this policy that if someone in prison gets really badly hurt or alleges they were badly hurt by a guard, an officer, someone not involved in the incident, has to interview them on camera within 48 hours to document their injuries and ask them about what happened. In fact, you’ve already heard Steele doing one of these interviews in an earlier episode. That was Steele who initially talked to an incarcerated man that we called C, the guy in the psychiatric services unit who says officers handed him a noose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> …Uh, you made the allegation, you, while trying to hang myself, the COs came in and smashed my face into the wall. Can you tell me about that, what you mean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So Steele had this really direct interaction with incarcerated people who’d been injured where he’d take down their allegations firsthand. Of course, this is also how he met Joel Uribe. But it wasn’t Steele’s job to figure out if those allegations had merit or if the use of force was justified. After Steele interviewed someone like Joel in the hospital, the officers’ reports and any photos or evidence would get kicked to higher-ups to decide whether it needed further investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nIf they thought it did, they’d call in investigators from outside New Folsom to do the follow-up. Special agents from the Office of Internal Affairs would be tasked with investigating if officers broke policy, which could mean discipline, or broke the law, which could mean criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Today is September 19, 2017, and the time is approximately 6:19. Uh, this is the initial report concerning…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In Joel Uribe’s case, Office of Internal Affairs Special Agent Grant Parker was assigned to look into Joel’s allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Are you comfortable?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Yeah, I’m good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> You good?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Adjust myself here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Okay…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In September, about four months after the incident, the special agent sat down to interview Officer Eric Shinnette, the one who’d been walking alongside Joel. In California, correctional officers like Shinnette are peace officers, so they’re protected by the Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights, which means, going into this interview, he’s got the right to know what it’s about ahead of time and his union lawyer is in the room with him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Do you recall that incident?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Uh, yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Okay. Why don’t you give me your version of that incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Yeah, so from the beginning? Uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Let’s go from, uh, yeah, whatever your beginning is. We’ll take it from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Okay, um…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Shinnette says, as they were moving Joel to a different unit, everything was going smoothly…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Where’d you have him?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Well, I had him, I hold him with my right hand, his left, like, tricep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Tricep/elbow area?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Right..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> … Until they got through the door and walked into the rotunda of the housing block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> And then out of nowhere, uh, Uribe just turned around, plu- uh, pulls away from my grip, turns around and hits me with his, his cane. I was able to push him down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> When he fell down on the ground, did he fall on his, on his back, on his stomach?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Uh, no, on his head. I know that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Oh, on his head?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Okay, c- could you tell me o- one side or the other?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Uh, I really don’t remember.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Forehead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Shinnette says he also slipped and ended up on the ground where Joel kept lashing out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> He’s still hitting me, kicking me, or, you know, hitting me with his, uh… I’m trying to get the cane away. He hit me with his cane. I’m trying to get the cane away. I punched him two to three times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> While he was on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> While we were on, both on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Oh, okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Another officer, or officers, arrived and helped him hold Joel down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> I was able to get the cane away. Then CO Brewer comes in and, um, pins his upper body. I’m pinning his lower body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So to recap, Shinnette’s version is that they walked inside the housing unit, out of nowhere Joel Uribe hit him with his cane, Shinnette pulled him to the ground, Joel landed on his head, and then Shinnette punched him a couple times to get the cane away, and then they got Joel under control and it was all over. The special agent doesn’t ask Shinnette anything about Officer Joseph Gomez, who’d been assaulted about 10 days before the incident with Joel. His questions were focused on the use of force that day. The special agent talked to the other officers involved too. And we won’t play you all of their interviews, but what is important is these noticeable discrepancies in how officers remembered the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nFor example, no one can agree on which direction Joel was facing when he was on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officer Camacho:\u003c/b> He was on his back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> And he has his, he has his cane, and he’s face down on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officer White:\u003c/b> Yes, sir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officer Brewer: \u003c/b> He’s laying, he’s on his back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Uh, he was on his stomach, facing…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Okay, so face, face down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> To me this is key because, remember, Joel is shackled at the ankles and the waist. If he’s on his stomach, he’d barely be able to move, let alone pose a threat. And if the only force was two or three punches from Shinnette, how did Joel get those injuries, a head injury needing stitches, a concussion, loss of hearing in one of his ears, and three broken ribs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers who used force on Joel also wrote reports, but what stood out to me reading through them is that they’re totally inconsistent. Officer Eric Shinnette’s report doesn’t mention Officer Camacho or Officer White using force. Officer Brewer’s report mentions Officer White using force, but does not mention Officer Camacho using force. Officer White’s report mentions Officer Camacho using force, but not Officer Brewer. And, Officer Camacho’s report does not mention Officer Brewer or Officer White using force. Now, that may sound like one of those logic puzzles you get on the SAT, but even after prison supervisors asked some of the guards to clarify these reports, the picture of who actually did what remains confusing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR did not respond to questions about this case. My attempts to contact Eric Shinnette over email were unsuccessful. The oversight agency that monitors prisons did review this investigation and found no evidence that officers planned to beat Joel. They said Shinnette did have bruises on his chest and legs from the cane, and they speculated that Joel could have broken his ribs when he fell on an officer’s boot. In the end, CDCR’s internal investigation didn’t find that the officers did anything wrong and none of them were disciplined; Joel, however, was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a disciplinary hearing a few months after the incident, Joel was found guilty of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, the cane, and he was sentenced to 42 months, three and a half years, in the SHU, solitary confinement. He says he served more than a year of that before prison officials decided to release him from solitary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Automated Voice:\u003c/b> I have a call from Joel Uribe, an inmate at…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I just want to point out that Joel is taking a risk by talking to me, as is anyone who is still incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Automated Voice:\u003c/b> This call and your telephone number will be monitored and recorded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Officers can listen in and hear what they are alleging, and Joel doesn’t have another Steele around to protect him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the incident, Joel was referred to the DA for assault with a deadly weapon, the cane, which could have meant a whole new prison term. The documents that we obtained show that the charges were dropped in the “interest of justice.” As we spoke in that first call, Joel tells me that was because Steele intervened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Within the first two weeks, Sergeant Steele pulled me off then told me that uh, “I’m dropping the DA referral because I already know what’s going on. I know you didn’t do nothing. I know you had nothing to do with this, and that’s the best I could do for you.” And I said, “Man, I appreciate that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And he gives me another clue to Steele’s character. Long after the incident, Steele kept in touch with Juana Lopez, Joel’s mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> He’s gonna make sure, and yeah, no, your son’s okay. He would call and make sure I’m okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel says while he was in solitary, serving out his SHU sentence, Steele would come by and check on him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you think your mom might talk to me as well?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, she will.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He gives me his mom’s number. And, I want to call her to hear more about Joel, but also more about Steele, because this feels so unusual, a correctional officer keeping in touch with the family of someone in their custody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, she’ll talk to you like for sure. And, uh, she knows a lot too, what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay, that’s great. Thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Thank you. Okay, bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In his memo, when Steele writes about what happened to Joel Uribe, he says there were “many more of these cases where the man’s injuries didn’t match what officers wrote on their reports.” While we don’t know what incidents Steele was thinking of when he says there were many more cases like Joel’s, we have been doing our own investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So here’s our current list of cases, updated, so…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve been fighting to get records on all serious use of force cases from the Department of Corrections. In 2022, we sued, well, KQED’s lawyers did, because CDCR was giving us these records so incredibly slowly. The agency still hasn’t given us all the records we asked for, but with those we have been able to get, we’ve been building a database of incidents and the names of involved officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this one involves… Look, who does it involve?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Oh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Eric Shinnette. Leach, who was also involved in the Uribe incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And that’s also interesting, when you just look at like the kind of order of events, it’s again during an escort and he doesn’t want to go wherever they’re going, you know, placing him in a new cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The rules around officer use of force are pretty clear. It’s gotta be proportional, so deadly force can only be used to overcome a deadly threat. Batons, pepper spray, even fists can be used to overcome resistance or to stop a threat, but once the resistance stops or the threat is gone, the officers also have to stop. They’re not allowed to use force in retaliation or as a punishment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve been able to get records of all the serious incidents that happened at New Folsom between 2014 and 2021. In all, according to CDCR, there were 27 of these incidents in which officers severely injured someone or used deadly force. Some of these appear totally lawful — officers shooting to save someone’s life who’s being stabbed or using pepper spray grenades to stop an attack. But in about half of these incidents where the person ended up seriously injured, the circumstances followed a pattern. The reports note that the incarcerated person was resisting in some way. And despite the fact that in most of these cases the incarcerated person was already in restraints, either handcuffed behind their back or handcuffed and shackled at the ankles, in many cases officers used force so severe that the person ended up with really bad injuries, ranging from head lacerations to broken noses and ribs. One man’s femur was even broken. But in many of these cases, in the reports filed by officers, it’s often unclear how the events they describe resulted in such severe injuries. For example, in one report, the officer wrote he used “the minimal amount of physical force needed to place the incarcerated person on the ground.” But the man ended up in the intensive care unit with broken ribs and extensive internal bleeding. Sometimes the officers’ explanations were contradicted by other witnesses or evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And these are just the cases that we actually got reports for. Incarcerated people have told us about incidents that don’t appear in the records at all. A lawsuit filed by one of these men, who was incarcerated at New Folsom in 2016, alleges that his back was broken by officers and that officers poured urine and feces in his mouth. Medical records show that his back was fractured at some point and he required extensive surgery a year later, but CDCR refused to release documents related to the incident, saying it didn’t qualify as a use of force that resulted in great bodily injury. In court filings, CDCR has denied the man’s claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We tracked down about a dozen men who were incarcerated at New Folsom who say they were beaten excessively by officers or as retaliation or that they witnessed these beatings. We also got interview tapes from CDCR of incarcerated people telling investigators like Steele what happened to them. Here are their voices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 1:\u003c/b> They would cuff us. They would handcuff us and beat us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> I was handcuffed as I am now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 3:\u003c/b> With my hands behind my back, still handcuffed, and my legs…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> He was escorting me with his right hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 3:\u003c/b> And then I seen him coming at me, and before I knew it…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> I was forced to the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 4:\u003c/b> He grabbed me. He slammed me on the floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 5:\u003c/b> Dropping their knees down on my back and my spine, stomping on my…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 4:\u003c/b> He even kicked me in the face two times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> Punches coming to the back of my head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 4:\u003c/b> Grabbing my hair, knocked out my teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> I was pulled to the left and I was hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 6:\u003c/b> You are knocked out, but you still feel the blows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 3:\u003c/b> And then they threw me in the cage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 5:\u003c/b> And that’s how they broke my back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 6:\u003c/b> Thought I was gonna die. I felt like I was dying, man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 7:\u003c/b> I was like, you know what? I’m not gonna say nothing, ’cause if I did, they’re gonna beat me again and I might die this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We have also spoken to four current and former correctional officers who said when they worked at the prison it was well known that some officers would beat up incarcerated people. They all said they witnessed at least one of these beatings firsthand but did not report misconduct because they were afraid of retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I just want to point out that out of the 800+ guards who work at New Folsom, only about 50 were responsible for injuring people in their custody, and there were clear repeat offenders, names that kept showing up in the records. CDCR said they have a new process in place to investigate all complaints of employee misconduct. They also pointed to the new fixed cameras and body cams that they have installed at New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 27 serious use of force incidents that we have records for, however, there was almost always the same outcome. It’s what happened with Joel Uribe’s case. There was no discipline for the officers. And more often than not, the incarcerated person was punished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there is one case that turned out differently from all the rest. It started, as so many of them did, with Sergeant Steele on camera in the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> This is Sergeant Steele, ISU. The date is the 16th of September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s 2016, a little less than a year after Steele joined the ISU squad. A second officer is behind the camera. Steele is wearing his wire-rimmed glasses and checks his black military watch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> It’s approximately 10:30 on a Friday morning. Go ahead and introduce yourself?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Um, Ronnie Price…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In the video, you can see, again, a man lying in a hospital bed. His name: Ronnie Price. He’s in a dark blue gown, hooked up to an IV, a handcuff around his wrist. You can’t see his face because it’s been blacked out in the video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Go ahead, tell me what happened to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Price tells Steele he transferred to New Folsom a week earlier, and officers were about to move him to a new cell with a cellmate. Price didn’t want to go. That part of the audio is redacted, so it’s not totally clear why he didn’t want to go there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> But you understand, when an officer tells you you gotta go there, that’s what you gotta do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah, I, I, but I was willing to, to take the punishment in the hole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> ‘Cause if, if I go in the cell and get caught up, I’m gonna spend years wishing I had went to the hole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What this sounds like to me is that Price is afraid he’s going to get caught up in something that he’ll regret. He’d even rather go to the hole or solitary confinement which is the punishment for refusing the cell move than go to this new cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We gonna take you to the hole. J- Just cuff up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I said, “Oh, no problem.” So I turned around and they opened the door and they, they cuffed me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But as the officers escorted him, he realized where they were going, and it wasn’t the hole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> So I asked, “Where y’all going? This, this ain’t the way to the hole.” So that’s when they put the, the leg restraints on me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So now he was cuffed behind his back and his ankles were in shackles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> I told them, “I’m not going in that cell with the guy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As they tried to physically move him along…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> You were pushing back?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> You were resisting?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah I was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He says four officers grabbed him, two on each arm, and propelled him forward into the rotunda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> That’s when somebody stepped on my, uh, shackles and-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> From behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> And they, they, they pushed me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He says an officer, or officers, stepped on the shackles around his ankles and pushed him to the ground face first. With his hands cuffed behind his back, he couldn’t even break his fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> I’m gonna have the camera come in here. What happened to your mouth?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> It, it, uh, knocked out two false teeth and, and knocked out two of my, my own teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Two r- regular teet- teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah, four teeth got [inaudible 00:32:24].\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> And when, when I raised my head up to spit the teeth out, somebody grabbed my head and s-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> You’re on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> You’re on the ground, you raise your head up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> When I raise up, uh, was about to spit the teeth out, somebody grabbed my head and slammed it, slammed it…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> There is some kind of alarm going off, but you can hear Price say they slammed his head on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> … On the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> How did they do that? How did they slam your head?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> When I, when I raised up, somebody grabbed me by the head and slammed it into the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> They’re using their hands to push your head down on the ground?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Is that what they used, their hands?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah, their hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele asks a few more questions, Price confirms they took him to see medical and then, by ambulance, to the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Do you have any questions?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Not that I can think.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> We’re gonna go ahead and conclude this interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele checks his watch again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> It’s now about 10:48 on the 16th of September. Again, it is Friday. This concludes this interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The very next day, according to internal reports, Price went into a medical emergency around 4:30 in the afternoon and his heart stopped beating. Records show Steele attended his autopsy. The coroner ruled Price’s death a homicide, but that just means death at the hands of another; it doesn’t assign criminal liability or if the use of force was justified. Just like in Joel Uribe’s case, special agents from the Office of Internal Affairs were called in to find out if officers violated policy or broke the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, we’re on the record. The date is December 5th, 2017. The time’s approximately 1406 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Already this is unusual. As you can hear in this interview, it’s taking place in December 2017. That’s more than a year after the incident happened. Most of these investigations are wrapped up much sooner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> I’m Special Agent Justin Bolden. I’m in charge of this interview and I’m gonna be assisted by, uh, Special Agent Lillia Duarte. Also present is…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In the hot seat today is an officer named Arturo Pacheco, one of the officers who escorted Ronnie Price to his new cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As Bolden goes over Pachecho’s rights at the beginning of the interview, there’s another step he goes through that’s less common.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, so, um, Officer Pacheco, you’re being interviewed regarding an incident where there are criminal proceedings pending or pe- potential. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The investigation into Price’s death is criminal as well as administrative, so Pacheco has a right not to incriminate himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Having been informed of your rights and having your rights in mind, are you willing to talk to us?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I, I wish to invoke…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco’s voice is kind of faint there, but he says he wants to invoke his right to remain silent. This doesn’t mean the interview is over, though. Bolden goes on to issue what’s called a Lybarger Warning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> This is an administrative inquiry, and as such you do not have the right to refuse to answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What this means is that if Pacheco wants to keep his job, he has to answer their questions. But because it’s a compelled interview, nothing he says in the interview can be used in a criminal case against him; it can only be used for internal disciplinary purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Do you understand?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, now we’re gonna do this…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> During the interview, Pacheco’s story about what happened during the escort is different from Ronnie Price’s. He says as they entered the rotunda of the unit…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I had just walked in and we’d took an approximate five steps in. By the time we got to the rotunda, that’s when inmate Price stopped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> And this is fi- towards the office?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Towards the office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay. And-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Right where the lockers are at.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> And there’s lockers on what side of the…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> The left side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> On left side? Okay. So are you next to, standing next to the lockers when Inmate Price stops?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Uh, we were, it was a tight fit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> So once you walk in, I, my partner, I believe, was right behind me, and he stopped, and that’s when he resisted and he s- broke free of my grasp by lunging forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> All I did was just immediately use force, ’cause at the time that’s w- I could use my body weight right there and then, so I brought him down. And I didn’t think nothing of it, so brought him down and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I’ve listened to a lot of recordings of Internal Affairs interviews. A lot of times, they sound almost collaborative, like the investigators are trying to help the officers tell their story. But this time the Internal Affairs special agent takes a very different tone. He interrupts Pacheco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> … So I used immediate force to overcome Price’s resisting-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, so stop right there. W- What is immediate force?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Immediate force is…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> And you’re referring to your white card-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I’m u- referring to my card.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Um, the use of force to respond without delay to a situation or circumstance that constitute an imminent threat over the security and safety of persons\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He lets Pacheco refer to his report, but he also really presses him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, and in this rotunda, who was in there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> That I know of, just me and my partner and the inmate and the officer bringing me upstage, but-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> You said that you know of. Would there be anybody that didn’t not know of?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> No, it’s, that’s it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco’s report mirrors what he says here, that he was the only officer to use force. But this question of who was there isn’t just the special agent fishing, he’s setting a trap. Over and over, the special agent circles back to this question of who else was there, and Pacheco keeps dodging and denying. Then Bolden springs the trap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> So, what happened is that, um, I talked to Officer Luna, and Luna said he was [censored]. He said he was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He reveals he knows there was another officer there who also came down on Price who is totally missing from the incident reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> And you look kinda surprised, but that’s a fact, um, Officer Luna was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> That’s what he said. And I’m telling you what I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> I know, but I’m telling you that Officer Luna was there too. You’re, you’re saying that nobody else was there, so-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lawyer:\u003c/b> No, he said he didn’t know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, so-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lawyer:\u003c/b> I’m gonna object to your representation of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> You’re gonna object, that’s fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s Pacheco’s lawyer jumping in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> So, um, during the escort, Officer Luna [censored]. Do you recall now him being there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> No. I was focused on the inmate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Well, he, he walked with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> But I wasn’t focused on what’s behind me though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Uh, I’m not saying you weren’t focused or anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lawyer:\u003c/b> Can we take a break please?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Yeah, we can take a break. The time is, uh, 1503 hours. Taking a break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They come back from the break, and still Pacheco tries to say, well, he didn’t see the other officer or he doesn’t remember. And a little later, Bolden’s Internal Affairs colleague, who’s been quiet for most of the interview, steps in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lillia Duarte:\u003c/b> I can tell the pressure’s on you, that, uh, all you really have left to do right now is just to, to tell the truth, because it gets worse. It does get worse with the information that we’re gonna share with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Finally, an hour and 30 minutes into the interview, this happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> So, uh, during the break, did you have a chance to kinda think things over, um?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay. So, what, what’s, what, what changed?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Luna was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco admits the truth, Officer Luna was also there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Why didn’t you straight up and say, “He was there”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Just a dirtbag I guess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Who?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> I don’t think you’re a dirtbag. I think you made, you probably made a, uh, a wrong decision, okay? And that happens. And then we’re, that’s why we’re here, to kinda cl- clarify and get, get the truth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco doesn’t say he stepped on Price’s shackles, but he does say that they took him down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> And then that’s when we went forward and dumped him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, and you said we dumped him. Who dumped him down?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Me and apparently Luna.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> How was it apparently Luna?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> He’s on top of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Other officers confirmed that dumping someone is taking them to the ground. No one said they slammed Price’s face a second time, but Special Agent Bolden isn’t just interested in what they did during the incident. He also has questions about what they did afterwards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Driving music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> I know it’s a coverup. I know everyone talked. I got everyone’s emails and I know all the reports went back and forth to one main person. And all the information I’m providing you was, was straight facts. I’m telling you straight-up, I’ma look you, you at your face. I’m not he- I’m not here to lie to you. I’m not here to play a joke. I’m not here to play a game. I was, I was pretty straightforward with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Bolden reveals over their year-long investigation they’ve gotten search warrants of officers’ phones and searched their departmental emails and found that after the incident officers coordinated a coverup. Investigators found multiple versions of the officers’ reports. The sergeant on duty actually changed their reports and removed details about Price saying he didn’t want to make the cell move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Did you ask her wh- uh, why it wasn’t needed about the information that she revised and took off?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> But I did not que- I didn’t question her. She’s the supervisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> So I just signed it and I was happy with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And finally, the investigator confronts Pacheco with text messages that he sent. They say, quote, “It’s all about how you write your report,” and, “Your partners have your back.” As the interview comes to a close, Pacheco’s voice sounds subdued and almost strangled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> This report, yes, is incorrect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This is a rare moment, an officer admitting his reports were false.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay. Looking back at this report and what was done, was it wrong?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> How do you feel about it now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Dirtbag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Again Pacheco calls himself a dirtbag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Did we, during this investigation, did we treat you okay or fairly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Yes. You treated me fairly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay. At, uh, closing, is there anything that you would like to include?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I’m sorry all this happened. It wasn’t my intention. I had no intention of, I guess, for him dying, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I never planned for that, you know, it’s, so I’m just sorry and sorry to everybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco and his partner along with three other officers and the sergeant who changed the reports were all fired for violating policy, including using excessive force or lying about the incident. Pacheco and his sergeant were also referred to the district attorney for potential criminal charges. She couldn’t use the interviews you just heard, but the other stuff, text messages and altered reports, was fair game. However, she declined to prosecute, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to secure a homicide conviction. But it turned out, another agency did think there might be evidence of a crime, the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FBI investigation into Arturo Pacheco and the other officers involved in the death of Ronnie Price took years. But finally, in October 2022, in a federal courtroom in Sacramento, he was called to account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walk me through arriving at the courthouse. What happened, who’d you see, what stood out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Well, Pacheco’s family filled the entire courtroom practically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco had pleaded guilty to falsifying records in a federal investigation and depriving Price of his civil rights under color of law. This means he used his authority as an officer to unlawfully injure Price. My co-reporter Julie and producer Steven Rascón attended this hearing, where Pacheco would find out his sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> He looked very, um, crisp, clean. He was wearing a crisp blue linen shirt and dark slacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Ronnie Price’s family was there too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Uh, the nephew of Ronnie Price, you know, he wanted to speak. He wanted to read his victim statement. The judge was like, “Well, why, I have it in writing. I don’t need you to present it.” And he’s like, “Well, I want to. You know, I want, I want him to hear this.” Him meaning Pacheco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Takis Tucker:\u003c/b> To prepare this statement has been tremendously difficult and painful. My mom and I cried heavily before we started to write this. We had come to the sense and reality that Ronnie would not be coming home from prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We couldn’t record in court, but Price’s nephew, Takis Tucker, read his victim impact statement for us later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Takis Tucker:\u003c/b> It is difficult because even though Ronnie may have been a felon and was incarcerated, we never would have imagined that a peace officer who was ordered to monitor and protect would be the cause of Ronnie’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have suffered. It’s like an empty space that lays on our heart. It is sad to know that he is dead. He had a calm demeanor and it would take an awful lot to get him beside himself. Ronnie was funny. He had a sense of humor and he loved hard candies. I remember a time after he was released he wanted to go with the family and listen to his favorite singer Sade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was determined to manage his business and get things done whether he was in jail or not. Ronnie was relaxed and a good person and he loved his family. We will miss him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> According to Takis, even while that whole investigation was going on, neither CDCR nor the FBI told Price’s family exactly how or why he died. A lawsuit filed by the Price family says that Steele is the one who called Price’s sister to say that Price was dead, but it alleges in that phone call he said that Price’s cellmate caused his injuries. We can’t confirm that this call happened, but it doesn’t make sense that Steele would cover up the incident, because he didn’t just take Price’s statement, he also attended his autopsy and he told prison officials he believed officers were responsible for Price’s death. But one way or another, according to Price’s nephew, the family didn’t know that officers were to blame until six years later, in 2022, when Pacheco pled guilty for his role in Price’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At the sentencing hearing, Julie tells me Pacheco also spoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> The judge asked Pacheco if he had anything to say for himself, and he said, um, he said, “I am very remorseful. I apologize.” It was very short and he choked up in the middle, and that’s all he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Then it was time for the judge to issue his sentence…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Then the judge said, “This is a very difficult decision for the court.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> … 12 years in federal prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> When the judge said he was gonna be sentenced to, you know, twel- over 12 years, um, it was the daughters, I believe, who started weeping. You know, and his wife, of course, just looked stricken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The lawsuit filed by Price’s family is ongoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pacheco’s partner also took a plea deal. She was sentenced to two years in federal prison, but her lawyer said she is currently serving her time in transitional housing rather than in federal prison. Their supervisor, the sergeant who altered their reports, was convicted of conspiracy and falsifying records in a federal investigation. She is set to be sentenced on March 18th.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Somber music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that supervisor’s trial, in December of 2023, prosecutors played the video of Sergeant Kevin Steele standing at Price’s bedside taking his testimony. Without that recording, it is unlikely anyone would ever know what happened to Price. He died the next day. Without that recording, only the officers’ version of the story would have survived. But as the video played in court, no mention was made that the man who made this video and so many others like it was no longer alive—because Steele did not survive to see that justice was served in this case. He died by suicide about a year before Pacheco’s sentencing, on August 20th, 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Phone ringing]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple days after Joel Uribe gave me his mom’s phone number, I called her back. It was dark outside and after 7:00 at night, and I was sitting in my home office with the phone plugged into my recorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Hello?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Hi, Ms. Lopez?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Yeah, now I’m home. I was just coming from work, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You’re home. All right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact that Sergeant Kevin Steele had spoken to her and stayed in touch with her seemed like another important clue about who Steele had been.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Okay, so your son gave me your phone number. And, is it okay if I record this conversation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Uh, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s okay? Okay, thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Juana Lopez immediately struck me as an impressive woman. She’s an audit inspector and she loves her son fiercely, but she is also a hard-ass. When he went to prison, she told him…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> I am not gonna play around. One tattoo goes on your face, I will stand strong on my word, I will not come and see you. And the reason is because you don’t know how much you’re hurting me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel didn’t listen. Lots of people get face tattoos in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Oh no, I am not a joke. I am your mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> She hasn’t seen his face in over 12 years, but they’re still close. They talk on the phone all the time. And after he wound up in the hospital, she says they filed a lawsuit, but it hasn’t gone anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> No, and it is very, very frustrating, very frustrating. The only good thing that kept me going, there was this officer. His name is Mr. Steele. I would keep touch with him, but, um, I haven’t called him lately. It’s usually at, um, Christmas, you know, “Merry Christmas or you, how are you doing? How is Joel doing?” If it wasn’t for him, my son wouldn’t be alive today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Really? Wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm. He was the one that, uh, seek medical attention for him. I think he was one of the reasons that he helped him transfer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Oh, he helped him to go to a different facility?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Yeah, mm-hmm. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> And I, I’m very appreciative of Mr. Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I realize as she’s talking that Juana doesn’t know yet that Steele passed away. Did you hear that he had died?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Who?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mr. Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah. I’m really sorry to be telling you that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> He… They, uh, that’s, uh, foul play. Foul play, honestly. He- And I was gonna… Oh, wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She immediately suspects that he was killed, but I have to tell her that seven months after he moved to Missouri, he actually took his own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> \u003ci>[Sobs]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He, um, um, he, he committed suicide they say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> No, no. \u003ci>[crying]\u003c/i> No, he was a very sharp, was, he was very, very… Uh-uh. I cannot accept that. I cannot accept that, none. I mean, I knew him talking to him like I’m talking to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> But with him, I felt a comfort. He goes, “No, Ms. Lopez, you don’t worry about your son. I am here. I am here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Oh, wow. Um, I’m really sorry I, I had to-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Oh, wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I had told your son and I thought he might, might have already told you. I’m really sorry to be giving you this information in this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Oh, wow. He was, he was a true officer. When did this happen?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Um, about a year ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Ugh. Oh, wow. Ugh. Ugh. I know the torment he went through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Oh, wow. They took a little angel. So please get to the bottom of this. Everybody needs justice, especially him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Guitar picking music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I will do my best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Okay, you have a good night, and I’m gonna, I’ll stay in touch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You too. Okay, stay in touch, sounds good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> And… O- Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> You’re welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming up next time, Val Senior tells us about the project Steele was working on when he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> How to Kill a Cop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> That’s the name of his book?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> The title is How to Kill a Cop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> I’m assuming it would be like, “This is how you demoralize a cop. This is how you undermine. This is the pattern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Exactly. The pattern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And finally, we learn what was in the black drug bindle that Mimi found in their home when they were ripping out the carpets after Valentino died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Did you share the email?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I am just sending it to you now. I have not opened it yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And we finally get in touch with someone who was close to Sergeant Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His big question for me was, which side of the blue line are you on?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Credits music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’re listening to On Our Watch, \u003ci>Season Two\u003c/i>: New Folsom, from KQED. If you have any tips or feedback about the series, you can email us at onourwatch@kqed.org. You can also leave us a review in Apple Podcasts. The series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauleón. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Egusa. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts and executive produced the series. Meticulous fact checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional research by Laura Fitzgerald and Kathleen Quinn, students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR, KQED Health Correspondent April Dembosky, and to our in-house counsel, Rebecca Hopkins. Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from APM Music and Audio Network. We got tremendous support from David Barstow, Chair of the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, and graduate students Elizabeth Santos, Cayla Mihalovich, Julietta Bisharyan, William Jenkins, Armon Owlia, Vera Watt, and Junyao Yang. Thanks also to UC Berkeley’s Jeremy Rue, Amanda Glazer, and Olivia Chu for their data analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The internal records highlighted in this podcast were obtained as part of the California Reporting Project. Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and The California Endowment. Thank you to our Managing Editor of News and Enterprise, Otis R Taylor, Jr., Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our Vice President of News, and KQED Chief Content Officer Holly Kernan. Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">How did Sgt. Kevin Steele go from being a true believer in the institution of New Folsom to writing an explosive memo hoping to tear it down? We sift through video evidence, interrogation tapes and internal reports to find glimpses of his transformation. But when he feels his reports of corruption are ignored—he takes an even more drastic step.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7074451474\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warmline Directory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. If you have tips or feedback about this series please reach out to us at \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:onourwatch@kqed.org\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">onourwatch@kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer:\u003c/b> Before we start, just wanted to give you a heads-up that this episode includes graphic descriptions of violence and discusses a suicide. If you or someone you know needs support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A few months into our investigation, in late 2022, I get a call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hello?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Hello, can you hear me now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yes, hi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Can you hear me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I guess the other headphones I have ain’t working that good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The connection isn’t great, but the call is a breakthrough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I was at Sacramento for like about like two, two or three years off and on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This man isn’t at Sacramento’s New Folsom prison anymore, but he is still in prison. I wrote to Joel Uribe because Sergeant Kevin Steele mentioned him in his memo — that one he sent to the warden shortly before he was banned from prison grounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I finally just got your letter five minutes ago, just barely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Now, Joel is calling me ’cause he just got my letter five minutes earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In my letter, I didn’t mention anything about Steele or the memo, but before I bring it up, Joel starts talking about Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I remember ISU, uh, Sergeant Steele’s coming in and yelling at the COs saying, “Why didn’t you guys call me?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel is telling me about the first time he met Sergeant Steele, May 2017. Joel was in the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> You see in pictures of me in the hospital, the bed I’m laying on is, like, soaked in blood. I was bleeding a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I was able to get a video of Joel in the hospital. It was actually taken by Sergeant Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> This is Sergeant Steele. I am recording Inmate Uribe. What’s your CDC number?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele has the camera trained on Joel, who is lying in the hospital bed with a blood pressure cuff on his arm and monitors taped to his bare chest. Blood has seeped into the gauze pads under his head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> I want you to tell me in your own words what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Um, I was in my cell and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At one point, Steele swings the camera around to the right side of Joel’s shaved head and, you can see, there is still an open wound in his skull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I’ve still got the scar on my head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> On the phone, Joel tells me officers put him in the hospital that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> They broke my ribs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They broke his ribs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I lost my hearing on one of my ears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And he lost hearing in one of his ears.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At any point, like have you pursued, uh, litigation? Have you tried to, you know, get any other remedy?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I’ve been trying to, and I’ve been trying to see if I can-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Automated Voice:\u003c/b> You have 60 seconds remaining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s gonna shut off any minute. Can you call back or do you have to go?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah. I’ll call back later on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay. Thanks. Bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Okay, bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Years before Officer Valentino Rodriguez died, years before Sergeant Kevin Steele met Valentino’s father and joined him on his mission, the sergeant had already begun gathering evidence, evidence that he’d one day cite in that memo, evidence of the times he felt the institution had broken its promises to officers and the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Sukey Lewis, and this is \u003ci>On Our Watch\u003c/i>, Season Two: New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> It is currently about 2:46 on Wednesday morning. Inmate Uribe…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> On May 3rd, 2017, at UC Davis hospital in Sacramento, Sergeant Kevin Steele interviewed Joel Uribe around 2:45 in the morning and then in greater depth around 12:20 in the afternoon, after he received medical treatment. You’ll hear audio from both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Inmate Uribe, have I told you anything to say?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In the video, Joel is clean-shaven.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He’s got dark brown eyes and tattoos cover his abdomen and creep up his neck and face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> I want you to tell me in your own words what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I was in my cell and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel tells Steele it all started when officers told him he was moving to a housing block in a different building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> They go, “You gotta go.” And I go, “Look, man, I already know what’s up, man.” I go-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> What do you mean when you say that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Um, I already knew they were gonna fuck my up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> How do you know that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Because of everything that’s been going on with Gomez. We knew it was retaliation. And, uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> And when you say Gomez, you’re talking about Officer Gomez?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, the one that got assaulted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> By-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> An officer named Joseph Gomez had been assaulted by a different incarcerated man about a week and a half earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel says officers thought he had something to do with it because he’d gotten in an argument with Gomez. And Joel was convinced this move was being orchestrated as a cover to get him out of his cell so they could beat him up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I just gonna get it out the way, dog, and get-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Get what out of the way?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Get their beating out the way. And they were like, “Mm it’s too funny, it’s too funny, don’t, man.” And, um-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Other inmates were telling you not to come out of your cell?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, not to come out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel says the circumstances of the move seemed strange. It was 7:00 at night. And not only that, he was set to be transferred to a different prison shortly. Why go to the trouble of moving him and all his stuff twice? But Officer Eric Shinnette and another officer came to take him to another housing facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Shinnette came, chained, cuffed me, walked me to the cage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Shinnette’s a big guy, about 5’9″ and 240 pounds. Joel is quite a bit smaller, two inches shorter and at least 80 pounds lighter. And it’s important to know that, because of problems with his back, Joel walked with a cane. He was shackled at the ankles and his wrists were cuffed to a waist chain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> And we walked all the way over there. And then when we got in front of the block…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> And you were going from B Facility to A Facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Let me take a minute to describe the layout of the prison so you can picture what’s happening here. There are three main yards, or facilities, A, B, and C, that are all similarly designed. Each facility has eight housing blocks that can hold around 120 people each. These housing blocks are further subdivided into sections. They also each have their own administrative offices, dining hall, etc. Those eight blocks are organized around a central outdoor yard, kind of like the petals of a flower. So to get from B Facility to A Facility, Shinnette, holding Joel’s arm, had to walk quite a ways. And two of Shinnette’s partners followed behind, one of them pushing a cart with Joel’s belongings on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they got to the gate, a couple of other officers joined in the escort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> You know where you gotta come in through that gate? You come in this way and-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Yep. The bay gate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The group filed through a number of locking doors and security checkpoints that feed into the rotunda of the housing block, which you walk through to get into the housing sections or administrative offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> The first window you see to the office, they put me on that little concrete pillar where the door comes like this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> What do you mean put you on it? What does that mean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Uh, he like, like, said “stand right here,” in front of the concrete thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> With your facing the con- You’re facing the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yes. I’m facing the wall and, and-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel says Shinnette took his cane and handed it to another officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Did he grab your cane because you were attempting to use it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> No. As soon as he did that, he spit on the floor and he just socked me, man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Socked you meaning?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> He s- like s- with his fist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Punch?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, he punched me hard-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Where did he hit you at?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Like right here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Here, you’re, it looks like you’re pointing towards your forehead area or your head, face?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah. Yeah, and then I fell down to the ground and I fell on my, I was laying on my right s- on my right side, but I couldn’t lay on my stomach because I was like, the concrete wall was holding me up. And they were just s- stomping my head, man, and socking me. And then I just seen the blood coming out and I go, “Oh man, they’re gonna kill me. They’re gonna kill me.” Then I just felt it crack, crack, right, uh, in, uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Where was that crack at?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Right here. And then he-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Just for reference, you’re referring to this, your chest area right here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At some point, they stopped. They put Joel in a holding cage. He says he was in pain and throwing up, but he refused treatment. Finally, he did get assessed by medical staff, and he told them he had a back spasm and had hit his head on the door knob.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> When you told him that, was that true?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Why did you say that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Um, because I was scared, man. I’m not gonna lie, I was scared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Scared of?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Them retaliating, because there were still a grip COs there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> When he got to the hospital, escorted by two correctional officers, initially Joel told doctors the same thing about the door knob. It wasn’t until Sergeant Steele arrived and told the other officers to leave that Joel changed his story and gave the explanation you just heard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay, we’re gonna go ahead and conclude this. It is now 12:50 on the same day, Wednesday. We’re gonna conclude this interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel was diagnosed with a concussion, three fractured ribs, and he received four sutures to close up the wound on his head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ambient sounds]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This seems to be working okay. Let’s just kind of scooch together so that we both are on mic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My co-reporter Julie and I are in the studio together to go over some stuff. We’ve gotten hundreds of pages of documents from CDCR about Joel’s case and more than a dozen audio recordings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What are you pulling up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So this is the CDCR recordings that we got that are associated with the case in which Joel Uribe ended up in the hospital and was very injured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tape I want to play for Julie, it’s a little scratchy. It’s from a recording of a prison phone call Joel made to his mother, Juana Lopez, about 10 days after the incident, and they start talking about Sergeant Kevin Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Like, like I was telling you before, be cool with Lieutenant Steeles, ’cause he’s helped me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> No, no, I am, I am. Yesterday I apologized.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s clear from their call that Juana has also talked to Steele, and it sounds to me like she kind of went off on him. She was angry and scared for her son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Are you in a safe place? ‘Cause he promised me you were in, in a safe place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah. Yeah, he’s got me right here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel tells her Sergeant Steele is protecting him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Lieutenant Steele goes, “I don’t work here to protect my own. I work here to protect everybody. If I’m following the rules and following the laws, and I’m supposed to be doing this, then my partner should be doing this too. There’s no code of silence here or nothing like that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The code of silence. It’s a term used for an unspoken agreement between correctional officers that they won’t report misconduct or turn on each other. It’s officially banned, but it still happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> I was like, “Thank you, man. I appreciate that.” You know? And he’s for reals, mom. And he-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> I know, I know. That’s why I apologized, but he understands from where I was coming from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Because, um, ma, he, even he knows this was bullshit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Coming across this call — where Joel talks to his mom about Steele — way back in 2017… felt like finding one of Steele’s footprints in the snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that’s just interesting to me ’cause like this, uh, his term code of silence is not a term that I have ever heard Joel use. Like I don’t feel like that, like he is, to me it feels like he is quoting him, because that’s a term that Steele would use, ’cause he knows about the code of silence and everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mm. Yeah. Right. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Um, so I was just like that’s, you know, just very interesting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> And the, you know, the “I’m not here to just protect my own, I’m here to protect everybody,” that fits with everything we know and have heard about him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And it’s also like at this point it feels like he still believes it, right? Like h- this is in 2017 or whatever, and he’s saying there’s no code of silence, like it’s, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He feels like he can protect Joel and things will be figured out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You can trust- still trust the system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While we’ve heard a lot about Steele from Val Senior, part of what Julie and I are trying to understand and retrace are the steps that led Steele, a sergeant who trusted and supported this institution, to become the man who sent that explosive memo, hoping to bring it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve gone over his memo many times, each time peeling back another layer of evidence and comparing it with the evidence we have been able to gather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> I’m Sergeant Steele. This is Sergeant Steele. It is the 20th of July. It’s about a little bit after 8:00, approximately 10 after 8:00 on the…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And through these records and tapes…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> It is Tuesday, the 16th…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> … We catch more glimpses of Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> This is Sergeant Steele, ISU… 19th of August… on a Friday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And we learned that Steele was often the guy who did “use of force” interviews. The department has this policy that if someone in prison gets really badly hurt or alleges they were badly hurt by a guard, an officer, someone not involved in the incident, has to interview them on camera within 48 hours to document their injuries and ask them about what happened. In fact, you’ve already heard Steele doing one of these interviews in an earlier episode. That was Steele who initially talked to an incarcerated man that we called C, the guy in the psychiatric services unit who says officers handed him a noose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> …Uh, you made the allegation, you, while trying to hang myself, the COs came in and smashed my face into the wall. Can you tell me about that, what you mean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So Steele had this really direct interaction with incarcerated people who’d been injured where he’d take down their allegations firsthand. Of course, this is also how he met Joel Uribe. But it wasn’t Steele’s job to figure out if those allegations had merit or if the use of force was justified. After Steele interviewed someone like Joel in the hospital, the officers’ reports and any photos or evidence would get kicked to higher-ups to decide whether it needed further investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nIf they thought it did, they’d call in investigators from outside New Folsom to do the follow-up. Special agents from the Office of Internal Affairs would be tasked with investigating if officers broke policy, which could mean discipline, or broke the law, which could mean criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Today is September 19, 2017, and the time is approximately 6:19. Uh, this is the initial report concerning…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In Joel Uribe’s case, Office of Internal Affairs Special Agent Grant Parker was assigned to look into Joel’s allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Are you comfortable?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Yeah, I’m good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> You good?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Adjust myself here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Okay…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In September, about four months after the incident, the special agent sat down to interview Officer Eric Shinnette, the one who’d been walking alongside Joel. In California, correctional officers like Shinnette are peace officers, so they’re protected by the Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights, which means, going into this interview, he’s got the right to know what it’s about ahead of time and his union lawyer is in the room with him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Do you recall that incident?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Uh, yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Okay. Why don’t you give me your version of that incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Yeah, so from the beginning? Uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Let’s go from, uh, yeah, whatever your beginning is. We’ll take it from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Okay, um…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Shinnette says, as they were moving Joel to a different unit, everything was going smoothly…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Where’d you have him?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Well, I had him, I hold him with my right hand, his left, like, tricep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Tricep/elbow area?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Right..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> … Until they got through the door and walked into the rotunda of the housing block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> And then out of nowhere, uh, Uribe just turned around, plu- uh, pulls away from my grip, turns around and hits me with his, his cane. I was able to push him down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> When he fell down on the ground, did he fall on his, on his back, on his stomach?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Uh, no, on his head. I know that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Oh, on his head?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Okay, c- could you tell me o- one side or the other?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Uh, I really don’t remember.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Forehead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Shinnette says he also slipped and ended up on the ground where Joel kept lashing out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> He’s still hitting me, kicking me, or, you know, hitting me with his, uh… I’m trying to get the cane away. He hit me with his cane. I’m trying to get the cane away. I punched him two to three times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> While he was on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> While we were on, both on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Oh, okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Another officer, or officers, arrived and helped him hold Joel down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> I was able to get the cane away. Then CO Brewer comes in and, um, pins his upper body. I’m pinning his lower body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So to recap, Shinnette’s version is that they walked inside the housing unit, out of nowhere Joel Uribe hit him with his cane, Shinnette pulled him to the ground, Joel landed on his head, and then Shinnette punched him a couple times to get the cane away, and then they got Joel under control and it was all over. The special agent doesn’t ask Shinnette anything about Officer Joseph Gomez, who’d been assaulted about 10 days before the incident with Joel. His questions were focused on the use of force that day. The special agent talked to the other officers involved too. And we won’t play you all of their interviews, but what is important is these noticeable discrepancies in how officers remembered the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\nFor example, no one can agree on which direction Joel was facing when he was on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officer Camacho:\u003c/b> He was on his back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> And he has his, he has his cane, and he’s face down on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officer White:\u003c/b> Yes, sir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Officer Brewer: \u003c/b> He’s laying, he’s on his back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Uh, he was on his stomach, facing…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Grant Parker:\u003c/b> Okay, so face, face down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Eric Shinnette:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> To me this is key because, remember, Joel is shackled at the ankles and the waist. If he’s on his stomach, he’d barely be able to move, let alone pose a threat. And if the only force was two or three punches from Shinnette, how did Joel get those injuries, a head injury needing stitches, a concussion, loss of hearing in one of his ears, and three broken ribs?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers who used force on Joel also wrote reports, but what stood out to me reading through them is that they’re totally inconsistent. Officer Eric Shinnette’s report doesn’t mention Officer Camacho or Officer White using force. Officer Brewer’s report mentions Officer White using force, but does not mention Officer Camacho using force. Officer White’s report mentions Officer Camacho using force, but not Officer Brewer. And, Officer Camacho’s report does not mention Officer Brewer or Officer White using force. Now, that may sound like one of those logic puzzles you get on the SAT, but even after prison supervisors asked some of the guards to clarify these reports, the picture of who actually did what remains confusing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR did not respond to questions about this case. My attempts to contact Eric Shinnette over email were unsuccessful. The oversight agency that monitors prisons did review this investigation and found no evidence that officers planned to beat Joel. They said Shinnette did have bruises on his chest and legs from the cane, and they speculated that Joel could have broken his ribs when he fell on an officer’s boot. In the end, CDCR’s internal investigation didn’t find that the officers did anything wrong and none of them were disciplined; Joel, however, was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a disciplinary hearing a few months after the incident, Joel was found guilty of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, the cane, and he was sentenced to 42 months, three and a half years, in the SHU, solitary confinement. He says he served more than a year of that before prison officials decided to release him from solitary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Automated Voice:\u003c/b> I have a call from Joel Uribe, an inmate at…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I just want to point out that Joel is taking a risk by talking to me, as is anyone who is still incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Automated Voice:\u003c/b> This call and your telephone number will be monitored and recorded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Officers can listen in and hear what they are alleging, and Joel doesn’t have another Steele around to protect him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the incident, Joel was referred to the DA for assault with a deadly weapon, the cane, which could have meant a whole new prison term. The documents that we obtained show that the charges were dropped in the “interest of justice.” As we spoke in that first call, Joel tells me that was because Steele intervened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Within the first two weeks, Sergeant Steele pulled me off then told me that uh, “I’m dropping the DA referral because I already know what’s going on. I know you didn’t do nothing. I know you had nothing to do with this, and that’s the best I could do for you.” And I said, “Man, I appreciate that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And he gives me another clue to Steele’s character. Long after the incident, Steele kept in touch with Juana Lopez, Joel’s mom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> He’s gonna make sure, and yeah, no, your son’s okay. He would call and make sure I’m okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel says while he was in solitary, serving out his SHU sentence, Steele would come by and check on him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you think your mom might talk to me as well?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, she will.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He gives me his mom’s number. And, I want to call her to hear more about Joel, but also more about Steele, because this feels so unusual, a correctional officer keeping in touch with the family of someone in their custody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Yeah, she’ll talk to you like for sure. And, uh, she knows a lot too, what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay, that’s great. Thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Joel Uribe:\u003c/b> Thank you. Okay, bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In his memo, when Steele writes about what happened to Joel Uribe, he says there were “many more of these cases where the man’s injuries didn’t match what officers wrote on their reports.” While we don’t know what incidents Steele was thinking of when he says there were many more cases like Joel’s, we have been doing our own investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So here’s our current list of cases, updated, so…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve been fighting to get records on all serious use of force cases from the Department of Corrections. In 2022, we sued, well, KQED’s lawyers did, because CDCR was giving us these records so incredibly slowly. The agency still hasn’t given us all the records we asked for, but with those we have been able to get, we’ve been building a database of incidents and the names of involved officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And this one involves… Look, who does it involve?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Oh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Eric Shinnette. Leach, who was also involved in the Uribe incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And that’s also interesting, when you just look at like the kind of order of events, it’s again during an escort and he doesn’t want to go wherever they’re going, you know, placing him in a new cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The rules around officer use of force are pretty clear. It’s gotta be proportional, so deadly force can only be used to overcome a deadly threat. Batons, pepper spray, even fists can be used to overcome resistance or to stop a threat, but once the resistance stops or the threat is gone, the officers also have to stop. They’re not allowed to use force in retaliation or as a punishment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve been able to get records of all the serious incidents that happened at New Folsom between 2014 and 2021. In all, according to CDCR, there were 27 of these incidents in which officers severely injured someone or used deadly force. Some of these appear totally lawful — officers shooting to save someone’s life who’s being stabbed or using pepper spray grenades to stop an attack. But in about half of these incidents where the person ended up seriously injured, the circumstances followed a pattern. The reports note that the incarcerated person was resisting in some way. And despite the fact that in most of these cases the incarcerated person was already in restraints, either handcuffed behind their back or handcuffed and shackled at the ankles, in many cases officers used force so severe that the person ended up with really bad injuries, ranging from head lacerations to broken noses and ribs. One man’s femur was even broken. But in many of these cases, in the reports filed by officers, it’s often unclear how the events they describe resulted in such severe injuries. For example, in one report, the officer wrote he used “the minimal amount of physical force needed to place the incarcerated person on the ground.” But the man ended up in the intensive care unit with broken ribs and extensive internal bleeding. Sometimes the officers’ explanations were contradicted by other witnesses or evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And these are just the cases that we actually got reports for. Incarcerated people have told us about incidents that don’t appear in the records at all. A lawsuit filed by one of these men, who was incarcerated at New Folsom in 2016, alleges that his back was broken by officers and that officers poured urine and feces in his mouth. Medical records show that his back was fractured at some point and he required extensive surgery a year later, but CDCR refused to release documents related to the incident, saying it didn’t qualify as a use of force that resulted in great bodily injury. In court filings, CDCR has denied the man’s claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We tracked down about a dozen men who were incarcerated at New Folsom who say they were beaten excessively by officers or as retaliation or that they witnessed these beatings. We also got interview tapes from CDCR of incarcerated people telling investigators like Steele what happened to them. Here are their voices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 1:\u003c/b> They would cuff us. They would handcuff us and beat us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> I was handcuffed as I am now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 3:\u003c/b> With my hands behind my back, still handcuffed, and my legs…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> He was escorting me with his right hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 3:\u003c/b> And then I seen him coming at me, and before I knew it…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> I was forced to the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 4:\u003c/b> He grabbed me. He slammed me on the floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 5:\u003c/b> Dropping their knees down on my back and my spine, stomping on my…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 4:\u003c/b> He even kicked me in the face two times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> Punches coming to the back of my head.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 4:\u003c/b> Grabbing my hair, knocked out my teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 2:\u003c/b> I was pulled to the left and I was hit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 6:\u003c/b> You are knocked out, but you still feel the blows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 3:\u003c/b> And then they threw me in the cage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 5:\u003c/b> And that’s how they broke my back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 6:\u003c/b> Thought I was gonna die. I felt like I was dying, man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Speaker 7:\u003c/b> I was like, you know what? I’m not gonna say nothing, ’cause if I did, they’re gonna beat me again and I might die this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We have also spoken to four current and former correctional officers who said when they worked at the prison it was well known that some officers would beat up incarcerated people. They all said they witnessed at least one of these beatings firsthand but did not report misconduct because they were afraid of retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I just want to point out that out of the 800+ guards who work at New Folsom, only about 50 were responsible for injuring people in their custody, and there were clear repeat offenders, names that kept showing up in the records. CDCR said they have a new process in place to investigate all complaints of employee misconduct. They also pointed to the new fixed cameras and body cams that they have installed at New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 27 serious use of force incidents that we have records for, however, there was almost always the same outcome. It’s what happened with Joel Uribe’s case. There was no discipline for the officers. And more often than not, the incarcerated person was punished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there is one case that turned out differently from all the rest. It started, as so many of them did, with Sergeant Steele on camera in the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> This is Sergeant Steele, ISU. The date is the 16th of September.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s 2016, a little less than a year after Steele joined the ISU squad. A second officer is behind the camera. Steele is wearing his wire-rimmed glasses and checks his black military watch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> It’s approximately 10:30 on a Friday morning. Go ahead and introduce yourself?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Um, Ronnie Price…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In the video, you can see, again, a man lying in a hospital bed. His name: Ronnie Price. He’s in a dark blue gown, hooked up to an IV, a handcuff around his wrist. You can’t see his face because it’s been blacked out in the video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Go ahead, tell me what happened to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Price tells Steele he transferred to New Folsom a week earlier, and officers were about to move him to a new cell with a cellmate. Price didn’t want to go. That part of the audio is redacted, so it’s not totally clear why he didn’t want to go there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> But you understand, when an officer tells you you gotta go there, that’s what you gotta do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah, I, I, but I was willing to, to take the punishment in the hole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> ‘Cause if, if I go in the cell and get caught up, I’m gonna spend years wishing I had went to the hole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What this sounds like to me is that Price is afraid he’s going to get caught up in something that he’ll regret. He’d even rather go to the hole or solitary confinement which is the punishment for refusing the cell move than go to this new cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We gonna take you to the hole. J- Just cuff up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I said, “Oh, no problem.” So I turned around and they opened the door and they, they cuffed me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But as the officers escorted him, he realized where they were going, and it wasn’t the hole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> So I asked, “Where y’all going? This, this ain’t the way to the hole.” So that’s when they put the, the leg restraints on me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So now he was cuffed behind his back and his ankles were in shackles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> I told them, “I’m not going in that cell with the guy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As they tried to physically move him along…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> You were pushing back?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> You were resisting?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah I was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He says four officers grabbed him, two on each arm, and propelled him forward into the rotunda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> That’s when somebody stepped on my, uh, shackles and-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> From behind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> And they, they, they pushed me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He says an officer, or officers, stepped on the shackles around his ankles and pushed him to the ground face first. With his hands cuffed behind his back, he couldn’t even break his fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> I’m gonna have the camera come in here. What happened to your mouth?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> It, it, uh, knocked out two false teeth and, and knocked out two of my, my own teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Two r- regular teet- teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah, four teeth got [inaudible 00:32:24].\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> And when, when I raised my head up to spit the teeth out, somebody grabbed my head and s-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> You’re on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> You’re on the ground, you raise your head up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> When I raise up, uh, was about to spit the teeth out, somebody grabbed my head and slammed it, slammed it…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> There is some kind of alarm going off, but you can hear Price say they slammed his head on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> … On the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> How did they do that? How did they slam your head?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> When I, when I raised up, somebody grabbed me by the head and slammed it into the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> They’re using their hands to push your head down on the ground?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Is that what they used, their hands?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Yeah, their hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele asks a few more questions, Price confirms they took him to see medical and then, by ambulance, to the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> Do you have any questions?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Ronnie Price:\u003c/b> Not that I can think.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> We’re gonna go ahead and conclude this interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele checks his watch again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sgt. Kevin Steele:\u003c/b> It’s now about 10:48 on the 16th of September. Again, it is Friday. This concludes this interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The very next day, according to internal reports, Price went into a medical emergency around 4:30 in the afternoon and his heart stopped beating. Records show Steele attended his autopsy. The coroner ruled Price’s death a homicide, but that just means death at the hands of another; it doesn’t assign criminal liability or if the use of force was justified. Just like in Joel Uribe’s case, special agents from the Office of Internal Affairs were called in to find out if officers violated policy or broke the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, we’re on the record. The date is December 5th, 2017. The time’s approximately 1406 hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Already this is unusual. As you can hear in this interview, it’s taking place in December 2017. That’s more than a year after the incident happened. Most of these investigations are wrapped up much sooner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> I’m Special Agent Justin Bolden. I’m in charge of this interview and I’m gonna be assisted by, uh, Special Agent Lillia Duarte. Also present is…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In the hot seat today is an officer named Arturo Pacheco, one of the officers who escorted Ronnie Price to his new cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As Bolden goes over Pachecho’s rights at the beginning of the interview, there’s another step he goes through that’s less common.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, so, um, Officer Pacheco, you’re being interviewed regarding an incident where there are criminal proceedings pending or pe- potential. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The investigation into Price’s death is criminal as well as administrative, so Pacheco has a right not to incriminate himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Having been informed of your rights and having your rights in mind, are you willing to talk to us?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I, I wish to invoke…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco’s voice is kind of faint there, but he says he wants to invoke his right to remain silent. This doesn’t mean the interview is over, though. Bolden goes on to issue what’s called a Lybarger Warning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> This is an administrative inquiry, and as such you do not have the right to refuse to answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What this means is that if Pacheco wants to keep his job, he has to answer their questions. But because it’s a compelled interview, nothing he says in the interview can be used in a criminal case against him; it can only be used for internal disciplinary purposes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Do you understand?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, now we’re gonna do this…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> During the interview, Pacheco’s story about what happened during the escort is different from Ronnie Price’s. He says as they entered the rotunda of the unit…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I had just walked in and we’d took an approximate five steps in. By the time we got to the rotunda, that’s when inmate Price stopped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> And this is fi- towards the office?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Towards the office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay. And-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Right where the lockers are at.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> And there’s lockers on what side of the…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> The left side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> On left side? Okay. So are you next to, standing next to the lockers when Inmate Price stops?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Uh, we were, it was a tight fit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> So once you walk in, I, my partner, I believe, was right behind me, and he stopped, and that’s when he resisted and he s- broke free of my grasp by lunging forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> All I did was just immediately use force, ’cause at the time that’s w- I could use my body weight right there and then, so I brought him down. And I didn’t think nothing of it, so brought him down and…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I’ve listened to a lot of recordings of Internal Affairs interviews. A lot of times, they sound almost collaborative, like the investigators are trying to help the officers tell their story. But this time the Internal Affairs special agent takes a very different tone. He interrupts Pacheco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> … So I used immediate force to overcome Price’s resisting-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, so stop right there. W- What is immediate force?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Immediate force is…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> And you’re referring to your white card-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I’m u- referring to my card.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Um, the use of force to respond without delay to a situation or circumstance that constitute an imminent threat over the security and safety of persons\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He lets Pacheco refer to his report, but he also really presses him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, and in this rotunda, who was in there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> That I know of, just me and my partner and the inmate and the officer bringing me upstage, but-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> You said that you know of. Would there be anybody that didn’t not know of?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> No, it’s, that’s it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco’s report mirrors what he says here, that he was the only officer to use force. But this question of who was there isn’t just the special agent fishing, he’s setting a trap. Over and over, the special agent circles back to this question of who else was there, and Pacheco keeps dodging and denying. Then Bolden springs the trap.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> So, what happened is that, um, I talked to Officer Luna, and Luna said he was [censored]. He said he was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He reveals he knows there was another officer there who also came down on Price who is totally missing from the incident reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> And you look kinda surprised, but that’s a fact, um, Officer Luna was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> That’s what he said. And I’m telling you what I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> I know, but I’m telling you that Officer Luna was there too. You’re, you’re saying that nobody else was there, so-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lawyer:\u003c/b> No, he said he didn’t know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, so-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lawyer:\u003c/b> I’m gonna object to your representation of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> You’re gonna object, that’s fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s Pacheco’s lawyer jumping in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> So, um, during the escort, Officer Luna [censored]. Do you recall now him being there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> No. I was focused on the inmate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Well, he, he walked with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> But I wasn’t focused on what’s behind me though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Uh, I’m not saying you weren’t focused or anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lawyer:\u003c/b> Can we take a break please?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Yeah, we can take a break. The time is, uh, 1503 hours. Taking a break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They come back from the break, and still Pacheco tries to say, well, he didn’t see the other officer or he doesn’t remember. And a little later, Bolden’s Internal Affairs colleague, who’s been quiet for most of the interview, steps in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Lillia Duarte:\u003c/b> I can tell the pressure’s on you, that, uh, all you really have left to do right now is just to, to tell the truth, because it gets worse. It does get worse with the information that we’re gonna share with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Finally, an hour and 30 minutes into the interview, this happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> So, uh, during the break, did you have a chance to kinda think things over, um?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay. So, what, what’s, what, what changed?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Luna was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco admits the truth, Officer Luna was also there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Why didn’t you straight up and say, “He was there”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Just a dirtbag I guess.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Who?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> I don’t think you’re a dirtbag. I think you made, you probably made a, uh, a wrong decision, okay? And that happens. And then we’re, that’s why we’re here, to kinda cl- clarify and get, get the truth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco doesn’t say he stepped on Price’s shackles, but he does say that they took him down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> And then that’s when we went forward and dumped him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay, and you said we dumped him. Who dumped him down?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Me and apparently Luna.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> How was it apparently Luna?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> He’s on top of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Other officers confirmed that dumping someone is taking them to the ground. No one said they slammed Price’s face a second time, but Special Agent Bolden isn’t just interested in what they did during the incident. He also has questions about what they did afterwards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Driving music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> I know it’s a coverup. I know everyone talked. I got everyone’s emails and I know all the reports went back and forth to one main person. And all the information I’m providing you was, was straight facts. I’m telling you straight-up, I’ma look you, you at your face. I’m not he- I’m not here to lie to you. I’m not here to play a joke. I’m not here to play a game. I was, I was pretty straightforward with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Bolden reveals over their year-long investigation they’ve gotten search warrants of officers’ phones and searched their departmental emails and found that after the incident officers coordinated a coverup. Investigators found multiple versions of the officers’ reports. The sergeant on duty actually changed their reports and removed details about Price saying he didn’t want to make the cell move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Did you ask her wh- uh, why it wasn’t needed about the information that she revised and took off?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> But I did not que- I didn’t question her. She’s the supervisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> So I just signed it and I was happy with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And finally, the investigator confronts Pacheco with text messages that he sent. They say, quote, “It’s all about how you write your report,” and, “Your partners have your back.” As the interview comes to a close, Pacheco’s voice sounds subdued and almost strangled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> This report, yes, is incorrect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This is a rare moment, an officer admitting his reports were false.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay. Looking back at this report and what was done, was it wrong?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> How do you feel about it now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Dirtbag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Again Pacheco calls himself a dirtbag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Did we, during this investigation, did we treat you okay or fairly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> Yes. You treated me fairly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Okay. At, uh, closing, is there anything that you would like to include?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I’m sorry all this happened. It wasn’t my intention. I had no intention of, I guess, for him dying, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Justin Bolden:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Arturo Pacheco:\u003c/b> I never planned for that, you know, it’s, so I’m just sorry and sorry to everybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco and his partner along with three other officers and the sergeant who changed the reports were all fired for violating policy, including using excessive force or lying about the incident. Pacheco and his sergeant were also referred to the district attorney for potential criminal charges. She couldn’t use the interviews you just heard, but the other stuff, text messages and altered reports, was fair game. However, she declined to prosecute, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to secure a homicide conviction. But it turned out, another agency did think there might be evidence of a crime, the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FBI investigation into Arturo Pacheco and the other officers involved in the death of Ronnie Price took years. But finally, in October 2022, in a federal courtroom in Sacramento, he was called to account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walk me through arriving at the courthouse. What happened, who’d you see, what stood out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Well, Pacheco’s family filled the entire courtroom practically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Pacheco had pleaded guilty to falsifying records in a federal investigation and depriving Price of his civil rights under color of law. This means he used his authority as an officer to unlawfully injure Price. My co-reporter Julie and producer Steven Rascón attended this hearing, where Pacheco would find out his sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> He looked very, um, crisp, clean. He was wearing a crisp blue linen shirt and dark slacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Ronnie Price’s family was there too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Uh, the nephew of Ronnie Price, you know, he wanted to speak. He wanted to read his victim statement. The judge was like, “Well, why, I have it in writing. I don’t need you to present it.” And he’s like, “Well, I want to. You know, I want, I want him to hear this.” Him meaning Pacheco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Takis Tucker:\u003c/b> To prepare this statement has been tremendously difficult and painful. My mom and I cried heavily before we started to write this. We had come to the sense and reality that Ronnie would not be coming home from prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We couldn’t record in court, but Price’s nephew, Takis Tucker, read his victim impact statement for us later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Takis Tucker:\u003c/b> It is difficult because even though Ronnie may have been a felon and was incarcerated, we never would have imagined that a peace officer who was ordered to monitor and protect would be the cause of Ronnie’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have suffered. It’s like an empty space that lays on our heart. It is sad to know that he is dead. He had a calm demeanor and it would take an awful lot to get him beside himself. Ronnie was funny. He had a sense of humor and he loved hard candies. I remember a time after he was released he wanted to go with the family and listen to his favorite singer Sade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was determined to manage his business and get things done whether he was in jail or not. Ronnie was relaxed and a good person and he loved his family. We will miss him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> According to Takis, even while that whole investigation was going on, neither CDCR nor the FBI told Price’s family exactly how or why he died. A lawsuit filed by the Price family says that Steele is the one who called Price’s sister to say that Price was dead, but it alleges in that phone call he said that Price’s cellmate caused his injuries. We can’t confirm that this call happened, but it doesn’t make sense that Steele would cover up the incident, because he didn’t just take Price’s statement, he also attended his autopsy and he told prison officials he believed officers were responsible for Price’s death. But one way or another, according to Price’s nephew, the family didn’t know that officers were to blame until six years later, in 2022, when Pacheco pled guilty for his role in Price’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At the sentencing hearing, Julie tells me Pacheco also spoke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> The judge asked Pacheco if he had anything to say for himself, and he said, um, he said, “I am very remorseful. I apologize.” It was very short and he choked up in the middle, and that’s all he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Then it was time for the judge to issue his sentence…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Then the judge said, “This is a very difficult decision for the court.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> … 12 years in federal prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> When the judge said he was gonna be sentenced to, you know, twel- over 12 years, um, it was the daughters, I believe, who started weeping. You know, and his wife, of course, just looked stricken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The lawsuit filed by Price’s family is ongoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pacheco’s partner also took a plea deal. She was sentenced to two years in federal prison, but her lawyer said she is currently serving her time in transitional housing rather than in federal prison. Their supervisor, the sergeant who altered their reports, was convicted of conspiracy and falsifying records in a federal investigation. She is set to be sentenced on March 18th.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Somber music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that supervisor’s trial, in December of 2023, prosecutors played the video of Sergeant Kevin Steele standing at Price’s bedside taking his testimony. Without that recording, it is unlikely anyone would ever know what happened to Price. He died the next day. Without that recording, only the officers’ version of the story would have survived. But as the video played in court, no mention was made that the man who made this video and so many others like it was no longer alive—because Steele did not survive to see that justice was served in this case. He died by suicide about a year before Pacheco’s sentencing, on August 20th, 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Phone ringing]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple days after Joel Uribe gave me his mom’s phone number, I called her back. It was dark outside and after 7:00 at night, and I was sitting in my home office with the phone plugged into my recorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Hello?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Hi, Ms. Lopez?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Yeah, now I’m home. I was just coming from work, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You’re home. All right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact that Sergeant Kevin Steele had spoken to her and stayed in touch with her seemed like another important clue about who Steele had been.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Okay, so your son gave me your phone number. And, is it okay if I record this conversation?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Uh, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s okay? Okay, thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Juana Lopez immediately struck me as an impressive woman. She’s an audit inspector and she loves her son fiercely, but she is also a hard-ass. When he went to prison, she told him…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> I am not gonna play around. One tattoo goes on your face, I will stand strong on my word, I will not come and see you. And the reason is because you don’t know how much you’re hurting me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Joel didn’t listen. Lots of people get face tattoos in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Oh no, I am not a joke. I am your mother.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> She hasn’t seen his face in over 12 years, but they’re still close. They talk on the phone all the time. And after he wound up in the hospital, she says they filed a lawsuit, but it hasn’t gone anywhere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> No, and it is very, very frustrating, very frustrating. The only good thing that kept me going, there was this officer. His name is Mr. Steele. I would keep touch with him, but, um, I haven’t called him lately. It’s usually at, um, Christmas, you know, “Merry Christmas or you, how are you doing? How is Joel doing?” If it wasn’t for him, my son wouldn’t be alive today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Really? Wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm. He was the one that, uh, seek medical attention for him. I think he was one of the reasons that he helped him transfer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Oh, he helped him to go to a different facility?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Yeah, mm-hmm. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> And I, I’m very appreciative of Mr. Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I realize as she’s talking that Juana doesn’t know yet that Steele passed away. Did you hear that he had died?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Who?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mr. Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah. I’m really sorry to be telling you that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> He… They, uh, that’s, uh, foul play. Foul play, honestly. He- And I was gonna… Oh, wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She immediately suspects that he was killed, but I have to tell her that seven months after he moved to Missouri, he actually took his own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> \u003ci>[Sobs]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He, um, um, he, he committed suicide they say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> No, no. \u003ci>[crying]\u003c/i> No, he was a very sharp, was, he was very, very… Uh-uh. I cannot accept that. I cannot accept that, none. I mean, I knew him talking to him like I’m talking to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> But with him, I felt a comfort. He goes, “No, Ms. Lopez, you don’t worry about your son. I am here. I am here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Oh, wow. Um, I’m really sorry I, I had to-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Oh, wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I had told your son and I thought he might, might have already told you. I’m really sorry to be giving you this information in this way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Oh, wow. He was, he was a true officer. When did this happen?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Um, about a year ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Ugh. Oh, wow. Ugh. Ugh. I know the torment he went through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Oh, wow. They took a little angel. So please get to the bottom of this. Everybody needs justice, especially him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Guitar picking music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I will do my best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> Okay, you have a good night, and I’m gonna, I’ll stay in touch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You too. Okay, stay in touch, sounds good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> And… O- Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Thank you so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Juana Lopez:\u003c/b> You’re welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming up next time, Val Senior tells us about the project Steele was working on when he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> How to Kill a Cop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> That’s the name of his book?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> The title is How to Kill a Cop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> I’m assuming it would be like, “This is how you demoralize a cop. This is how you undermine. This is the pattern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Exactly. The pattern.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And finally, we learn what was in the black drug bindle that Mimi found in their home when they were ripping out the carpets after Valentino died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Did you share the email?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I am just sending it to you now. I have not opened it yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And we finally get in touch with someone who was close to Sergeant Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His big question for me was, which side of the blue line are you on?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Credits music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’re listening to On Our Watch, \u003ci>Season Two\u003c/i>: New Folsom, from KQED. If you have any tips or feedback about the series, you can email us at onourwatch@kqed.org. You can also leave us a review in Apple Podcasts. The series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauleón. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Egusa. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts and executive produced the series. Meticulous fact checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional research by Laura Fitzgerald and Kathleen Quinn, students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR, KQED Health Correspondent April Dembosky, and to our in-house counsel, Rebecca Hopkins. Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from APM Music and Audio Network. We got tremendous support from David Barstow, Chair of the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, and graduate students Elizabeth Santos, Cayla Mihalovich, Julietta Bisharyan, William Jenkins, Armon Owlia, Vera Watt, and Junyao Yang. Thanks also to UC Berkeley’s Jeremy Rue, Amanda Glazer, and Olivia Chu for their data analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The internal records highlighted in this podcast were obtained as part of the California Reporting Project. Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and The California Endowment. Thank you to our Managing Editor of News and Enterprise, Otis R Taylor, Jr., Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our Vice President of News, and KQED Chief Content Officer Holly Kernan. Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Valentino’s unexpected death just days after a confidential meeting with the prison’s warden leaves his grieving father with a tangle of questions and suspicions. When law enforcement and prison leadership fail to act, Val Sr. finds an ally in Sgt. Kevin Steele, a senior officer who’d taken Valentino under his wing. The two men have a shared mission–to find justice for Valentino. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC6682214865\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warmline Directory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. If you have tips or feedback about this series please reach out to us at \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:onourwatch@kqed.org\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">onourwatch@kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer: \u003c/b>Before we start, I just wanted to give you a heads up that this episode references drug use and a violent homicide. If you or someone you know needs support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Nine days after Valentino Rodriguez died, Valentino’s family held a viewing and then a memorial mass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> We had mass outside, underneath a big oak tree at the local, uh, grammar Catholic school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/b>After the mass, Val Sr. and his other son, Gregory, and some of the other guys in the family, carried the casket to the hearse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> We put him inside and then we took our gloves off and left them on the casket with a flower. I could’ve sat there all day. Even though he was in that box, I knew he was there, I knew he was close, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> And then we had, a- a celebration of life after, but we had that celebration of life at the same place where we had our wedding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Family and friends were there, setting up food and talking to each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I just remember just sitting there. Like with my arms crossed, just looking into the crowd like… I was dancing right there with him, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It was difficult to wrap her head around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I just- just looked past all of it, just like, what are we celebrating? And I was just so hurt and I went home and just screamed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. tells my colleague Julie Small he was also overwhelmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I- I ended up finding my way to a corner, away from people and just a small group of cousins and friends and they opened up a bottle of tequila and I just drank and then, uh, after that I didn’t feel anything, you know. And- and that was helpful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> When did you first see Sergeant Steele?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> After they closed the casket. Uh, people were sort of lining up to hug us. You know, I noticed I’d seen somebody out of place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A man, bald, with piercing blue eyes stood a little ways back in the line and Val Sr. had the sense that he was intent on getting to the front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> As he got- as he got closer, I- I could see his face was sad. Uh, but he just seemed so strong, you know, coming up. I- I still didn’t know his name, but he grabbed my shoulders and- and he said, “If you need me for anything, I can help you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme song]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> When a death is so unexpected and its timing feels so coincidental, it’s bound to raise questions. Some of them are big and unknowable, but there are others that do have answers. In the days after his son’s funeral, Val Sr. began to look for them and what he didn’t know yet is that he’d find a partner in that pursuit, a man who also wanted justice for Valentino, but whose mission also went far beyond that. I’m Sukey Lewis. This is \u003ci>On Our Watch\u003c/i> Season Two: New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple weeks after the funeral, the results of the coroner’s investigation had come back. It determined that Valentino had accidentally overdosed on fentanyl and notes smoking paraphernalia was found at the scene. But to Val Sr., that just answered the question of what killed him, but not why or where the lethal drug had come from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> My agenda was to find out the source of the fentanyl, where it came from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr., with help from his wife Erma, started going through Valentino’s phone records, tracking where he went on the last day of his life, and all the people he spoke to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I had her identify every number, whether they were clients of Val’s from our company or friends or whoever. I just wanted his track, uh, what he was doing, uh, 24 hours before that and all the way up to his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Music]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In his living room, Val Sr. shows me the call log from Valentino’s phone provider. It’s got Erma’s handwriting on it, where she’s written people’s names next to the phone numbers they were able to identify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, who’s [redacted]?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> A guy in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What was his- What was his relationship with-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He sells- he sells drugs\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Oh really?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That’s why I went to visit him. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This guy I’m asking Val Sr. about was a man who lived nearby who’d known Valentino for a long time. He’d even been invited to the wedding, but according to Val Sr., and according to text messages in Valentino’s phone, he was also someone who could get you pain pills. This man did not agree to go on the record with us, and because these are potentially criminal allegations, we’ll just call him a guy from the neighborhood. On the last day of his life, Valentino made six short calls to this guy’s number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> You can see they’re all-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> … One minute, one minute like-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Val Sr. thinks maybe he couldn’t get through and he tried someone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He calls this number here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> All right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> It’s a burn phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He calls it a burner phone, but we don’t actually know if that’s true. We do know these calls came in from numbers that were not in Valentino’s contacts. We tried calling these numbers too, and one goes to a generic voicemail. We left a message, but no one got back to us. The other was associated with the nearby Air Force base, but we weren’t able to identify why anyone would be calling him from that number. These calls — to the guy from the neighborhood, from unknown numbers — for Val Sr., these were clues that could lead to the source of the fentanyl, but he needed help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> The West Sacramento Police Department were the first people that I tried to push to find out where this came from. I needed someone to search his phone records, burn phones. Where did this come from?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He thought the police, who had collected evidence the night Valentino died – you know, Ring cameras, his medication, his gun – would be looking on the streets for the source of the fentanyl. But there was another possibility that Val Sr. couldn’t shake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> If it didn’t come from the street then where’d it come from?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Had the fentanyl come from someone at the prison? And as Val Sr. went through Valentino phone himself, it was this possibility that seemed to gain more and more weight. He read through his son’s texts and there was the harassment and slurs, but he also found messages between Valentino and other officers that appeared to be about secrets being kept, evidence lockers being left open, an emoji of a red and yellow pill. We still don’t know exactly what these text messages meant, but Val Sr. couldn’t help wondering, was this evidence that other officers knew about Valentino’s drug problem and used it as leverage in some way? And who else knew that Valentino had been in the warden’s office just days before he died? Val Sr. knew at least one person who did, Sergeant Kevin Steele, the man who’d hugged him at his son’s funeral and offered to help, the man who’d also texted Valentino on the last day of his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So, I remember sitting in my office, trying to concentrate on working.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He tells my colleague Julie that he decided to send Steele a text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So I asked him, “Are you still running the race?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What were you thinking when you first sent Steele that text message?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> It meant that Kevin found out that Val had came forward to turn in some, uh, information of corruption, um, that there’s two sides over there and Val talks about the two sides and he talks about it in that- in that text message, that he doesn’t want anyone on this side or that side to know that he came forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That text message goes on. Valentino says, “It took a lot out of me to relive the truth.” In reply, Steele writes, “Dude, you are my superhero. It is bad right now. Stay strong, I got you. Steele.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reading these text messages after Valentino’s death, Val Sr. didn’t yet know exactly who was on the other side, but it appeared at least Steele was on the side of his son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Could you trust Sergeant Steele when you first met him?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> My feelers came up right away. I just couldn’t find any reason not to. I- I had just realized that whether I trust him or not, this is a way for me to, uh, get my voice over there, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Over where?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> To that prison. I’m gonna start by talking to somebody ’cause nobody’s talking to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. says that day in his office, Steele texted him back right away, “Valentino’s voice will never be silenced. I promise.” And Steele again offered his help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He always said that he would facilitate anything I needed, you know, as far as who to contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Music]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele had worked for CDCR for about 20 years when he met Val Sr., and he’d risen to the rank of sergeant and was in the Investigative Services Unit, The Squad at New Folsom. People who worked with him say he was really respected and he had a lot of responsibilities, from drug testing officers to leading annual trainings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He used to tell me that he would get there, uh, 30 minutes before to start working and wouldn’t even clock in. He said, “Val I just- I just love my job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He also had a lot of connections. As part of his role in the ISU prepping criminal cases and evidence, he communicated with the district attorney’s office, the FBI, and the prison’s internal affairs team on big investigations. This world of the prison and law enforcement that Val Sr. was just dipping his toe in, it was the water that Steele swam in every day, and so when someone from CDCR got in touch, Val Sr. turned to Steele to help him decide who to trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I asked him who Chris McGraw was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Over text, Steele told him McGraw is a special agent from CDCR’s office of internal affairs and not just a local guy from New Folsom, but from headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I asked him, “Are they good guys?” Because I didn’t know who to reach out to or who to turn to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele responded, “Yes, that is the best course to move forward. Steele” Just a note in case you’ve noticed, yes, Steele signs his text messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He said they were- they were- they were good guys and I just told him, “I’m- I’m trusting you, Steele.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> With Steele’s assurance, Val Sr. talked to McGraw, who he says told him to file a formal written complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He told me that, “The first thing you have to do is send a complaint, that way you’ll have, uh, rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> McGraw did not respond to our request for comment. Val Sr. says he gave McGraw a digital copy of his son’s phone. Internal affairs would focus on the allegation that officers in the ISU discriminated against Valentino and harassed him, which could result in discipline or firing, or even a criminal referral if investigators found officers broke the law. Steele also put Val Sr. in contact with another agency, the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Kevin gave me some cards and said, “Hey, you need to talk to this guy Val, he’ll help you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> If there was a public corruption element to Valentino’s case, if somehow Valentino had been targeted by other officers aiming to silence him, if officers abused their position for their own gain in some other way, the FBI would be the ones to look into it. In December, Val Sr. handed off Valentino’s physical phone to an FBI agent named Sean Lister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I straight up told him, “I feel that the fentanyl was sent to get rid of him because he knew of a lot of bad things.” And he goes, “That would be interesting.” I says, “Well, it would be interesting, but very hard to prove.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. says he got the sense the FBI weren’t really that interested in his son’s case, but Steele had a lot of faith in both internal affairs and the feds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He always thought that they were gonna do something right, and in my mind I was thinking, “No, no they’re not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But at this point, Val Sr. has communicated with three different agencies about different aspects of the case. He’d spoken to the West Sacramento Police to see if they were looking for the source of the fentanyl on the street, he’d filed a formal written complaint about Valentino’s harassment with the office of internal affairs, and he’d handed the phone to the FBI. If there was a public corruption element, the FBI could investigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> One day Kevin told me, “Hey, Val.” I go, “Yeah.” He goes, “You know, this story’s much bigger than your son.” And I says, “I know. I realize that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And Steele started to share with Val Sr. what he’d been communicating about with the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> His biggest agenda was that homicide that took place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The stabbing of Luis Giovanny Aguilar in the day room, that video that Valentino had shown his dad at the Christmas party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Kevin told me that he told Sean Lister that that was a perfect murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The FBI special agent Sean Lister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I was thinking in my head, “What? My son?” But Kevin told me, no, um, the perfect murder was this homicide that had happened on — the B8 homicide he called it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele called it the B8 homicide because that was the name of the housing unit at New Folsom where it happened. We reached out to Special Agent Lister, but he declined to comment on the case. The FBI says they can’t comment, but an agent did confirm the investigation is still pending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> To understand some of the reasons why Sergeant Kevin Steele may have thought the homicide of Luis Giovanny Aguilar was worth reporting to the FBI, Julie and I got on a Zoom call with this woman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Zoom voice:\u003c/b> Recording in progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> My name is Claudia Bohorquez and, um, I’m an, an attorney. Luis Giovanny Aguilar is, uh, my, my client’s son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Aguilar’s mother is pursuing a lawsuit against prison officials, including the officers who were on duty in the unit that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Either they weren’t there or they were deliberately indifferent, they didn’t care, uh, what was going on, or as we alleged, they, they planned it. They were part of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In court filings, prison officials deny these allegations. A CDCR spokesperson said there is an active investigation involving outside law enforcement, and that the agency cannot comment on this case. At the time, B8 was a super high security segregation unit, the type that is often used to hold people who are considered especially violent or dangerous, or as a punishment for people who’ve committed new crimes while in prison. They’re generally held in solitary cells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Anytime they’re out of their cell they’re handcuffed, they’re shackled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Claudia explains the day of the murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Basically, on that day, December 12th, 2019…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Three men…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Mr. Aguilar and the other two inmates who, who participated in the stabbing, Anthony Rodriguez and Cody Taylor…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> …Were brought down the stairs from their cells on the second tier of the unit into the day room, an open area with fixed desks and chairs on the first floor, outside the lower tier cells. All three were shackled by their ankles to metal chairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Our allegation is that the two inmates, Rodriguez and Taylor, uh, were able to uncuff themselves, free themselves, and that they ran up, uh, or walked up the stairs to, um, another cell that was on the second floor and retrieved weapons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They got makeshift metal knives from the cell of a man named Dion Green who was a shot caller in the prison. Taylor and Rodriguez then came back down the stairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> And, um, proceeded to stab my client to death fif- more than 55 times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And no officer used deadly force to stop them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music ends]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The lawsuit that Claudia filed claims Aguilar was targeted by officers in retaliation for attacking a guard about a week before he was killed. And there are three big pieces of evidence or arguments the lawsuit relies on to back up its allegations: what I call the rumor, the practice run, and the Britt case. First off, there was the rumor. The lawsuit claims that officers spread a rumor that Aguilar was a child sex offender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> It’s common knowledge that, um, inmates that go in as child molesters and sex offenders get treated [laughs] very badly in prison. They don’t like sex offenders, they especially don’t like child sex offenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The lawsuit alleges that officers did this on purpose to put a target on Aguilar’s back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> “How do we get some inmates to help us out and get this guy Aguilar? Well, let’s tell them he’s a sex offender, then they’ll go, go along with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Prison officials have denied that officers spread this rumor in court filings. And to be clear, Aguilar was in prison for stealing a vehicle and fleeing police. He also had an earlier conviction for domestic violence. But our review of his criminal record from CDCR found no convictions for child molestation or sexual offenses. Secondly, there was the practice run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> One of the inmates who actually, who was one of the inmates that stabbed my client, he, a week earlier, in the same day room, had taken off his restraints from the day room, the chair, and gone upstairs, um, and come back down. And, um…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So basically like, “Okay, I’m gonna try this, see what happens if I take off my restraints and go up and get it.” Or something?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Yeah. Uh, yeah, I can’t really explain it other than it was done, and again, no repercussions seem to have come from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This was captured by surveillance cameras in the unit according to sources who have seen the video. A man slipping out of his shackles in full view of the control booth. Again, this is in a restricted unit where no one’s allowed to go anywhere without an officer escort and restraints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final big anomaly Claudia references in this suit is the Britt Case, an incident that at the very least should’ve put prison officials on notice. Two months before the Aguilar murder, the same three men, Taylor, Rodriguez and Green coordinated a nearly identical attempted murder of a man named Michael Britt. Taylor and Rodriguez slipped their shackles and stabbed him repeatedly in the day room. Dion Green claimed responsibility, saying he ordered the hit. Britt was an enemy of his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Britt was, he wasn’t killed, but he was assaulted very badly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> By the same guys. And so, have you… do you have any idea, like, how they were allowed to remain together at the same facility?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> No. (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This was kind of shocking. These three men had clearly conspired to kill someone and proven they could outsmart the security measures, even in a restricted unit like this. But the prison didn’t separate the men or move them to a different area. A CDCR spokesperson told me that they have a robust system to keep enemies apart, and that as a general matter, they do separate people they identify as crime partners. CDCR would not comment on why this did not happen in this case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> This was horrific, this was unfair, this should’ve never happened. It just should’ve never happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The lawsuit against CDCR is ongoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From internal records and what he told Val Sr., it seems like Steele had gotten involved in the case as he usually did. It was his job to prep the evidence for criminal charges against Green, Rodriguez and Taylor for the district attorney. The official explanation that was reflected in Valentino’s report was that it was a gang killing. But as Steele looked through the evidence and talked to the suspects, he began to discover these anomalies and have doubts about that as a motive. And it seems like Steele did what he always did, he reported what he was finding to prison leaders and to the FBI. But now, more than a year after the murder, he told Val Sr. he was frustrated. Prison officials weren’t taking his allegations seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Sometimes he was so, uh, passionate about what was going on, and angry, that he couldn’t bottle it and he would just tell me, and, and I would listen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. listened to him, but he says all these incidents and details of the homicide, that was all Steele’s agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I’ll, I’ll be really honest, I, I just didn’t care. I… Mine was I wanna know why the hell Val wrote this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It wasn’t unusual for someone in Valentino’s position to be tapped to write a report like this. But Val Sr. still questioned why he was picked on this particular case. There were other officers in the gang unit who’d collected evidence right after Aguilar was killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> They had been here for 15 years, they are the ones that write this stuff. They were there that night, but they gave it to him. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As Val Sr. learned more about the homicide from Steele, and the evidence of a potential conspiracy involving officers, he had to wonder if writing that report was connected to his son’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Who told him to? You know, why did they encourage him to and congratulate him as airtight? I, I… That’s what I wanted to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What Val Sr. is referring to are these text messages on Valentino’s phone from two supervisors in the ISU. They appear to be coaching him about how to establish the connection between the homicide and the gang motive. Once he turns the report in, his boss texts again saying gang investigators were happy with this report and had called it, quote, “airtight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From one angle, these texts could be innocent, just a boss giving their subordinate direction and encouragement. But to Val Sr., everything was beginning to look suspect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> My son’s passing was very coincidental and it benefited some really bad people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Because if Valentino had inside knowledge that officers played a role in Aguilar’s homicide, that knowledge died with him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Valentino Rodriguez died, his wife Mimy couldn’t stay in their house. But bit by bit, she did start the hard task of going through their stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/b>A friend of mine at the time, she came with me to the house to help just clear things out. I mean, we just found so many empty baggies, and I was just, I was distraught, and she was shocked. It was right in front of me, but I didn’t, I didn’t know what I was looking for, little plastic twisted up baggies that were ripped at the end. There was so many of them, and I just remember being so angry at myself, like, why didn’t I see this before? Why didn’t I notice something? Why didn’t I push more?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Another time, she and Valentino’s sister Monique had a plan to rip out the old carpets in the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> That day I felt like crap, and I texted her, I said, “Monique, I’m so sorry, I, I, I can’t go today. It’s just been hard.” And she texted back like, “It’s okay. It’s hard every day.” But she went and ripped it up, and I remember the carpets were thrown out on the side of the house, and there’s a sliding door there, and I went out there just to look at the carpets. There was a little balloon there, a little black balloon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I was like, “What the heck? What is this?” So I grab it and I open it because I’m curious, and there’s just white powder in there, and I got scared. So I call Val Sr. and I go, “I found something.” And he goes, “What is it?” And he immediately came to the house, and I showed him, I was like, “What is this?” He’s like, “Where did you find it?” And I was like, “It was, it was sitting blank- just right there on the floor next to the carpets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> She gave Val Sr. the balloon along with some white pills she’d found while cleaning out the kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> They were slid all the way in the corner in the back of, like, a box of oatmeal that was unopened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> To Val Sr., the pills, the black balloon, it all looked like evidence, evidence from the prison or evidence that might be tied to his son’s death. Thanks to his son’s work as an investigator, Val Sr. knew that in prison, drugs are often wrapped in balloons into little packages called bindles that can be passed from person to person, swallowed and then later fished out of the toilet, hopefully still protected by the plastic balloon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he died, Valentino hadn’t worked at the prison for nine months, so what was he doing with this bindle in his house? Val Sr. says he went to the three different agencies he believed were investigating different aspects of his son’s death: CDCR, the West Sacramento Police Department, and the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I told each one of them that I, I found this, this drug bindle, it’s from the prison. “Well, how do you know?” “Because my son’s… that’s what he did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Did anybody take, um, possession of the bindle? No agency that was investigating-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> They don’t even wanna talk about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I, I remember it was in, in the a- in the afternoon at work. Erma had run in with her phone and said, “Val, Val, I got him on the phone,” because I, I wasn’t having any luck with anybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It was the West Sacramento Police Chief on the phone. Val Sr. asked the chief what they were doing. Had they made any progress finding the source of the fentanyl? But the chief said his department wasn’t investigating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I began to get emotional on the phone and I told him, “You guys don’t care about him, he was a whistleblower, this is what happened, that was what happened.” And he goes, “Val, we do care about your son.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We spoke to the West Sacramento Police Chief later and he confirmed that he spoke with Val Sr., but they have very different memories of what was said in this conversation. According to what Val Sr. remembers…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That’s when he told me, “I was told not to investigate this,” plain and simple. I’m not gonna lie about that. Um, I says, “Well, so there’s not, uh, there’s not an investigation?” He goes, “Not, not with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> According to the chief, he never said they were told not to investigate. The police had not found any evidence of a crime at the scene, and their policy at the time was not to do a further investigation of accidental overdose cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I says, “So just look for the source of the fentanyl. I can do that. I have everything, you know, I have his phone records.” And that’s when he told me, “Val, they’re not looking on the streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What did it mean to you when the police chief said, “They’re not looking on the streets”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That meant exactly what I was thinking, that they’re looking into the prison to see if it came from there, that’s… that’s the way I took it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. took this to mean that they meant the Feds and Internal Affairs. And this statement from the chief was a signal that while the police investigation was closed, those agencies were still investigating his son’s death, and that those agencies thought the source of the fentanyl was inside New Folsom Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chief told us Val Sr. misunderstood him, that he meant something much more procedural, that the prison would not be the ones to look on the streets, that just wasn’t their jurisdiction. Without a recording of this call, it’s impossible to know whose version is accurate, but whatever was really said during this call, what Val Sr. took away from it, was an acknowledgement of his suspicions that everything he uncovered pointed back to New Folsom, and a belief that someone was still looking into the source of the fentanyl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I wept and I started talking. I says, “They… I think they killed him.” You know? “I think they sent that shit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. really had no one to talk to about his suspicions and fears, except for Sergeant Steele. The two men had bonded over their shared grief, and they began to share other aspects of their lives. Steele told Val Sr. about his time in the military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He served a couple of terms in Iraq.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They shared their faith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He would send me scripture, I’d send him scripture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And country music songs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Um, He’s… He was like the complete package, and uh, we had, uh, a lot of stuff in common.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b>They’re around the same age, in their fifties, and both loved antique cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He used to call me his kindred spirit all the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But, Val Sr. says there was an undercurrent to their relationship. He could feel that Steele was torn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He was feeling that it was his civil duty to be, uh, on my side, my son’s side. I got the impression. But, at the same time, he was still an officer who- with Folsom Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And that conflict was heating up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris McGraw:\u003c/b> Hi there, Sergeant Steele. Special Agent Chris McGraw, calling you again, February the 8th-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Since Valentino’s death, Steele had received multiple direct orders from the warden, and from that internal affairs agent, Chris McGraw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris McGraw:\u003c/b> … to immediately seize all forms of communication with all members of the Rodriguez family, unless I am present or if I am participating in the communication along with you, uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> CDCR did not want Steele talking to Val Sr., or anyone else in his family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris McGraw:\u003c/b> … um, please review your email. I will send you a follow-up email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This was an order that Steele disobeyed. And the reason we have this voicemail, is because he sent it to Val Sr..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris McGraw:\u003c/b> Uh, thank you so much, and have a good day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That decision to stay in contact with Val Sr. in defiance of his superiors, would have far-reaching implications, for Steele’s job, and his life. And from what we know of Steele, it seems probable that he didn’t make that decision lightly. According to multiple people who knew him well, each of the steps that Steele took were governed by his exacting and deeply held principles, and feeling of duty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He was an officer. He took an oath and he was just doing what an officer should do. You know, and be just, that was his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And as 2020 turned to 2021, that feeling of duty led him to do something radical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On January 4th, he sent a memo to the warden. Here’s Julie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> The subject line is, “ISU entrenched corruption and uninhibited harassment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s a document that we requested from CDCR, but so far, the agency has not disclosed it. But we did get a copy from Val Sr.. Steele shared it with him. It’s nine pages long, so we’re not gonna read all of it, but Steele talks about ISU staff claiming false overtime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Rodriguez also shared details of how some of the ISU officers would plant drugs and weapons on inmates, in an effort to have to work overtime hours to finish the reports.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Driving music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And he writes that Valentino told him that ISU officers would threaten to plant drugs in places that would get him in trouble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “This was used as a point of leverage to keep CO Rodriguez from reporting this unscrupulous behaviors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He writes a lot about Valentino’s boss, Sergeant David Anderson, and how Steele also felt harassed and intimidated by him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Sergeant Anderson called me a snake in front of other ISU IGI officers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Anderson did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But while significant, Steele’s allegations go far beyond the dysfunction of the ISU squad. It’s clear, Steele is a person who keeps track. Like a prosecutor building his case, he lays out these bullet points.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Inmates discovered at the hospital with injuries in consistency with-”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Incarcerated people with broken ribs, head injuries and busted teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “… for example, mental health staff, asphyxiation, carbon monoxide poisoning. Mail room staff, drug overdose and decease, suicidal staff, times two…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> An alarming number of employees in crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “… CSP Sacramento is sending more water instead of urine for testing than any other institution-”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A dangerously inadequate drug testing program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “…the 2019 B8 homicide inconsistencies were immediately-”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar. The list touches on nearly every aspect of the institution. His language is forceful, he names names and points fingers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “You should consider the very likely possibility that during your superintendence of CSP Sacramento, more staff will be charged for criminal activity than any other institution within the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> CDCR said Warden Jeff Lynch cannot speak to us about personnel matters. A spokesperson said the agency takes all allegations of officer misconduct seriously and has a process to make sure all complaints are, “properly, fairly, and thoroughly reviewed.” They did not respond to specific questions about whether Steele’s allegations in this memo were investigated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Julie and I read through this memo, we were pretty stunned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> How startling of a document is this, in comparison, you know, to what you’ve seen over your years of reporting?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> I mean, the allegations about ordering murders are- are very shocking. To have an- a correctional officer, a high-ranking sergeant in an investigative unit, releasing this kind of, um, detailed report about misconduct, illegal activity, even murder, I don’t know of another time that that’s happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> We’d been trying to understand the system from the outside, and it was amazing to discover there’d been someone trying to expose it from the inside, and he’d left behind this memo, like a map for us to follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/strong> The first step was into our own files. We’d built up a database of hundreds of internal records and dozens of recordings, related to violent and even deadly use of force incidents. All the stuff that was supposed to be public record under a new transparency law, but that we’d spent the last four years fighting, and even suing for. When we cross-referenced the names from Steele’s memo with our database, we discovered that we had those cases in our files, and we realized that his memo could help us unlock the meaning of these incidents, the patterns that they showed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were three names in particular of incarcerated people who ended up in the hospital with injuries that didn’t make sense. We decided to try and contact them. One of them had died, but it looked like two of them were still in prison, and so I wrote to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dear Mr. Navaro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dear Mr. Uribe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a reported with the NPR station-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… I received some records from CDCR that detail an incident-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… badly injured on March 31st.-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… On May 2nd, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… Please give me a call on the number below, or send me a letter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I put these letters in the mail and hoped someone would call me back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Did Kevin know that handing him that memo would probably end his career?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He didn’t seem concerned when he sent that, he didn’t say, “Oh, man, this is gonna end my career.” He just felt that he was doing the right thing and there wasn’t a problem with it, to be really honest. So, he didn’t see beyond that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And it was weird because I did. I definitely knew he was en- he was ending his- his career with CDCR. He had other priorities. He had other obligations, and that was to tell the truth. He just had tunnel vision for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. remembers Steele reading the memo to him over the phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I says, “Holy smokes, this is very powerful. The walls are gonna fall, you know,” and it didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We don’t know exactly how the warden reacted when he got Steele’s memo in his inbox, but we do know Steele decided he was done with the institution, and it was time for him to leave. So he put together a plan, he was gonna move across the country, to Miller County in Missouri, a place he’d visited as a reserve officer for the Air Force. A place where he hoped no one could find him. But he wasn’t quitting, he’d accrued a ton of leave that he’d never taken. He’d use that up and then retire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before he left town, Val Sr. and his wife, Erma, invited Steele to come over to the house for a barbecue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> We made tri-tip and we had our kids there, we gave him a little gift. He was there with his wife, Lily, and his dad. So, my parents were there, my mother-in-law and my kids, and we just sat around and talked and he was talking to everybody, and his wife was hugging everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He just glowed, man. This is how he was, he was so polite and respectable and considerate. And he just moved around and I just, “Ah, I don’t have to talk to him,” ’cause he was just, like, just talking to everybody, so that was cool for me ’cause I was cooking, I was busy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> After they ate, Val Sr. presented him with a plaque that he’d had made. A clear pyramid with a photo of his son Valentino inside, and a brass name plate. Steele had always called Valentino a superhero.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So I put on here, “From your superhero, to my kindred spirit,” picture, and he cried, and then, uh, he had a hard time taking. (laughs) Uh, so then, he got in the- in the car and left after that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele and his wife and their dogs made their way across the country to Miller County. The two men were now nearly 2000 miles away from each other, but in their talks on the phone, they grew even closer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He would even tell me, “I love you,” you know, which was kind of odd for me, as a man. We just- I didn’t grow up- you know, throwing that word around. (laughs) I don’t think he did either, you know, but, uh, I remember one day I walked in and I had him on speakerphone and he goes, “I love you man,” and I go, “Oh, okay.” (laughs) And I hung up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Erma overhead the whole thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Like, “Why don’t you say, ‘I love you’ back?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> “Uh, I’m just not that kind of person,” (laughs) and I just- he feels- yeah, he just feels weird. (laughs) I think you end up did saying it one time, didn’t you?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Yeah. I told him, um, and that felt funny, but I told him, “I love you buddy.” (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In fact, Val Sr. was one of the few people who knew where Steele was living. Steele didn’t feel safe. He told people he was close to that after he’d confronted prison leaders with evidence he’d collected about officer misconduct, he’d been getting weird text messages, and vaguely threatening voicemails from unknown numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his calls with Val Sr., Steele talked about how easy it would be for his enemies to hire someone to kill him. But if they came, he was prepared. He had guns and two doberman pinschers. So those fears didn’t stop him, he’d left California, but he hadn’t abandoned his friend or their mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He assured me that he would be able to work laterally and do more outside the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I didn’t understand what he meant by that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In February 2021, Steele fired off another memo. This one addressed to the head of the entire state agency: Secretary Kathleen Allison. It’s about what he calls the corruption and failed leadership at New Folsom. This memo has fewer details, but the focus is on the inaction of higher-ups. How multiple supervisors were aware of the harassment Valentino received, and failed to do anything about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “No staff member or person should have been the victim of what correctional officer Rodriguez endured at the hands of CSP Sacramento ISU office supervisors and staff members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And in his writing, you can really feel Steele’s frustration, and even more than that, the betrayal. He’d been a true believer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “I’m not a disgruntled employee seeking vengeance. Instead, I was a witness to an ISU which became engulfed in corruption and watched as integrity was forced to cower in terror and fear of retaliation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Around the same time this memo was sent, a notice was posted at the entrance gate of New Folsom prison. Beneath a photograph of Steele’s face, it states, “Effective immediately, Kevin Steele is not to be permitted on institution grounds.” CDCR did not respond to questions about why Steele was banned from the prison. Steele himself would come to find out he was under investigation by internal affairs. He felt he had no choice but to work outside the system he’d been a part of for 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two men, Val Sr. and Kevin Steele, with their twin agendas, started working to expose the prison and put pressure on those supposedly ongoing investigations in another way, this time through the press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> How did you come to that decision?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That was hard decision to make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. tells Julie, at first he wanted to give prison officials and law enforcement the chance to investigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So I waited, and then finally I just- I just got tired of waiting. So, I made the call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He spoke to a newspaper reporter named Wes Venteicher, who worked at the local paper, The Sacramento Bee. He now writes for Politico. Wes says he’d covered prisons before, but this story was different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wes Venteicher:\u003c/b> It was certainly kind of one of the darkest places I’ve (laughs) gone as a reporter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> When you were going through this process and talking to people, you talked to correctional officers, you know, was it difficult to get people to go on the record for it because of fears, or…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wes Venteicher:\u003c/b> Yes, of course. Uh, everybody’s really scared of retaliation, and that’s part of the whole story with Val. You know, some people described it as like a high-school-like atmosphere, where everybody knows everybody, and then, um, it’s really easy for someone to be shunned, and then that makes them, makes their work more dangerous and their job more dangerous. So, nobody who was s- an employed correctional officer, and even a couple of the retired ones I talked to were not willing to go on the record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Wes says something that really stuck out to him, and that there just isn’t enough research on, is the long-term impact of doing this work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wes Venteicher:\u003c/b> One thing I had wanted to look into was just the pattern of the mental health treatment, and the medications that people are prescribed, and does anyone actually end up healing or getting better after suffering through some of this stuff? Or is there just this trail of broken former correctional officers out there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We tell him this is something we are looking into. Wes’s article, titled Correctional Officer’s Death Exposes Hazing, Toxic Culture at California Prison, published in April of 2021. It’s how we first heard about Valentino’s death, and it goes into the discrimination that Valentino faced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Once that article hit, Garland was walked off, and a lot of stuff started to happen over there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Daniel Garland, the guy who’d called Valentino homophobic slurs, Marcus Jordan, the one who’d used the N-word, were both under investigation, along with other officers in the ISU. Steele texted, “Justice is beginning to simmer, Steele.” But Val Sr.’s response was a lot more measured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I thought that, “Okay, that’s, uh, that’s nu- step one. That’s good. Everything else from here on out is going to be systematic. They’re doing something,” but they didn’t do shit after that. It was just like, “Here’s a piece of raw meat,” and that’s it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That internal affairs investigation that had started with Chris McGraw, resulted in the dismissal of Marcus Jordan and Daniel Garland. Among other things, the department found their treatment of Valentino violated state employee laws and the department’s code of conduct. Two other guys on the squad got a 10% pay cut. One of them had called Valentino Half-Patch, and they’d both chimed in with derogatory texts in the group thread. But these four officers appealed their discipline. Like all correctional officers, they’d have access to an extensive appeals process and representation by union lawyers. The lawyer for those four officers declined to let us speak to her clients for this podcast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wrote in an email, “CDCR imposed excessive and unreasonable discipline against my clients for personal communications between work friends on their personal cell phones that took place almost entirely off duty.” And she said her clients are still fighting to overturn this discipline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a big shakeup in the squad, and the institution reassigned basically all the officers who’d worked with Valentino. But the people who were really in charge, like Warden Jeff Lynch, remained in charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What were you hoping would happen when the Sacramento Bee article came out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I was hoping for what I’m hoping for now, closure, and everyone throws that J-word around, but just justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Upbeat music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The article did get some important attention, though. A guy in the district attorney’s office for Yolo County, where West Sacramento is located and where Valentino died, saw his death by fentanyl as part of a pattern. Overdoses from the lethal drug were skyrocketing in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> Mostly from fentanyl overdoses, last year in California alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And in the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> We’ve seen over a dozen people die of fentanyl-related overdoses in the last year-and-a-half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In June, this is two months after the article came out in the paper, the DA’s office issued a press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> DA Reisig compares it to DUI offenders who break the law again and kill someone in the process. They’ll be looking at…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They were changing their policy. Fentanyl deaths were now going to be investigated as potential homicides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> If you’re selling that drug knowing that it may be laced with fentanyl, and somebody dies, you should pay the price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> …a few grains of salt of fentanyl can kill you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> DA Jeff Reisig is confident the policy will hold up if challenged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And these cases would be investigated by a special regional task force called Safe Streets, that involved the FBI, Sacramento County Law Enforcement, and a representative from the Yolo County DA’s Office. At the bottom of their release, the DA’s office included a photo of one of the victims of the recent uptick in fentanyl poisoning. It was Valentino Rodriguez, in his CDCR uniform, on the day he graduated from the academy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new FBI agent on the case, part of that Safe Streets task force, got in touch with Val Sr. via email. Quote-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “We are looking into/investigating the death of your son with several groups inside the FBI, as well as our local agency partners. Being as there are several complications to your son’s passing, the investigation is going to be more complex and time-consuming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Initially, I was told, “This is a very complicated case. It’s going to take time. You need to be patient for several reasons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But just a little while later, Val Sr. says the agent called back and said he was closing his investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I asked him why, he goes, “There’s nothing on the phone.” I says, “There’s all kinds of stuff on the phone.” He’s got phone records, he’s got two burn calls, I mean there’s all kinds of stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In an email, the FBI said they could not comment on the Safe Streets task force or any potential investigation into Valentino’s death. Val Sr. felt like he was stuck in a game of hot potato, being passed from one agency to another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> This, all this is like, like overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And this long journey of disappointments he’s been on, it’s part of why he’s agreed to talk to Julie and me, and share all the evidence he’s gathered, so we can try to figure out what’s going on here, and if there’s something law enforcement missed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Did you find the bindle ever?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> On one of our trips to Val Sr.’s home in West Sacramento he goes to a bookshelf in his living room and he pulls out a plastic pill bottle. He hands it to Julie, who holds it up to the light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So in there is, um, a balloon, small balloon-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Inside the bottle there’s a zip-lock baggie with a white pill and two capsules in it, and a small round package about the size of a nickel, wrapped in black plastic, which Val Sr. believes came from New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> … and then these baggies, which on Val’s phone, shows these are the way he, you would log into evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/strong> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I don’t know what’s inside the capsules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Okay, well s- we’ll try to figure out what we can do to have this analyzed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I’m curious what’s in the balloon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We want to find out if what’s in the bindle or the pills matches the drugs in Valentino’s system when he died, so Julie and our producer, Steven Rascón, ship it off to a place that does forensic drug testing for law enforcement, and then we jump on a call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sound FX – Zoom chime]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So do you have to, um, like package this a certain way?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Yeah. It gets a special packaging, double plastic zip-lock bags, and also the canister that you dropped it into, and twisted, and closed, and, um, yeah, and then bubble wrap around that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> All right, cool. So it’s on its way? It’s like literally in the mail on its way to the-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascón:\u003c/b> Yeah, so that’s like you, we can cross that off, which is great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s awesome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company says it’ll take 30 to 60 days to get the results back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Outro Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming up next time, we start to get a sense of what it was like to be incarcerated at New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Incarcerated Man:\u003c/b> They would cuff us, you know, handcuff us and beat us, you know? And, um, wasn’t a whole lot we could do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And one of the guys I wrote to from Steele’s memo calls me back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Incarcerated man:\u003c/b> You got to be strong, man. Come on, Sukey. If you let shit like this get to you, then, man, all this shit’s for nothing, man. You got to stay strong. Don’t worry about me. I can handle my own. You got to stay strong. You got to f- do this til the end, how they say like ’til the wheels fall off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Finally, we get a deeper sense of Steele’s mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Woman:\u003c/b> The only good thing that kept me going, there was this, uh, officer. His name is Mr. Steele. If it wasn’t for him, my son wouldn’t be alive today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Credits Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You’re listening to \u003ci>On Our Watch\u003c/i> Season 2, New Folsom, from KQED. If you have any tips or feedback about the series, you can email us at onourwatch@kqed.org. You can also leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauleón. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Egusa. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts, and she executive produced the series. Meticulous fact-checking by Mark Betancourt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additional research for this episode by Kathleen Quinn and Laura Fitzgerald, students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, whose chair, David Barstow, provided valuable support for the whole series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR, and KQED health correspondent April Dembosky. Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from APM Music and Audio Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and the California Endowment. And thanks to KQED’s Otis R. Taylor Jr., Managing Editor of News and Enterprise, Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our vice president of news, and Chief Content Officer Holly Kernan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Valentino’s unexpected death just days after a confidential meeting with the prison’s warden leaves his grieving father with a tangle of questions and suspicions. When law enforcement and prison leadership fail to act, Val Sr. finds an ally in Sgt. Kevin Steele, a senior officer who’d taken Valentino under his wing. The two men have a shared mission–to find justice for Valentino. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch5 id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC6682214865\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/h5>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warmline Directory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. If you have tips or feedback about this series please reach out to us at \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:onourwatch@kqed.org\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">onourwatch@kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer: \u003c/b>Before we start, I just wanted to give you a heads up that this episode references drug use and a violent homicide. If you or someone you know needs support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Nine days after Valentino Rodriguez died, Valentino’s family held a viewing and then a memorial mass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> We had mass outside, underneath a big oak tree at the local, uh, grammar Catholic school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/b>After the mass, Val Sr. and his other son, Gregory, and some of the other guys in the family, carried the casket to the hearse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> We put him inside and then we took our gloves off and left them on the casket with a flower. I could’ve sat there all day. Even though he was in that box, I knew he was there, I knew he was close, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> And then we had, a- a celebration of life after, but we had that celebration of life at the same place where we had our wedding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Family and friends were there, setting up food and talking to each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I just remember just sitting there. Like with my arms crossed, just looking into the crowd like… I was dancing right there with him, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It was difficult to wrap her head around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I just- just looked past all of it, just like, what are we celebrating? And I was just so hurt and I went home and just screamed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. tells my colleague Julie Small he was also overwhelmed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I- I ended up finding my way to a corner, away from people and just a small group of cousins and friends and they opened up a bottle of tequila and I just drank and then, uh, after that I didn’t feel anything, you know. And- and that was helpful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> When did you first see Sergeant Steele?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> After they closed the casket. Uh, people were sort of lining up to hug us. You know, I noticed I’d seen somebody out of place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A man, bald, with piercing blue eyes stood a little ways back in the line and Val Sr. had the sense that he was intent on getting to the front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> As he got- as he got closer, I- I could see his face was sad. Uh, but he just seemed so strong, you know, coming up. I- I still didn’t know his name, but he grabbed my shoulders and- and he said, “If you need me for anything, I can help you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme song]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> When a death is so unexpected and its timing feels so coincidental, it’s bound to raise questions. Some of them are big and unknowable, but there are others that do have answers. In the days after his son’s funeral, Val Sr. began to look for them and what he didn’t know yet is that he’d find a partner in that pursuit, a man who also wanted justice for Valentino, but whose mission also went far beyond that. I’m Sukey Lewis. This is \u003ci>On Our Watch\u003c/i> Season Two: New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A couple weeks after the funeral, the results of the coroner’s investigation had come back. It determined that Valentino had accidentally overdosed on fentanyl and notes smoking paraphernalia was found at the scene. But to Val Sr., that just answered the question of what killed him, but not why or where the lethal drug had come from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> My agenda was to find out the source of the fentanyl, where it came from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr., with help from his wife Erma, started going through Valentino’s phone records, tracking where he went on the last day of his life, and all the people he spoke to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I had her identify every number, whether they were clients of Val’s from our company or friends or whoever. I just wanted his track, uh, what he was doing, uh, 24 hours before that and all the way up to his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Music]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In his living room, Val Sr. shows me the call log from Valentino’s phone provider. It’s got Erma’s handwriting on it, where she’s written people’s names next to the phone numbers they were able to identify.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, who’s [redacted]?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> A guy in the neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What was his- What was his relationship with-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He sells- he sells drugs\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Oh really?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That’s why I went to visit him. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This guy I’m asking Val Sr. about was a man who lived nearby who’d known Valentino for a long time. He’d even been invited to the wedding, but according to Val Sr., and according to text messages in Valentino’s phone, he was also someone who could get you pain pills. This man did not agree to go on the record with us, and because these are potentially criminal allegations, we’ll just call him a guy from the neighborhood. On the last day of his life, Valentino made six short calls to this guy’s number.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> You can see they’re all-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> … One minute, one minute like-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Val Sr. thinks maybe he couldn’t get through and he tried someone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He calls this number here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> All right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> It’s a burn phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He calls it a burner phone, but we don’t actually know if that’s true. We do know these calls came in from numbers that were not in Valentino’s contacts. We tried calling these numbers too, and one goes to a generic voicemail. We left a message, but no one got back to us. The other was associated with the nearby Air Force base, but we weren’t able to identify why anyone would be calling him from that number. These calls — to the guy from the neighborhood, from unknown numbers — for Val Sr., these were clues that could lead to the source of the fentanyl, but he needed help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> The West Sacramento Police Department were the first people that I tried to push to find out where this came from. I needed someone to search his phone records, burn phones. Where did this come from?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He thought the police, who had collected evidence the night Valentino died – you know, Ring cameras, his medication, his gun – would be looking on the streets for the source of the fentanyl. But there was another possibility that Val Sr. couldn’t shake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> If it didn’t come from the street then where’d it come from?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Had the fentanyl come from someone at the prison? And as Val Sr. went through Valentino phone himself, it was this possibility that seemed to gain more and more weight. He read through his son’s texts and there was the harassment and slurs, but he also found messages between Valentino and other officers that appeared to be about secrets being kept, evidence lockers being left open, an emoji of a red and yellow pill. We still don’t know exactly what these text messages meant, but Val Sr. couldn’t help wondering, was this evidence that other officers knew about Valentino’s drug problem and used it as leverage in some way? And who else knew that Valentino had been in the warden’s office just days before he died? Val Sr. knew at least one person who did, Sergeant Kevin Steele, the man who’d hugged him at his son’s funeral and offered to help, the man who’d also texted Valentino on the last day of his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So, I remember sitting in my office, trying to concentrate on working.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He tells my colleague Julie that he decided to send Steele a text.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So I asked him, “Are you still running the race?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What were you thinking when you first sent Steele that text message?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> It meant that Kevin found out that Val had came forward to turn in some, uh, information of corruption, um, that there’s two sides over there and Val talks about the two sides and he talks about it in that- in that text message, that he doesn’t want anyone on this side or that side to know that he came forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That text message goes on. Valentino says, “It took a lot out of me to relive the truth.” In reply, Steele writes, “Dude, you are my superhero. It is bad right now. Stay strong, I got you. Steele.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reading these text messages after Valentino’s death, Val Sr. didn’t yet know exactly who was on the other side, but it appeared at least Steele was on the side of his son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Could you trust Sergeant Steele when you first met him?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> My feelers came up right away. I just couldn’t find any reason not to. I- I had just realized that whether I trust him or not, this is a way for me to, uh, get my voice over there, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Over where?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> To that prison. I’m gonna start by talking to somebody ’cause nobody’s talking to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. says that day in his office, Steele texted him back right away, “Valentino’s voice will never be silenced. I promise.” And Steele again offered his help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He always said that he would facilitate anything I needed, you know, as far as who to contact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Music]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele had worked for CDCR for about 20 years when he met Val Sr., and he’d risen to the rank of sergeant and was in the Investigative Services Unit, The Squad at New Folsom. People who worked with him say he was really respected and he had a lot of responsibilities, from drug testing officers to leading annual trainings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He used to tell me that he would get there, uh, 30 minutes before to start working and wouldn’t even clock in. He said, “Val I just- I just love my job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He also had a lot of connections. As part of his role in the ISU prepping criminal cases and evidence, he communicated with the district attorney’s office, the FBI, and the prison’s internal affairs team on big investigations. This world of the prison and law enforcement that Val Sr. was just dipping his toe in, it was the water that Steele swam in every day, and so when someone from CDCR got in touch, Val Sr. turned to Steele to help him decide who to trust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I asked him who Chris McGraw was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Over text, Steele told him McGraw is a special agent from CDCR’s office of internal affairs and not just a local guy from New Folsom, but from headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I asked him, “Are they good guys?” Because I didn’t know who to reach out to or who to turn to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele responded, “Yes, that is the best course to move forward. Steele” Just a note in case you’ve noticed, yes, Steele signs his text messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He said they were- they were- they were good guys and I just told him, “I’m- I’m trusting you, Steele.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> With Steele’s assurance, Val Sr. talked to McGraw, who he says told him to file a formal written complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He told me that, “The first thing you have to do is send a complaint, that way you’ll have, uh, rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> McGraw did not respond to our request for comment. Val Sr. says he gave McGraw a digital copy of his son’s phone. Internal affairs would focus on the allegation that officers in the ISU discriminated against Valentino and harassed him, which could result in discipline or firing, or even a criminal referral if investigators found officers broke the law. Steele also put Val Sr. in contact with another agency, the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Kevin gave me some cards and said, “Hey, you need to talk to this guy Val, he’ll help you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> If there was a public corruption element to Valentino’s case, if somehow Valentino had been targeted by other officers aiming to silence him, if officers abused their position for their own gain in some other way, the FBI would be the ones to look into it. In December, Val Sr. handed off Valentino’s physical phone to an FBI agent named Sean Lister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I straight up told him, “I feel that the fentanyl was sent to get rid of him because he knew of a lot of bad things.” And he goes, “That would be interesting.” I says, “Well, it would be interesting, but very hard to prove.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. says he got the sense the FBI weren’t really that interested in his son’s case, but Steele had a lot of faith in both internal affairs and the feds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He always thought that they were gonna do something right, and in my mind I was thinking, “No, no they’re not.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But at this point, Val Sr. has communicated with three different agencies about different aspects of the case. He’d spoken to the West Sacramento Police to see if they were looking for the source of the fentanyl on the street, he’d filed a formal written complaint about Valentino’s harassment with the office of internal affairs, and he’d handed the phone to the FBI. If there was a public corruption element, the FBI could investigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> One day Kevin told me, “Hey, Val.” I go, “Yeah.” He goes, “You know, this story’s much bigger than your son.” And I says, “I know. I realize that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And Steele started to share with Val Sr. what he’d been communicating about with the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> His biggest agenda was that homicide that took place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The stabbing of Luis Giovanny Aguilar in the day room, that video that Valentino had shown his dad at the Christmas party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Kevin told me that he told Sean Lister that that was a perfect murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The FBI special agent Sean Lister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I was thinking in my head, “What? My son?” But Kevin told me, no, um, the perfect murder was this homicide that had happened on — the B8 homicide he called it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele called it the B8 homicide because that was the name of the housing unit at New Folsom where it happened. We reached out to Special Agent Lister, but he declined to comment on the case. The FBI says they can’t comment, but an agent did confirm the investigation is still pending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> To understand some of the reasons why Sergeant Kevin Steele may have thought the homicide of Luis Giovanny Aguilar was worth reporting to the FBI, Julie and I got on a Zoom call with this woman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Zoom voice:\u003c/b> Recording in progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> My name is Claudia Bohorquez and, um, I’m an, an attorney. Luis Giovanny Aguilar is, uh, my, my client’s son.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Aguilar’s mother is pursuing a lawsuit against prison officials, including the officers who were on duty in the unit that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Either they weren’t there or they were deliberately indifferent, they didn’t care, uh, what was going on, or as we alleged, they, they planned it. They were part of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In court filings, prison officials deny these allegations. A CDCR spokesperson said there is an active investigation involving outside law enforcement, and that the agency cannot comment on this case. At the time, B8 was a super high security segregation unit, the type that is often used to hold people who are considered especially violent or dangerous, or as a punishment for people who’ve committed new crimes while in prison. They’re generally held in solitary cells.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Anytime they’re out of their cell they’re handcuffed, they’re shackled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Claudia explains the day of the murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Basically, on that day, December 12th, 2019…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Three men…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Mr. Aguilar and the other two inmates who, who participated in the stabbing, Anthony Rodriguez and Cody Taylor…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> …Were brought down the stairs from their cells on the second tier of the unit into the day room, an open area with fixed desks and chairs on the first floor, outside the lower tier cells. All three were shackled by their ankles to metal chairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Our allegation is that the two inmates, Rodriguez and Taylor, uh, were able to uncuff themselves, free themselves, and that they ran up, uh, or walked up the stairs to, um, another cell that was on the second floor and retrieved weapons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They got makeshift metal knives from the cell of a man named Dion Green who was a shot caller in the prison. Taylor and Rodriguez then came back down the stairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> And, um, proceeded to stab my client to death fif- more than 55 times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And no officer used deadly force to stop them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music ends]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The lawsuit that Claudia filed claims Aguilar was targeted by officers in retaliation for attacking a guard about a week before he was killed. And there are three big pieces of evidence or arguments the lawsuit relies on to back up its allegations: what I call the rumor, the practice run, and the Britt case. First off, there was the rumor. The lawsuit claims that officers spread a rumor that Aguilar was a child sex offender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> It’s common knowledge that, um, inmates that go in as child molesters and sex offenders get treated [laughs] very badly in prison. They don’t like sex offenders, they especially don’t like child sex offenders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The lawsuit alleges that officers did this on purpose to put a target on Aguilar’s back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> “How do we get some inmates to help us out and get this guy Aguilar? Well, let’s tell them he’s a sex offender, then they’ll go, go along with it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Prison officials have denied that officers spread this rumor in court filings. And to be clear, Aguilar was in prison for stealing a vehicle and fleeing police. He also had an earlier conviction for domestic violence. But our review of his criminal record from CDCR found no convictions for child molestation or sexual offenses. Secondly, there was the practice run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> One of the inmates who actually, who was one of the inmates that stabbed my client, he, a week earlier, in the same day room, had taken off his restraints from the day room, the chair, and gone upstairs, um, and come back down. And, um…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> So basically like, “Okay, I’m gonna try this, see what happens if I take off my restraints and go up and get it.” Or something?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Yeah. Uh, yeah, I can’t really explain it other than it was done, and again, no repercussions seem to have come from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This was captured by surveillance cameras in the unit according to sources who have seen the video. A man slipping out of his shackles in full view of the control booth. Again, this is in a restricted unit where no one’s allowed to go anywhere without an officer escort and restraints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final big anomaly Claudia references in this suit is the Britt Case, an incident that at the very least should’ve put prison officials on notice. Two months before the Aguilar murder, the same three men, Taylor, Rodriguez and Green coordinated a nearly identical attempted murder of a man named Michael Britt. Taylor and Rodriguez slipped their shackles and stabbed him repeatedly in the day room. Dion Green claimed responsibility, saying he ordered the hit. Britt was an enemy of his.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> Britt was, he wasn’t killed, but he was assaulted very badly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> By the same guys. And so, have you… do you have any idea, like, how they were allowed to remain together at the same facility?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> No. (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This was kind of shocking. These three men had clearly conspired to kill someone and proven they could outsmart the security measures, even in a restricted unit like this. But the prison didn’t separate the men or move them to a different area. A CDCR spokesperson told me that they have a robust system to keep enemies apart, and that as a general matter, they do separate people they identify as crime partners. CDCR would not comment on why this did not happen in this case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Claudia Bohorquez:\u003c/b> This was horrific, this was unfair, this should’ve never happened. It just should’ve never happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The lawsuit against CDCR is ongoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From internal records and what he told Val Sr., it seems like Steele had gotten involved in the case as he usually did. It was his job to prep the evidence for criminal charges against Green, Rodriguez and Taylor for the district attorney. The official explanation that was reflected in Valentino’s report was that it was a gang killing. But as Steele looked through the evidence and talked to the suspects, he began to discover these anomalies and have doubts about that as a motive. And it seems like Steele did what he always did, he reported what he was finding to prison leaders and to the FBI. But now, more than a year after the murder, he told Val Sr. he was frustrated. Prison officials weren’t taking his allegations seriously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Sometimes he was so, uh, passionate about what was going on, and angry, that he couldn’t bottle it and he would just tell me, and, and I would listen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. listened to him, but he says all these incidents and details of the homicide, that was all Steele’s agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I’ll, I’ll be really honest, I, I just didn’t care. I… Mine was I wanna know why the hell Val wrote this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It wasn’t unusual for someone in Valentino’s position to be tapped to write a report like this. But Val Sr. still questioned why he was picked on this particular case. There were other officers in the gang unit who’d collected evidence right after Aguilar was killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> They had been here for 15 years, they are the ones that write this stuff. They were there that night, but they gave it to him. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As Val Sr. learned more about the homicide from Steele, and the evidence of a potential conspiracy involving officers, he had to wonder if writing that report was connected to his son’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Who told him to? You know, why did they encourage him to and congratulate him as airtight? I, I… That’s what I wanted to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What Val Sr. is referring to are these text messages on Valentino’s phone from two supervisors in the ISU. They appear to be coaching him about how to establish the connection between the homicide and the gang motive. Once he turns the report in, his boss texts again saying gang investigators were happy with this report and had called it, quote, “airtight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From one angle, these texts could be innocent, just a boss giving their subordinate direction and encouragement. But to Val Sr., everything was beginning to look suspect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> My son’s passing was very coincidental and it benefited some really bad people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Because if Valentino had inside knowledge that officers played a role in Aguilar’s homicide, that knowledge died with him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Valentino Rodriguez died, his wife Mimy couldn’t stay in their house. But bit by bit, she did start the hard task of going through their stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/b>A friend of mine at the time, she came with me to the house to help just clear things out. I mean, we just found so many empty baggies, and I was just, I was distraught, and she was shocked. It was right in front of me, but I didn’t, I didn’t know what I was looking for, little plastic twisted up baggies that were ripped at the end. There was so many of them, and I just remember being so angry at myself, like, why didn’t I see this before? Why didn’t I notice something? Why didn’t I push more?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Another time, she and Valentino’s sister Monique had a plan to rip out the old carpets in the house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> That day I felt like crap, and I texted her, I said, “Monique, I’m so sorry, I, I, I can’t go today. It’s just been hard.” And she texted back like, “It’s okay. It’s hard every day.” But she went and ripped it up, and I remember the carpets were thrown out on the side of the house, and there’s a sliding door there, and I went out there just to look at the carpets. There was a little balloon there, a little black balloon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I was like, “What the heck? What is this?” So I grab it and I open it because I’m curious, and there’s just white powder in there, and I got scared. So I call Val Sr. and I go, “I found something.” And he goes, “What is it?” And he immediately came to the house, and I showed him, I was like, “What is this?” He’s like, “Where did you find it?” And I was like, “It was, it was sitting blank- just right there on the floor next to the carpets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> She gave Val Sr. the balloon along with some white pills she’d found while cleaning out the kitchen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> They were slid all the way in the corner in the back of, like, a box of oatmeal that was unopened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> To Val Sr., the pills, the black balloon, it all looked like evidence, evidence from the prison or evidence that might be tied to his son’s death. Thanks to his son’s work as an investigator, Val Sr. knew that in prison, drugs are often wrapped in balloons into little packages called bindles that can be passed from person to person, swallowed and then later fished out of the toilet, hopefully still protected by the plastic balloon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When he died, Valentino hadn’t worked at the prison for nine months, so what was he doing with this bindle in his house? Val Sr. says he went to the three different agencies he believed were investigating different aspects of his son’s death: CDCR, the West Sacramento Police Department, and the FBI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I told each one of them that I, I found this, this drug bindle, it’s from the prison. “Well, how do you know?” “Because my son’s… that’s what he did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Did anybody take, um, possession of the bindle? No agency that was investigating-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> They don’t even wanna talk about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I, I remember it was in, in the a- in the afternoon at work. Erma had run in with her phone and said, “Val, Val, I got him on the phone,” because I, I wasn’t having any luck with anybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It was the West Sacramento Police Chief on the phone. Val Sr. asked the chief what they were doing. Had they made any progress finding the source of the fentanyl? But the chief said his department wasn’t investigating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I began to get emotional on the phone and I told him, “You guys don’t care about him, he was a whistleblower, this is what happened, that was what happened.” And he goes, “Val, we do care about your son.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We spoke to the West Sacramento Police Chief later and he confirmed that he spoke with Val Sr., but they have very different memories of what was said in this conversation. According to what Val Sr. remembers…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That’s when he told me, “I was told not to investigate this,” plain and simple. I’m not gonna lie about that. Um, I says, “Well, so there’s not, uh, there’s not an investigation?” He goes, “Not, not with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> According to the chief, he never said they were told not to investigate. The police had not found any evidence of a crime at the scene, and their policy at the time was not to do a further investigation of accidental overdose cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I says, “So just look for the source of the fentanyl. I can do that. I have everything, you know, I have his phone records.” And that’s when he told me, “Val, they’re not looking on the streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What did it mean to you when the police chief said, “They’re not looking on the streets”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That meant exactly what I was thinking, that they’re looking into the prison to see if it came from there, that’s… that’s the way I took it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. took this to mean that they meant the Feds and Internal Affairs. And this statement from the chief was a signal that while the police investigation was closed, those agencies were still investigating his son’s death, and that those agencies thought the source of the fentanyl was inside New Folsom Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chief told us Val Sr. misunderstood him, that he meant something much more procedural, that the prison would not be the ones to look on the streets, that just wasn’t their jurisdiction. Without a recording of this call, it’s impossible to know whose version is accurate, but whatever was really said during this call, what Val Sr. took away from it, was an acknowledgement of his suspicions that everything he uncovered pointed back to New Folsom, and a belief that someone was still looking into the source of the fentanyl.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I wept and I started talking. I says, “They… I think they killed him.” You know? “I think they sent that shit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. really had no one to talk to about his suspicions and fears, except for Sergeant Steele. The two men had bonded over their shared grief, and they began to share other aspects of their lives. Steele told Val Sr. about his time in the military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He served a couple of terms in Iraq.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They shared their faith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He would send me scripture, I’d send him scripture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And country music songs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Um, He’s… He was like the complete package, and uh, we had, uh, a lot of stuff in common.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b>They’re around the same age, in their fifties, and both loved antique cars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He used to call me his kindred spirit all the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But, Val Sr. says there was an undercurrent to their relationship. He could feel that Steele was torn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He was feeling that it was his civil duty to be, uh, on my side, my son’s side. I got the impression. But, at the same time, he was still an officer who- with Folsom Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And that conflict was heating up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris McGraw:\u003c/b> Hi there, Sergeant Steele. Special Agent Chris McGraw, calling you again, February the 8th-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Since Valentino’s death, Steele had received multiple direct orders from the warden, and from that internal affairs agent, Chris McGraw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris McGraw:\u003c/b> … to immediately seize all forms of communication with all members of the Rodriguez family, unless I am present or if I am participating in the communication along with you, uh-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> CDCR did not want Steele talking to Val Sr., or anyone else in his family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris McGraw:\u003c/b> … um, please review your email. I will send you a follow-up email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This was an order that Steele disobeyed. And the reason we have this voicemail, is because he sent it to Val Sr..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Chris McGraw:\u003c/b> Uh, thank you so much, and have a good day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That decision to stay in contact with Val Sr. in defiance of his superiors, would have far-reaching implications, for Steele’s job, and his life. And from what we know of Steele, it seems probable that he didn’t make that decision lightly. According to multiple people who knew him well, each of the steps that Steele took were governed by his exacting and deeply held principles, and feeling of duty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He was an officer. He took an oath and he was just doing what an officer should do. You know, and be just, that was his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And as 2020 turned to 2021, that feeling of duty led him to do something radical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On January 4th, he sent a memo to the warden. Here’s Julie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> The subject line is, “ISU entrenched corruption and uninhibited harassment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s a document that we requested from CDCR, but so far, the agency has not disclosed it. But we did get a copy from Val Sr.. Steele shared it with him. It’s nine pages long, so we’re not gonna read all of it, but Steele talks about ISU staff claiming false overtime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Rodriguez also shared details of how some of the ISU officers would plant drugs and weapons on inmates, in an effort to have to work overtime hours to finish the reports.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Driving music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And he writes that Valentino told him that ISU officers would threaten to plant drugs in places that would get him in trouble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “This was used as a point of leverage to keep CO Rodriguez from reporting this unscrupulous behaviors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He writes a lot about Valentino’s boss, Sergeant David Anderson, and how Steele also felt harassed and intimidated by him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Sergeant Anderson called me a snake in front of other ISU IGI officers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Anderson did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But while significant, Steele’s allegations go far beyond the dysfunction of the ISU squad. It’s clear, Steele is a person who keeps track. Like a prosecutor building his case, he lays out these bullet points.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Inmates discovered at the hospital with injuries in consistency with-”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Incarcerated people with broken ribs, head injuries and busted teeth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “… for example, mental health staff, asphyxiation, carbon monoxide poisoning. Mail room staff, drug overdose and decease, suicidal staff, times two…”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> An alarming number of employees in crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “… CSP Sacramento is sending more water instead of urine for testing than any other institution-”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A dangerously inadequate drug testing program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “…the 2019 B8 homicide inconsistencies were immediately-”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar. The list touches on nearly every aspect of the institution. His language is forceful, he names names and points fingers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “You should consider the very likely possibility that during your superintendence of CSP Sacramento, more staff will be charged for criminal activity than any other institution within the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> CDCR said Warden Jeff Lynch cannot speak to us about personnel matters. A spokesperson said the agency takes all allegations of officer misconduct seriously and has a process to make sure all complaints are, “properly, fairly, and thoroughly reviewed.” They did not respond to specific questions about whether Steele’s allegations in this memo were investigated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Julie and I read through this memo, we were pretty stunned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> How startling of a document is this, in comparison, you know, to what you’ve seen over your years of reporting?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> I mean, the allegations about ordering murders are- are very shocking. To have an- a correctional officer, a high-ranking sergeant in an investigative unit, releasing this kind of, um, detailed report about misconduct, illegal activity, even murder, I don’t know of another time that that’s happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> We’d been trying to understand the system from the outside, and it was amazing to discover there’d been someone trying to expose it from the inside, and he’d left behind this memo, like a map for us to follow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/strong> The first step was into our own files. We’d built up a database of hundreds of internal records and dozens of recordings, related to violent and even deadly use of force incidents. All the stuff that was supposed to be public record under a new transparency law, but that we’d spent the last four years fighting, and even suing for. When we cross-referenced the names from Steele’s memo with our database, we discovered that we had those cases in our files, and we realized that his memo could help us unlock the meaning of these incidents, the patterns that they showed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were three names in particular of incarcerated people who ended up in the hospital with injuries that didn’t make sense. We decided to try and contact them. One of them had died, but it looked like two of them were still in prison, and so I wrote to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Dear Mr. Navaro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dear Mr. Uribe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a reported with the NPR station-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… I received some records from CDCR that detail an incident-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… badly injured on March 31st.-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… On May 2nd, 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>… Please give me a call on the number below, or send me a letter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I put these letters in the mail and hoped someone would call me back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Did Kevin know that handing him that memo would probably end his career?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He didn’t seem concerned when he sent that, he didn’t say, “Oh, man, this is gonna end my career.” He just felt that he was doing the right thing and there wasn’t a problem with it, to be really honest. So, he didn’t see beyond that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And it was weird because I did. I definitely knew he was en- he was ending his- his career with CDCR. He had other priorities. He had other obligations, and that was to tell the truth. He just had tunnel vision for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. remembers Steele reading the memo to him over the phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I says, “Holy smokes, this is very powerful. The walls are gonna fall, you know,” and it didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We don’t know exactly how the warden reacted when he got Steele’s memo in his inbox, but we do know Steele decided he was done with the institution, and it was time for him to leave. So he put together a plan, he was gonna move across the country, to Miller County in Missouri, a place he’d visited as a reserve officer for the Air Force. A place where he hoped no one could find him. But he wasn’t quitting, he’d accrued a ton of leave that he’d never taken. He’d use that up and then retire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before he left town, Val Sr. and his wife, Erma, invited Steele to come over to the house for a barbecue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> We made tri-tip and we had our kids there, we gave him a little gift. He was there with his wife, Lily, and his dad. So, my parents were there, my mother-in-law and my kids, and we just sat around and talked and he was talking to everybody, and his wife was hugging everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He just glowed, man. This is how he was, he was so polite and respectable and considerate. And he just moved around and I just, “Ah, I don’t have to talk to him,” ’cause he was just, like, just talking to everybody, so that was cool for me ’cause I was cooking, I was busy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> After they ate, Val Sr. presented him with a plaque that he’d had made. A clear pyramid with a photo of his son Valentino inside, and a brass name plate. Steele had always called Valentino a superhero.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So I put on here, “From your superhero, to my kindred spirit,” picture, and he cried, and then, uh, he had a hard time taking. (laughs) Uh, so then, he got in the- in the car and left after that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Steele and his wife and their dogs made their way across the country to Miller County. The two men were now nearly 2000 miles away from each other, but in their talks on the phone, they grew even closer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He would even tell me, “I love you,” you know, which was kind of odd for me, as a man. We just- I didn’t grow up- you know, throwing that word around. (laughs) I don’t think he did either, you know, but, uh, I remember one day I walked in and I had him on speakerphone and he goes, “I love you man,” and I go, “Oh, okay.” (laughs) And I hung up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Erma overhead the whole thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Like, “Why don’t you say, ‘I love you’ back?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> “Uh, I’m just not that kind of person,” (laughs) and I just- he feels- yeah, he just feels weird. (laughs) I think you end up did saying it one time, didn’t you?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Yeah. I told him, um, and that felt funny, but I told him, “I love you buddy.” (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> (laughs)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In fact, Val Sr. was one of the few people who knew where Steele was living. Steele didn’t feel safe. He told people he was close to that after he’d confronted prison leaders with evidence he’d collected about officer misconduct, he’d been getting weird text messages, and vaguely threatening voicemails from unknown numbers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his calls with Val Sr., Steele talked about how easy it would be for his enemies to hire someone to kill him. But if they came, he was prepared. He had guns and two doberman pinschers. So those fears didn’t stop him, he’d left California, but he hadn’t abandoned his friend or their mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He assured me that he would be able to work laterally and do more outside the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I didn’t understand what he meant by that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In February 2021, Steele fired off another memo. This one addressed to the head of the entire state agency: Secretary Kathleen Allison. It’s about what he calls the corruption and failed leadership at New Folsom. This memo has fewer details, but the focus is on the inaction of higher-ups. How multiple supervisors were aware of the harassment Valentino received, and failed to do anything about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “No staff member or person should have been the victim of what correctional officer Rodriguez endured at the hands of CSP Sacramento ISU office supervisors and staff members.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And in his writing, you can really feel Steele’s frustration, and even more than that, the betrayal. He’d been a true believer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “I’m not a disgruntled employee seeking vengeance. Instead, I was a witness to an ISU which became engulfed in corruption and watched as integrity was forced to cower in terror and fear of retaliation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Around the same time this memo was sent, a notice was posted at the entrance gate of New Folsom prison. Beneath a photograph of Steele’s face, it states, “Effective immediately, Kevin Steele is not to be permitted on institution grounds.” CDCR did not respond to questions about why Steele was banned from the prison. Steele himself would come to find out he was under investigation by internal affairs. He felt he had no choice but to work outside the system he’d been a part of for 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Ad break]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two men, Val Sr. and Kevin Steele, with their twin agendas, started working to expose the prison and put pressure on those supposedly ongoing investigations in another way, this time through the press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> How did you come to that decision?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That was hard decision to make.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. tells Julie, at first he wanted to give prison officials and law enforcement the chance to investigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So I waited, and then finally I just- I just got tired of waiting. So, I made the call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He spoke to a newspaper reporter named Wes Venteicher, who worked at the local paper, The Sacramento Bee. He now writes for Politico. Wes says he’d covered prisons before, but this story was different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wes Venteicher:\u003c/b> It was certainly kind of one of the darkest places I’ve (laughs) gone as a reporter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> When you were going through this process and talking to people, you talked to correctional officers, you know, was it difficult to get people to go on the record for it because of fears, or…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wes Venteicher:\u003c/b> Yes, of course. Uh, everybody’s really scared of retaliation, and that’s part of the whole story with Val. You know, some people described it as like a high-school-like atmosphere, where everybody knows everybody, and then, um, it’s really easy for someone to be shunned, and then that makes them, makes their work more dangerous and their job more dangerous. So, nobody who was s- an employed correctional officer, and even a couple of the retired ones I talked to were not willing to go on the record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Wes says something that really stuck out to him, and that there just isn’t enough research on, is the long-term impact of doing this work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Wes Venteicher:\u003c/b> One thing I had wanted to look into was just the pattern of the mental health treatment, and the medications that people are prescribed, and does anyone actually end up healing or getting better after suffering through some of this stuff? Or is there just this trail of broken former correctional officers out there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We tell him this is something we are looking into. Wes’s article, titled Correctional Officer’s Death Exposes Hazing, Toxic Culture at California Prison, published in April of 2021. It’s how we first heard about Valentino’s death, and it goes into the discrimination that Valentino faced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Once that article hit, Garland was walked off, and a lot of stuff started to happen over there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Daniel Garland, the guy who’d called Valentino homophobic slurs, Marcus Jordan, the one who’d used the N-word, were both under investigation, along with other officers in the ISU. Steele texted, “Justice is beginning to simmer, Steele.” But Val Sr.’s response was a lot more measured.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I thought that, “Okay, that’s, uh, that’s nu- step one. That’s good. Everything else from here on out is going to be systematic. They’re doing something,” but they didn’t do shit after that. It was just like, “Here’s a piece of raw meat,” and that’s it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That internal affairs investigation that had started with Chris McGraw, resulted in the dismissal of Marcus Jordan and Daniel Garland. Among other things, the department found their treatment of Valentino violated state employee laws and the department’s code of conduct. Two other guys on the squad got a 10% pay cut. One of them had called Valentino Half-Patch, and they’d both chimed in with derogatory texts in the group thread. But these four officers appealed their discipline. Like all correctional officers, they’d have access to an extensive appeals process and representation by union lawyers. The lawyer for those four officers declined to let us speak to her clients for this podcast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wrote in an email, “CDCR imposed excessive and unreasonable discipline against my clients for personal communications between work friends on their personal cell phones that took place almost entirely off duty.” And she said her clients are still fighting to overturn this discipline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a big shakeup in the squad, and the institution reassigned basically all the officers who’d worked with Valentino. But the people who were really in charge, like Warden Jeff Lynch, remained in charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What were you hoping would happen when the Sacramento Bee article came out?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I was hoping for what I’m hoping for now, closure, and everyone throws that J-word around, but just justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Upbeat music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The article did get some important attention, though. A guy in the district attorney’s office for Yolo County, where West Sacramento is located and where Valentino died, saw his death by fentanyl as part of a pattern. Overdoses from the lethal drug were skyrocketing in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> Mostly from fentanyl overdoses, last year in California alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And in the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> We’ve seen over a dozen people die of fentanyl-related overdoses in the last year-and-a-half.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In June, this is two months after the article came out in the paper, the DA’s office issued a press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> DA Reisig compares it to DUI offenders who break the law again and kill someone in the process. They’ll be looking at…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They were changing their policy. Fentanyl deaths were now going to be investigated as potential homicides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> If you’re selling that drug knowing that it may be laced with fentanyl, and somebody dies, you should pay the price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> …a few grains of salt of fentanyl can kill you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Newscast:\u003c/b> DA Jeff Reisig is confident the policy will hold up if challenged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And these cases would be investigated by a special regional task force called Safe Streets, that involved the FBI, Sacramento County Law Enforcement, and a representative from the Yolo County DA’s Office. At the bottom of their release, the DA’s office included a photo of one of the victims of the recent uptick in fentanyl poisoning. It was Valentino Rodriguez, in his CDCR uniform, on the day he graduated from the academy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new FBI agent on the case, part of that Safe Streets task force, got in touch with Val Sr. via email. Quote-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “We are looking into/investigating the death of your son with several groups inside the FBI, as well as our local agency partners. Being as there are several complications to your son’s passing, the investigation is going to be more complex and time-consuming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Initially, I was told, “This is a very complicated case. It’s going to take time. You need to be patient for several reasons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But just a little while later, Val Sr. says the agent called back and said he was closing his investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I asked him why, he goes, “There’s nothing on the phone.” I says, “There’s all kinds of stuff on the phone.” He’s got phone records, he’s got two burn calls, I mean there’s all kinds of stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In an email, the FBI said they could not comment on the Safe Streets task force or any potential investigation into Valentino’s death. Val Sr. felt like he was stuck in a game of hot potato, being passed from one agency to another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> This, all this is like, like overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And this long journey of disappointments he’s been on, it’s part of why he’s agreed to talk to Julie and me, and share all the evidence he’s gathered, so we can try to figure out what’s going on here, and if there’s something law enforcement missed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Did you find the bindle ever?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> On one of our trips to Val Sr.’s home in West Sacramento he goes to a bookshelf in his living room and he pulls out a plastic pill bottle. He hands it to Julie, who holds it up to the light.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So in there is, um, a balloon, small balloon-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Inside the bottle there’s a zip-lock baggie with a white pill and two capsules in it, and a small round package about the size of a nickel, wrapped in black plastic, which Val Sr. believes came from New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> … and then these baggies, which on Val’s phone, shows these are the way he, you would log into evidence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/strong> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I don’t know what’s inside the capsules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Okay, well s- we’ll try to figure out what we can do to have this analyzed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I’m curious what’s in the balloon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We want to find out if what’s in the bindle or the pills matches the drugs in Valentino’s system when he died, so Julie and our producer, Steven Rascón, ship it off to a place that does forensic drug testing for law enforcement, and then we jump on a call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Sound FX – Zoom chime]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So do you have to, um, like package this a certain way?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Yeah. It gets a special packaging, double plastic zip-lock bags, and also the canister that you dropped it into, and twisted, and closed, and, um, yeah, and then bubble wrap around that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> All right, cool. So it’s on its way? It’s like literally in the mail on its way to the-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascón:\u003c/b> Yeah, so that’s like you, we can cross that off, which is great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s awesome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company says it’ll take 30 to 60 days to get the results back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Outro Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coming up next time, we start to get a sense of what it was like to be incarcerated at New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Incarcerated Man:\u003c/b> They would cuff us, you know, handcuff us and beat us, you know? And, um, wasn’t a whole lot we could do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And one of the guys I wrote to from Steele’s memo calls me back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Incarcerated man:\u003c/b> You got to be strong, man. Come on, Sukey. If you let shit like this get to you, then, man, all this shit’s for nothing, man. You got to stay strong. Don’t worry about me. I can handle my own. You got to stay strong. You got to f- do this til the end, how they say like ’til the wheels fall off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Finally, we get a deeper sense of Steele’s mission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Woman:\u003c/b> The only good thing that kept me going, there was this, uh, officer. His name is Mr. Steele. If it wasn’t for him, my son wouldn’t be alive today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Credits Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You’re listening to \u003ci>On Our Watch\u003c/i> Season 2, New Folsom, from KQED. If you have any tips or feedback about the series, you can email us at onourwatch@kqed.org. You can also leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauleón. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Egusa. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts, and she executive produced the series. Meticulous fact-checking by Mark Betancourt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additional research for this episode by Kathleen Quinn and Laura Fitzgerald, students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, whose chair, David Barstow, provided valuable support for the whole series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR, and KQED health correspondent April Dembosky. Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from APM Music and Audio Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and the California Endowment. And thanks to KQED’s Otis R. Taylor Jr., Managing Editor of News and Enterprise, Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our vice president of news, and Chief Content Officer Holly Kernan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"content": "\u003cp>Some state governments and federal regulators were already moving to keep individuals’ reproductive health information private when a U.S. senator’s report last week offered a new jolt, describing how cellphone location data was used to send millions of anti-abortion ads to people who visited Planned Parenthood offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal law bars medical providers from sharing health data without a patient’s consent but doesn’t prevent digital tech companies from tracking menstrual cycles or an individual’s location and selling it to data brokers. Legislation for federal bans have never gained momentum, largely because of opposition from the tech industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether that should change has become another political fault line in a nation where most Republican-controlled states have restricted abortion — including 14 with bans in place at every stage of pregnancy — and most Democratic ones have sought to protect access since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Abortion rights advocates fear that that if such data is not kept private, it could be used not only in targeted ads but also in law enforcement investigations or by abortion opponents looking to harm those who seek to end pregnancies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It isn’t just sort of creepy,” said Washington state Rep. Vandana Slatter, the sponsor of a law her state adopted last year to rein in unauthorized use of health information. “It’s actually harmful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But so far, there’s no evidence of widespread use of this kind of data in law enforcement investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Andrea Frey, lawyer for health care providers and digital health systems, Hooper Lundy Bookman\"]‘We’re really pushing forward with the free-flowing and seamless exchange of health care data with the intent of having information accessible so that providers can treat the whole person. Conversely, these privacy concerns come into play.’[/pullquote]“We’re generally talking about a future risk, not something that’s happening on the ground yet,” said Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and an advocate of protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/signed_near_letter_to_ftc_and_sec.pdf\">report last week from Sen. Ron Wyden\u003c/a>, an Oregon Democrat, showed the biggest known anti-abortion ad campaign directed to people who had been identified as having visited abortion providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wyden’s investigation found that the information gathered by a now-defunct data broker called Near Intelligence was used by ads from The Veritas Society, a nonprofit founded by Wisconsin Right to Life. The ads targeted people who visited 600 locations in 48 states from 2019 through 2022. There were more than 14 million ads in Wisconsin alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wyden called on the Federal Trade Commission to intervene in the bankruptcy case for Near to make sure the location information collected on Americans is destroyed and not sold to another data broker. He’s also asking the Securities Exchange Commission to investigate whether the company committed securities fraud by making misleading statements to investors about the senator’s investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the first time the issue has come up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/general-news-33f18b834c104df9b2901ef1bf38ae08\">Massachusetts reached a settlement\u003c/a> in 2017 with an ad agency that ran a similar campaign nearly a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-health-idaho-federal-trade-commission-government-and-politics-a9aabfc0d25828bc4951c736aaab617a\">FTC sued one data broker\u003c/a>, Kochava, over similar claims in 2022 in an ongoing case, and settled last month with another, X-Mode Social, and its successor, Outlogic, which the government said sold location data of even users who opted out of such sharing. X-Mode was also found to have sold location data to the U.S. military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In both cases, the FTC relied on a law against unfair or deceptive practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States are also passing or considering their own laws aimed specifically at protecting sensitive health information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Washington’s Slatter, a Democrat, has worked on digital privacy issues for years, but wasn’t able to get a bill with comprehensive protections adopted in her state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11973441,news_11962088,news_11953205,forum_2010101904752\"]She said things changed when Roe was overturned. She went to a rally in 2022 and heard women talking about deleting period-tracking apps out of fear of how their data could be exploited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she introduced a health-specific data privacy bill last year, it wasn’t just lawyers and lobbyists testifying; women of all ages and from many walks of life showed up to support it, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure, which bars selling personal health data without a consumer’s consent and prohibits tracking who visits reproductive or sexual health facilities, was adopted with the support of nearly all the state’s Democratic lawmakers and opposition from all the Republicans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Connecticut and Nevada adopted similar laws last year. New York enacted one that bars using tracking around health care facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=56.10.&lawCode=CIV\">California\u003c/a> and Maryland took another approach, enacting laws that prevent computerized health networks from sharing information about sensitive health care with other providers without consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really pushing forward with the free-flowing and seamless exchange of health care data with the intent of having information accessible so that providers can treat the whole person,” said Andrea Frey, a lawyer who represents health care providers and digital health systems. “Conversely, these privacy concerns come into play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Illinois, which already had a law limiting how health tracking data — measuring heart rates, steps and others — can be shared, adopted a new one last year that took effect Jan. 1 and that bans providing government license plate reading data to law enforcement in states with abortion bans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bills addressing the issue in some form have been introduced in several states this year, including Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, South Carolina and Vermont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Virginia, legislation that would prohibit the issuance of search warrants, subpoenas or court orders for electronic or digital menstrual health data recently cleared both chambers of the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Virginia state Sen. Barbara Favola\"]‘The next step to enforcing an abortion ban could be accessing menstrual health data, which is why I’m trying to protect that data.’[/pullquote]Democratic Sen. Barbara Favola said she saw the bill as a necessary precaution when Republican politicians, including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, have sought restrictions on abortion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The next step to enforcing an abortion ban could be accessing menstrual health data, which is why I’m trying to protect that data,” Favola said in a committee hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents asked whether such data had ever been sought by law enforcement, and Favola responded that she wasn’t aware of a particular example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just in search of a problem that does not exist,” said Republican Sen. Mark Peake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Youngkin’s administration made it clear he opposed similar legislation last year, but his press office didn’t respond to a request for comment on where he stands on the current version.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sean O’Brien, founder of the Yale Privacy Lab, says there is a problem with the way health information is being used, but he’s not sure laws will be the answer because companies could choose to ignore the potential consequences and continue scooping up and selling sensitive information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The software supply chain is extremely polluted with location tracking of individuals,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press reporters Frank Bajak in Boston and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this article.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We’re generally talking about a future risk, not something that’s happening on the ground yet,” said Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project and an advocate of protections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/signed_near_letter_to_ftc_and_sec.pdf\">report last week from Sen. Ron Wyden\u003c/a>, an Oregon Democrat, showed the biggest known anti-abortion ad campaign directed to people who had been identified as having visited abortion providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wyden’s investigation found that the information gathered by a now-defunct data broker called Near Intelligence was used by ads from The Veritas Society, a nonprofit founded by Wisconsin Right to Life. The ads targeted people who visited 600 locations in 48 states from 2019 through 2022. There were more than 14 million ads in Wisconsin alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wyden called on the Federal Trade Commission to intervene in the bankruptcy case for Near to make sure the location information collected on Americans is destroyed and not sold to another data broker. He’s also asking the Securities Exchange Commission to investigate whether the company committed securities fraud by making misleading statements to investors about the senator’s investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the first time the issue has come up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/general-news-33f18b834c104df9b2901ef1bf38ae08\">Massachusetts reached a settlement\u003c/a> in 2017 with an ad agency that ran a similar campaign nearly a decade ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/technology-health-idaho-federal-trade-commission-government-and-politics-a9aabfc0d25828bc4951c736aaab617a\">FTC sued one data broker\u003c/a>, Kochava, over similar claims in 2022 in an ongoing case, and settled last month with another, X-Mode Social, and its successor, Outlogic, which the government said sold location data of even users who opted out of such sharing. X-Mode was also found to have sold location data to the U.S. military.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In both cases, the FTC relied on a law against unfair or deceptive practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States are also passing or considering their own laws aimed specifically at protecting sensitive health information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Washington’s Slatter, a Democrat, has worked on digital privacy issues for years, but wasn’t able to get a bill with comprehensive protections adopted in her state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>She said things changed when Roe was overturned. She went to a rally in 2022 and heard women talking about deleting period-tracking apps out of fear of how their data could be exploited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When she introduced a health-specific data privacy bill last year, it wasn’t just lawyers and lobbyists testifying; women of all ages and from many walks of life showed up to support it, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The measure, which bars selling personal health data without a consumer’s consent and prohibits tracking who visits reproductive or sexual health facilities, was adopted with the support of nearly all the state’s Democratic lawmakers and opposition from all the Republicans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Connecticut and Nevada adopted similar laws last year. New York enacted one that bars using tracking around health care facilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=56.10.&lawCode=CIV\">California\u003c/a> and Maryland took another approach, enacting laws that prevent computerized health networks from sharing information about sensitive health care with other providers without consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re really pushing forward with the free-flowing and seamless exchange of health care data with the intent of having information accessible so that providers can treat the whole person,” said Andrea Frey, a lawyer who represents health care providers and digital health systems. “Conversely, these privacy concerns come into play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Illinois, which already had a law limiting how health tracking data — measuring heart rates, steps and others — can be shared, adopted a new one last year that took effect Jan. 1 and that bans providing government license plate reading data to law enforcement in states with abortion bans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bills addressing the issue in some form have been introduced in several states this year, including Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, South Carolina and Vermont.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Virginia, legislation that would prohibit the issuance of search warrants, subpoenas or court orders for electronic or digital menstrual health data recently cleared both chambers of the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘The next step to enforcing an abortion ban could be accessing menstrual health data, which is why I’m trying to protect that data.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Democratic Sen. Barbara Favola said she saw the bill as a necessary precaution when Republican politicians, including Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, have sought restrictions on abortion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The next step to enforcing an abortion ban could be accessing menstrual health data, which is why I’m trying to protect that data,” Favola said in a committee hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opponents asked whether such data had ever been sought by law enforcement, and Favola responded that she wasn’t aware of a particular example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just in search of a problem that does not exist,” said Republican Sen. Mark Peake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Youngkin’s administration made it clear he opposed similar legislation last year, but his press office didn’t respond to a request for comment on where he stands on the current version.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sean O’Brien, founder of the Yale Privacy Lab, says there is a problem with the way health information is being used, but he’s not sure laws will be the answer because companies could choose to ignore the potential consequences and continue scooping up and selling sensitive information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The software supply chain is extremely polluted with location tracking of individuals,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press reporters Frank Bajak in Boston and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this article.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California's Groundbreaking Racial Justice Act Cuts Its Teeth in Contra Costa",
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"headTitle": "California’s Groundbreaking Racial Justice Act Cuts Its Teeth in Contra Costa | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The effort to change the fundamental way race is considered in the California justice system received a jolt last week when a Contra Costa Superior Court judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974853/judge-finds-8-antioch-police-officers-tainted-by-racial-bias-reduces-criminal-charges\">ruled that racism within the Antioch Police Department tainted a murder investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 5, Judge David Goldstein, a former public defender, removed all gang enhancements that could have resulted in life without parole sentences for the four men charged with the murder. Defense attorneys used the California Racial Justice Act to argue that racism tainted the handling of the case, from the murder investigation to the charges given to the four defendants, all of whom are Black and in their early 20s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Vienna Peterson Joiner, Eric Windom's mother \"]‘People think that just because slavery ended, racism was pulled out at the root. But it wasn’t.’[/pullquote]It was the second time Goldstein ruled that anti-Black bias had shaped elements of the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Race has been a mostly silent character in criminal courtrooms because race couldn’t be raised explicitly in court proceedings to defend someone accused of a crime until the RJA. The law, enacted in 2020, is the first of its kind in the country. Over several months, a KQED reporter attended the RJA hearings in the case. KQED also spoke with defense attorneys, prosecutors and community members about how the law is changing the way race is recognized in courtrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of July, four young men in yellow jumpsuits were spread across the courtroom as the afternoon sun streamed through windows behind Goldstein’s bench. Keyshawn McGee and Trent Allen sat in the jury box. Eric Windom and Terryonn Pugh were tucked in around the far end of the attorney’s table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Behind them, the gallery was packed. The hallway outside the courtroom was filled with an overflow of family members, reporters and curious attorneys taking advantage of breaks between court appearances to get a glimpse of the historic hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The four men were charged with an alleged gang-related murder and attempted murder. The murder charge included five enhancements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what happened: On March 9, 2021, police allege that the four men shot a car 40 times in a drive-by shooting on a residential street in Antioch. Arnold Marcel Hawkins, 22, was killed and another man was wounded. The shooting was allegedly part of a long-running feud between two East Bay gangs. The arrests of the men \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Gb7Z1vaLM\">were heralded by East Bay law enforcement\u003c/a> as a meaningful step toward reducing gun violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Updated last year, the RJA made two major changes to existing state law. First, it created a way for defense attorneys to raise racism in court to defend someone accused of a crime. Second, it broadened what kind of evidence the court can consider to include indications of implicit bias, usually an analysis of the outcomes of similar cases that reveal the preferential or discriminatory treatment of one demographic group or another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Contra Costa County, a growing number of RJA claims have recently gained traction. The ruling in the case against McGee, Allen, Pugh and Windom was the third time a Contra Costa judge has sided with the RJA, which allows judges to exclude witness testimony and drop charges, among other options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will hopefully be a model for defendants across the state,” said Evan Kuluk, Windom’s attorney. “If the police who investigated their case were racially biased, used excessive force or spoke about them in racially discriminatory ways, there truly is a remedy available.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Reparations Task Force submitted a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">1,000-page report\u003c/a> to the state Legislature last summer, which included provisions to strengthen the RJA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The heart of implicit bias is when racism becomes so endemic, so pervasive, so enduring, so intractable, that it’s normal course,” Donald Tamaki, an attorney and task force member, told KQED. “So how do you disrupt that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974445/california-reparations-backers-applaud-bills-even-without-big-cash-payouts\">members of California’s legislative Black Caucus introduced a package of bills\u003c/a>, including four proposed changes to the state’s justice system. The proposed legislation does not include cash payments, but Tamaki and fellow task member Lisa Holder said policies like the RJA are just as important to reducing racial disparities as cutting a check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11971366\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11971366\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a dark suit stands in front of a large outdoor flight of brick stairs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Evan Kuluk, a public defender who used the California Racial Justice Act to argue that racism in the Antioch Police Department tainted a murder investigation, in front of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez on Aug. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The district attorney\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last spring, Kuluk was focused on how Contra Contra County district attorneys choose to add gang enhancements to murder charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve handled a lot of cases with gang allegations in this county and saw what I believe to be a disproportionate number of Black young men, especially from Richmond and Antioch, being charged with gang allegations,” said Kuluk, a public defender for 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"left\" citation=\"Evan Kuluk, attorney\"]‘If the police who investigated their case were racially biased, used excessive force or spoke about them in racially discriminatory ways, there truly is a remedy available.’[/pullquote]As a member of the county’s Alternate Defender Office, Kuluk was assigned to represent Windom, now 24, who was pursuing a music career at the time of his arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kuluk and Windom requested charging records from Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton. With the help of a UC Irvine statistician, they found that from 2015–2022, Black men accused of gang-related murders were 44% more likely to be charged with enhancements than defendants of other races accused of similar gang-related murders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because they carry mandatory LWOP, the filing of special circumstances is an assertion that an individual is irredeemable,” Kuluk told KQED, referring to a life without the possibility of parole sentence. “It is beyond unfair and unacceptable for the government to more frequently deem Black people unworthy to ever get the opportunity to prove their redemption to a parole board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becton’s office disputed Kuluk’s findings, but in May, Windom and his co-defendants convinced the court that the district attorney had applied the enhancement in a biased way. The gang enhancement was dismissed. It was the first time in the United States, a country where Black residents are \u003ca href=\"https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/the-color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons-the-sentencing-project/\">five times more likely to be incarcerated in state prison than white residents\u003c/a>, that an argument of implicit bias in the justice system resulted in a charge being dropped from a criminal case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa Chief Assistant District Attorney Simon O’Connell said he doubted anyone in the office was knowingly targeting Black defendants for harsher punishment. But he said the RJA challenge gave the DA a reason to look more closely at their charging data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know what we don’t know,” he said. “It was important for us to start looking at historical data to see if, in fact, there were implicit biases and trends in our data, which would be surprising to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The police\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Windom and his three co-defendants had a second RJA hearing related to racist text messages uncovered by an FBI probe into alleged criminal activity by the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the messages were sent during the murder investigation. Here’s one exchange sent over the course of 22 minutes while officers were surveilling McGee, Allen, Pugh and Windom eating at a barbecue restaurant in Concord in March 2021:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Antioch police officer Eric Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Sooo many black peolpe (sic).”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Antioch police officer Jonathan Adams:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Bro. They all look the same.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>“Tell me about it. I feel like I’m at the zoo.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “They’re getting ice cream. Swarming to it like Hennessy. I bet its chicken.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Adams:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Could be ribs.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “For sure watermelon and kool aid. I hate these idiots.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other messages suggest Black people don’t like pools and can’t be seen in the dark, employing tropes used to demean Black people. Still, other messages use the N-word and include photos of Pugh and Allen in hospital beds after being injured by officers during their arrests. In the messages, the officers joke about kicking Allen’s head like a football.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shirelle Cobbs, Allen’s mother, shook with rage outside of the courtroom after the texts were read during a hearing. “If it was the other way around, my son would be under the courthouse or dead,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becton has recommended at least 30 criminal cases for dismissal that involve police work by officers involved in the text messaging exchanges. But not in this case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the second RJA claim, the men asked Goldstein to dismiss all the enhancements and to downgrade a number of the top charges. They argued that the racist text messages made it impossible for the investigating officers to have done their jobs free of bias. They argued that not only were the officers who sent the messages compromised but so was the entire police department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, Claire Jean Kim, a UC Irvine political science professor and expert in racial bias, testified for the defense. The text messages included department supervisors. She said only in a department with an entrenched culture of racism would no one report the violations of department policy. And that, she said, is exactly what happened in the Antioch Police Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law can and must repudiate the decisions made by such decision-makers, both for the sake of the defendant and for the community that rests its trust in the justice system,” she told the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961176\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11961176\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Two people with their hair in buns stand together looking at the camera in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vienna Peterson Joiner (right) and Mariah Thomas drove up from Los Angeles to be in the courtroom during Eric Windom’s Racial Justice Act hearing in Martinez on Sept. 8, 2023. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Vienna Peterson Joiner was frequently in the gallery watching Windom, her son, closely. She told KQED she was trying to decipher how he was feeling and whether he’d eaten by the way he sat in his chair. Peterson Joiner and Windom are not allowed to speak at his court appearances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to run up there and hug him,” she said. “I want to tell [the court] what we know about Eric.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She drove to Martinez from Los Angeles for court dates, sometimes stopping to pick up her son’s fiance, Mariah Thomas, and their 1-year-old daughter. When Windom was a toddler, his father was incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His own experience with his father and his current situation and lack of ability to be fully there for his child now is weighing on him,” Kuluk told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Thomas, the disruption to building a family with Windom is painful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s being held by people who don’t like the color of his skin,” she said. “That’s really what it boils down to because if these people were white, they would’ve been home. They would’ve been with their family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peterson Joiner said it was a relief when the judge dropped the gang enhancement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was glad that the judge did see that and paid attention to what was actually really going on,” she said. “People think that just because slavery ended, racism was pulled out at the root. But it wasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Data is the mechanism\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Natasha Minsker, a criminal justice reform policy consultant, said Becton’s willingness to provide data on charging practices has made the county a hot spot for attorneys testing the limits of the RJA using statistical evidence of discriminatory treatment. She, like Kuluk, is a member of the Racial Justice Act Implementation Working Group, a collection of advocates, attorneys and policymakers moving to bring claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Jan. 1, people who are currently and formerly incarcerated are now able to challenge their convictions using the RJA. Minsker said more than three-quarters of the state’s prison population — about 90,000 people — could have viable claims. If implemented, she said, the law could help end mass incarceration in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But to get there, defense attorneys need more funding and more data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were incredibly cooperative,” Kuluk said of Becton’s office. “That’s not what has been happening in many other counties in California where DA’s offices have been hostile to public records requests that they interpret as potentially leading to Racial Justice Act claims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities and counties aren’t currently required to collect data on the race of defendants or to make that data public. According to a statewide survey conducted by the reparations task force, 12 out of 57 responding county DA offices, including Sacramento, do not collect data on an accused person’s race, making RJA claims extremely challenging, if not impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County, home to the Vallejo Police Department, did not respond to the survey. In October, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11964674/trust-has-been-broken-california-demands-vallejo-police-reforms-citing-major-rights-violations\">the state Department of Justice expanded oversight of the Vallejo police\u003c/a> after the department failed to comply with the vast majority of court-mandated reforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without access to data, the promise of the [Racial Justice] Act has the potential to ring hollow to many,” the task force wrote in its report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag=\"racial-justice, racism\" label=\"More Related Stories\"]Among the 115 policy proposals suggested by the task force are \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ch28-ca-reparations.pdf\">a series meant to strengthen and expand the Racial Justice Act (PDF)\u003c/a>, including additional funding to help defense attorneys hire data analysts, penalties for district attorneys who fail to provide complete data and calls to fund the Justice Data Accountability and Transparency Act fully. The law, passed in 2022 and set to go into effect in 2027, will require district attorneys to report case data, including the race of the defendant and the victim, to the state DOJ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you can bring irrefutable evidence of anti-Black bias within the criminal justice system to a court, then they will have no choice but to respond and to right the wrongs,” said Holder, who is also the president of the Equal Justice Society, an Oakland-based racial justice nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, Becton hired an analyst to guide the office’s data collection and preservation practices. In response to Windom’s claim, the office also established a committee review system for evaluating all special circumstances charges on articulable, race-neutral grounds before they are filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the power of the Racial Justice Act,” Minsker said. “It makes all actors in the justice system responsible for pushing forward racial justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, the California DOJ published the state’s first-ever race-blind charging guidelines for prosecutors. A state law passed in 2022 will require county prosecutors to institute race-blind charging practices starting next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11959229\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11959229\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two people hold signs, one depicting a man with a deep wound to his head, as one of the people speaks emphatically in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kathryn Wade (left) and Carolyn Simmons speak out against the police violence that Wade says her son, Malad Baldwin, experienced at the hands of the Antioch Police Department at a rally in front of the AF Bray Courthouse in Martinez on Aug. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For some, the recent RJA successes in Contra Costa come with a sting. At each court date for Windom’s RJA hearing, Hawkins’ family members were there, including his mother, Brandi Griffin. For six months after he was shot outside of their Antioch home, she kept him on life support, hoping her son, who she described as free-spirited, would recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our family has been sacrificed based on what the Antioch Police Department has done,” said Griffin, who told KQED that the case has stripped her faith in the justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In front of the courthouse in July, she shouted at a scrum of reporters, her voice strained with grief and rage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t give a shit about no racist shit!” she said. “What about my son?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The Racial Justice Act was designed to radically reshape how our criminal justice system handles race. Contra Costa County has become a hot spot for cases testing the limits of the law. ",
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"title": "California's Groundbreaking Racial Justice Act Cuts Its Teeth in Contra Costa | KQED",
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"headline": "California's Groundbreaking Racial Justice Act Cuts Its Teeth in Contra Costa",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The effort to change the fundamental way race is considered in the California justice system received a jolt last week when a Contra Costa Superior Court judge \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974853/judge-finds-8-antioch-police-officers-tainted-by-racial-bias-reduces-criminal-charges\">ruled that racism within the Antioch Police Department tainted a murder investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Feb. 5, Judge David Goldstein, a former public defender, removed all gang enhancements that could have resulted in life without parole sentences for the four men charged with the murder. Defense attorneys used the California Racial Justice Act to argue that racism tainted the handling of the case, from the murder investigation to the charges given to the four defendants, all of whom are Black and in their early 20s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘People think that just because slavery ended, racism was pulled out at the root. But it wasn’t.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It was the second time Goldstein ruled that anti-Black bias had shaped elements of the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Race has been a mostly silent character in criminal courtrooms because race couldn’t be raised explicitly in court proceedings to defend someone accused of a crime until the RJA. The law, enacted in 2020, is the first of its kind in the country. Over several months, a KQED reporter attended the RJA hearings in the case. KQED also spoke with defense attorneys, prosecutors and community members about how the law is changing the way race is recognized in courtrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of July, four young men in yellow jumpsuits were spread across the courtroom as the afternoon sun streamed through windows behind Goldstein’s bench. Keyshawn McGee and Trent Allen sat in the jury box. Eric Windom and Terryonn Pugh were tucked in around the far end of the attorney’s table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Behind them, the gallery was packed. The hallway outside the courtroom was filled with an overflow of family members, reporters and curious attorneys taking advantage of breaks between court appearances to get a glimpse of the historic hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The four men were charged with an alleged gang-related murder and attempted murder. The murder charge included five enhancements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what happened: On March 9, 2021, police allege that the four men shot a car 40 times in a drive-by shooting on a residential street in Antioch. Arnold Marcel Hawkins, 22, was killed and another man was wounded. The shooting was allegedly part of a long-running feud between two East Bay gangs. The arrests of the men \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80Gb7Z1vaLM\">were heralded by East Bay law enforcement\u003c/a> as a meaningful step toward reducing gun violence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Updated last year, the RJA made two major changes to existing state law. First, it created a way for defense attorneys to raise racism in court to defend someone accused of a crime. Second, it broadened what kind of evidence the court can consider to include indications of implicit bias, usually an analysis of the outcomes of similar cases that reveal the preferential or discriminatory treatment of one demographic group or another.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Contra Costa County, a growing number of RJA claims have recently gained traction. The ruling in the case against McGee, Allen, Pugh and Windom was the third time a Contra Costa judge has sided with the RJA, which allows judges to exclude witness testimony and drop charges, among other options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It will hopefully be a model for defendants across the state,” said Evan Kuluk, Windom’s attorney. “If the police who investigated their case were racially biased, used excessive force or spoke about them in racially discriminatory ways, there truly is a remedy available.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Reparations Task Force submitted a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/report\">1,000-page report\u003c/a> to the state Legislature last summer, which included provisions to strengthen the RJA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The heart of implicit bias is when racism becomes so endemic, so pervasive, so enduring, so intractable, that it’s normal course,” Donald Tamaki, an attorney and task force member, told KQED. “So how do you disrupt that?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974445/california-reparations-backers-applaud-bills-even-without-big-cash-payouts\">members of California’s legislative Black Caucus introduced a package of bills\u003c/a>, including four proposed changes to the state’s justice system. The proposed legislation does not include cash payments, but Tamaki and fellow task member Lisa Holder said policies like the RJA are just as important to reducing racial disparities as cutting a check.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11971366\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11971366\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a dark suit stands in front of a large outdoor flight of brick stairs.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-11-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Evan Kuluk, a public defender who used the California Racial Justice Act to argue that racism in the Antioch Police Department tainted a murder investigation, in front of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez on Aug. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The district attorney\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Last spring, Kuluk was focused on how Contra Contra County district attorneys choose to add gang enhancements to murder charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve handled a lot of cases with gang allegations in this county and saw what I believe to be a disproportionate number of Black young men, especially from Richmond and Antioch, being charged with gang allegations,” said Kuluk, a public defender for 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As a member of the county’s Alternate Defender Office, Kuluk was assigned to represent Windom, now 24, who was pursuing a music career at the time of his arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kuluk and Windom requested charging records from Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton. With the help of a UC Irvine statistician, they found that from 2015–2022, Black men accused of gang-related murders were 44% more likely to be charged with enhancements than defendants of other races accused of similar gang-related murders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because they carry mandatory LWOP, the filing of special circumstances is an assertion that an individual is irredeemable,” Kuluk told KQED, referring to a life without the possibility of parole sentence. “It is beyond unfair and unacceptable for the government to more frequently deem Black people unworthy to ever get the opportunity to prove their redemption to a parole board.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becton’s office disputed Kuluk’s findings, but in May, Windom and his co-defendants convinced the court that the district attorney had applied the enhancement in a biased way. The gang enhancement was dismissed. It was the first time in the United States, a country where Black residents are \u003ca href=\"https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/the-color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons-the-sentencing-project/\">five times more likely to be incarcerated in state prison than white residents\u003c/a>, that an argument of implicit bias in the justice system resulted in a charge being dropped from a criminal case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa Chief Assistant District Attorney Simon O’Connell said he doubted anyone in the office was knowingly targeting Black defendants for harsher punishment. But he said the RJA challenge gave the DA a reason to look more closely at their charging data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know what we don’t know,” he said. “It was important for us to start looking at historical data to see if, in fact, there were implicit biases and trends in our data, which would be surprising to us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The police\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Windom and his three co-defendants had a second RJA hearing related to racist text messages uncovered by an FBI probe into alleged criminal activity by the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the messages were sent during the murder investigation. Here’s one exchange sent over the course of 22 minutes while officers were surveilling McGee, Allen, Pugh and Windom eating at a barbecue restaurant in Concord in March 2021:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Antioch police officer Eric Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Sooo many black peolpe (sic).”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Antioch police officer Jonathan Adams:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Bro. They all look the same.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>“Tell me about it. I feel like I’m at the zoo.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “They’re getting ice cream. Swarming to it like Hennessy. I bet its chicken.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Adams:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “Could be ribs.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"padding-left: 40px\">\u003cstrong>Rombough:\u003c/strong>\u003cem> “For sure watermelon and kool aid. I hate these idiots.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other messages suggest Black people don’t like pools and can’t be seen in the dark, employing tropes used to demean Black people. Still, other messages use the N-word and include photos of Pugh and Allen in hospital beds after being injured by officers during their arrests. In the messages, the officers joke about kicking Allen’s head like a football.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shirelle Cobbs, Allen’s mother, shook with rage outside of the courtroom after the texts were read during a hearing. “If it was the other way around, my son would be under the courthouse or dead,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Becton has recommended at least 30 criminal cases for dismissal that involve police work by officers involved in the text messaging exchanges. But not in this case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the second RJA claim, the men asked Goldstein to dismiss all the enhancements and to downgrade a number of the top charges. They argued that the racist text messages made it impossible for the investigating officers to have done their jobs free of bias. They argued that not only were the officers who sent the messages compromised but so was the entire police department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August, Claire Jean Kim, a UC Irvine political science professor and expert in racial bias, testified for the defense. The text messages included department supervisors. She said only in a department with an entrenched culture of racism would no one report the violations of department policy. And that, she said, is exactly what happened in the Antioch Police Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The law can and must repudiate the decisions made by such decision-makers, both for the sake of the defendant and for the community that rests its trust in the justice system,” she told the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11961176\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11961176\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Two people with their hair in buns stand together looking at the camera in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/09/230914-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-AF-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vienna Peterson Joiner (right) and Mariah Thomas drove up from Los Angeles to be in the courtroom during Eric Windom’s Racial Justice Act hearing in Martinez on Sept. 8, 2023. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Vienna Peterson Joiner was frequently in the gallery watching Windom, her son, closely. She told KQED she was trying to decipher how he was feeling and whether he’d eaten by the way he sat in his chair. Peterson Joiner and Windom are not allowed to speak at his court appearances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to run up there and hug him,” she said. “I want to tell [the court] what we know about Eric.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She drove to Martinez from Los Angeles for court dates, sometimes stopping to pick up her son’s fiance, Mariah Thomas, and their 1-year-old daughter. When Windom was a toddler, his father was incarcerated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“His own experience with his father and his current situation and lack of ability to be fully there for his child now is weighing on him,” Kuluk told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Thomas, the disruption to building a family with Windom is painful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s being held by people who don’t like the color of his skin,” she said. “That’s really what it boils down to because if these people were white, they would’ve been home. They would’ve been with their family.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peterson Joiner said it was a relief when the judge dropped the gang enhancement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was glad that the judge did see that and paid attention to what was actually really going on,” she said. “People think that just because slavery ended, racism was pulled out at the root. But it wasn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Data is the mechanism\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Natasha Minsker, a criminal justice reform policy consultant, said Becton’s willingness to provide data on charging practices has made the county a hot spot for attorneys testing the limits of the RJA using statistical evidence of discriminatory treatment. She, like Kuluk, is a member of the Racial Justice Act Implementation Working Group, a collection of advocates, attorneys and policymakers moving to bring claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Jan. 1, people who are currently and formerly incarcerated are now able to challenge their convictions using the RJA. Minsker said more than three-quarters of the state’s prison population — about 90,000 people — could have viable claims. If implemented, she said, the law could help end mass incarceration in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But to get there, defense attorneys need more funding and more data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were incredibly cooperative,” Kuluk said of Becton’s office. “That’s not what has been happening in many other counties in California where DA’s offices have been hostile to public records requests that they interpret as potentially leading to Racial Justice Act claims.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cities and counties aren’t currently required to collect data on the race of defendants or to make that data public. According to a statewide survey conducted by the reparations task force, 12 out of 57 responding county DA offices, including Sacramento, do not collect data on an accused person’s race, making RJA claims extremely challenging, if not impossible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County, home to the Vallejo Police Department, did not respond to the survey. In October, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11964674/trust-has-been-broken-california-demands-vallejo-police-reforms-citing-major-rights-violations\">the state Department of Justice expanded oversight of the Vallejo police\u003c/a> after the department failed to comply with the vast majority of court-mandated reforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Without access to data, the promise of the [Racial Justice] Act has the potential to ring hollow to many,” the task force wrote in its report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Among the 115 policy proposals suggested by the task force are \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ch28-ca-reparations.pdf\">a series meant to strengthen and expand the Racial Justice Act (PDF)\u003c/a>, including additional funding to help defense attorneys hire data analysts, penalties for district attorneys who fail to provide complete data and calls to fund the Justice Data Accountability and Transparency Act fully. The law, passed in 2022 and set to go into effect in 2027, will require district attorneys to report case data, including the race of the defendant and the victim, to the state DOJ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you can bring irrefutable evidence of anti-Black bias within the criminal justice system to a court, then they will have no choice but to respond and to right the wrongs,” said Holder, who is also the president of the Equal Justice Society, an Oakland-based racial justice nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, Becton hired an analyst to guide the office’s data collection and preservation practices. In response to Windom’s claim, the office also established a committee review system for evaluating all special circumstances charges on articulable, race-neutral grounds before they are filed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the power of the Racial Justice Act,” Minsker said. “It makes all actors in the justice system responsible for pushing forward racial justice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last month, the California DOJ published the state’s first-ever race-blind charging guidelines for prosecutors. A state law passed in 2022 will require county prosecutors to institute race-blind charging practices starting next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11959229\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11959229\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two people hold signs, one depicting a man with a deep wound to his head, as one of the people speaks emphatically in an outdoor setting.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230825-ANTIOCH-RACIAL-JUSTICE-HEARING-MD-03-KQED-scaled.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kathryn Wade (left) and Carolyn Simmons speak out against the police violence that Wade says her son, Malad Baldwin, experienced at the hands of the Antioch Police Department at a rally in front of the AF Bray Courthouse in Martinez on Aug. 25, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For some, the recent RJA successes in Contra Costa come with a sting. At each court date for Windom’s RJA hearing, Hawkins’ family members were there, including his mother, Brandi Griffin. For six months after he was shot outside of their Antioch home, she kept him on life support, hoping her son, who she described as free-spirited, would recover.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our family has been sacrificed based on what the Antioch Police Department has done,” said Griffin, who told KQED that the case has stripped her faith in the justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In front of the courthouse in July, she shouted at a scrum of reporters, her voice strained with grief and rage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t give a shit about no racist shit!” she said. “What about my son?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "2-running-the-race-s2-new-folsom",
"title": "2. Running the Race | S2: New Folsom",
"publishDate": 1707822007,
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"headTitle": "2. Running the Race | S2: New Folsom | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Consumed with stress and fed up with how he’s being treated, Valentino Rodriguez reaches a breaking point at work. A veteran officer and mentor to Valentino starts looking into the murder that happened in the dayroom. Valentino and Mimy get married, then Valentino goes in for a final meeting with the warden of New Folsom. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC3540456241\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warmline Directory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you have tips or feedback about this series please reach out to us at \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:onourwatch@kqed.org\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">onourwatch@kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer:\u003c/b> Before we start, I just wanted to give you a heads-up that this episode references violent incidents, discriminatory language, and substance use disorder. We also talk about someone’s death by fentanyl poisoning. If you or someone you know needs support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay, so it’s me Sukey and Julie, and Steven, and we’re here at Julie’s house. Two days after, we saw Val and Erma and got the phone, and we’re just–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We’re back from our trip to West Sacramento where I first got to meet the parents of Officer Valentino Rodriguez. And our reporting team is clustered around a computer screen. We don’t know exactly what we’re gonna find on the hard drive that Val Senior handed over in his office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/b>Looking through kinda the materials that are on here that are many, many tens of gigabytes of information, um, and trying to figure out, like, what’s going on here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It contains evidence he’s been able to put together over the past two years as he turned from grieving dad into an investigator trying to solve the riddle of his son’s death and how it might be connected to the place where he worked, New Folsom Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> It’s a letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Um, then a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Also on the drive is what we’re looking at right now – a duplicate of Valentino’s cellphone, with messages going all the way back to 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascon:\u003c/b> Oh, incoming. Incoming, outgoing\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We’ve gotten hundreds of documents through public record requests. But they’re all steeped in official language, and some are so redacted they barely make sense. What Valentino’s phone promises is both so much more intimate and so much more telling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What is that? Holy shit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> About what it was like to work at New Folsom, but also about who Val was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> [sings] Super dog, super dog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A guy who sings to his dog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> This is about Daisy the super dog\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr & Jr:\u003c/b> See you on the other side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> All right, let’s go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Lean back. Look behind you\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Zip lines with his dad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>This way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr: \u003c/b>Woo-hoo\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A man who was loved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Hello, my love, um, I’m gonna see you after work. Also, I’m-I’m gonna try to get off early so we can do something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And we can see his text messages with the guys he worked with at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small: \u003c/b>Woah. It’s all of them, all the–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey:\u003c/b> Oh, all right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Yeah, these are the group texts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And one message jumps out at us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Interesting. When’s the date on that one?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascon:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s on the day, the day he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascon:\u003c/b> Oh, he texted Steele the day he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/b>I think it’s from Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Oh it’s from Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Sergeant Kevin Steele, the Bruce Willis-looking, former military guy who was kind of a mentor to Valentino. Just hours before Valentino died, in October 2020, the sergeant reaches out with this cryptic message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> “I think you already know I did not set up the course, but I am running the race. Steele.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Valentino Texts back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> “Awesome, I just hope that I am not mentioned at all to anyone, not even to those who know my involvement. Not even among people I trust. Iwish that for everyone on this side of the race, my name is left out of everything.” So, they’re talking in some kind of code, right? “I did not set up the course, but I am running the race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But since both of these men have died, we’re going to have to figure out what these texts mean on our own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As we sift through Valentino’s phone, his photos and videos, voice memos, and notes, along with the documents we’ve gotten from the prison, we’re hoping to find answers. What was Valentino going through? What would lead him to turn on his team? And what was the race he and Steele were running? And we’re also looking to understand the choices made by people in positions of power that he reached out to for help, people who were supposed to act and didn’t. I’m Sukey Lewis. This is \u003ci>On Our Watch,\u003c/i> Season 2: New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> You can read this so you get to know more about him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> What he was going through… but don’t-don’t copy this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>Yeah, or use it maybe– I mean, you can like, uh–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We’d started looking into Valentino’s story to see if the death of this whistleblower was connected to all those cases we’d found showing off the charts’ use of force at New Folsom. But Val Senior was already way ahead of us in investigating his son’s death. So every few weeks, my co-reporter, Julie, would meet up with Val Senior to get more of the evidence he’d collected and she’d share what we were finding with him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small: \u003c/b>So we’ve started a database of the guard’s names and then different allegations against them. And then-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Building this relationship with Val Senior has been tricky. He’s grieving and he feels like he was burned by other people who said they’d look into his son’s death and then dropped it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>Oh, I just-I just want this to work both ways–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small: \u003c/b>Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I need to know what you’re doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That’s all I’ve ever asked. I might even– I-I– nobody even knows we’re having these meetings other than my wife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He says he’s not trying to swear our reporting, and it doesn’t seem like he is, but it does feel like he’s still testing us to see how serious we are about this investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> You go through stuff and you decide, right? I don’t want to paint a picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I never have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I’m not gonna bullshit nobody and, uh, ruin anyone’s lives. I just want-I just want the truth told, that– that’s all I’m doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small: \u003c/b>Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s what we want too, but after years of working as reporters, Julie and I both know the truth can be a really complicated thing. Take the harassment Valentino experienced from the squad. As we go through Valentino’s phone, we can see that he was called ugly names. But we can also see that Valentino sometimes used offensive language too, calling his gaming friend a homophobic slur or sending a GIF of a swinging penis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These guys, ’cause they’re all guys on these text threads, work in a prison. Their conversations are dark and their jokes are not usually kind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music] \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s also a particular edge of nastiness to some of the other guys’ texts that feels different than Valentino’s off-color joking. One of our producers agreed to read some of them so you can hear what was being said. Heads up, it’s vulgar, but we’ve bleeped the slurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer: \u003c/b>“Is that the jizz from A Facility? Drink up. In your mouth, you f––. Tell your lady I said hi. You f––. Send a picture of your girl’s ass.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/b>Those messages are all from this one guy, Daniel Garland. And Valentino doesn’t usually take the bait, but there is this one time where you can see he just snaps. It starts with Valentino texting the group something totally innocuous: how to log in to a new HR system for vacation requests. He’s just being helpful. And Garland writes back-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer:\u003c/b> Who gives a fuck f––?!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s when Valentino loses it and says, “Go fuck yourself, you dumb shit.” And this is what Garland does in response. He sends this weird video to the group, and it’s of a guy who’s probably in his early 20s, in a black and red sweatshirt at what looks like the gym talking straight into the camera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Garland’s Son:\u003c/b> If you ever get outta the pocket again I’m gonna slap your fat ass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> You ever get out of pocket again I’m gonna slap your fat ass. That was a flat-out threat. And when he got to work, uh, they laughed at him. They laughed about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The guy saying he was gonna slap Valentino was actually Garland’s son. For Valentino, this was the last straw. Garland had been insulting him since he joined the squad about a year earlier. CDCR does have a no-tolerance policy against discrimination and harassment, which these text messages fell outside the lines of. In an email, an attorney for Garland and some of the other officers in those text threads stated that her clients never bullied, hazed, or harassed Officer Rodriguez while he worked at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the officers coped with their stressful and violent workplace in different ways, but that they “Genuinely cared for and supported each other.” When Valentino first got that video from Garland’s son, he told his dad it wasn’t a big deal. But he told other people it really bothered him. It was clear he couldn’t take much more of this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> In the back of my head, I kept thinking all the time, “Well, the warden knows who he is. He’s gonna take care of him. There’s people that’ll take care of him. That’s-that’s not the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Droning music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Just after the new year, January 2020, Valentino had a lot going on. He was pissed off at the team about the Garland incident and he was stressed about that gruesome stabbing that happened in the day room. The one with the video that he showed his dad, Valentino was still working on writing his reports for that. He’d worked so hard to get here, achieved his dream of being an investigator. But now all he could think about was quitting. He wrote this note into his phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> It’s entitled, “Reasons to Leave. Harassment, disrespect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>“Disrespect, threats, whistleblower violations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Whistleblower violations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>“Voted off team.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Keep your mouth shut, or you’ll be fired. You do stupid work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> “You do stupid work, they do important shit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Just so you know, in his text messages, Valentino complains that the person telling him to stay quiet and demeaning his work was his boss, the new head of the unit, a guy named Sergeant David Anderson. Anderson was also on some of the terrible text threads, so it doesn’t look like Valentino felt like he could turn to him to step in. Anderson did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Valentino’s reasons go on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> “Depressed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “No money, bad health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I’ll work for Dad. Be happy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Be happy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Around the same time that he wrote that note, he also texted a friend that he was getting out soon. He had a plan to stick around for a few months and then switch to a part-time position where he could work a few shifts and still get benefits. But a couple of weeks later, his plans to try and stick it out fell apart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I remember him coming home and telling me that he broke down to the assistant warden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s Mimy Rodriguez, Valentino’s wife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> And he was sobbing and he had told her how he felt about things and he felt just like everything was kind of closing in on him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> She tells Julie and me that Valentino had a really rough day at work. The person he fell apart in front of was Gena Jones, the chief deputy warden of the prison. She was in charge of the squad, the investigative services unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> And I remember sitting on the couch with him and him saying, “I left work. I left, and it’s gone. I’m not gonna be there anymore. I broke down to the assistant warden.” And I guess he opened up to her about everything that was going on. I remember this very clearly. He said, “This is my identity.” He’s like, “I feel like I’ve given up on everything. I feel like I gave up on my job.” And I was like, “No, you didn’t give up. Valentino, you’re doing this for you.” He’s like, “No, I gave up. This is who I am, and I-I don’t know who I am anymore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy says something else happened in this meeting too. She says Valentino made some serious allegations about his fellow officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> That officers could have been planting drugs on inmates, could have been planting drugs on, uh, other officers. And I know that he was very nervous to talk to anybody because he didn’t want anyone to retaliate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy’s memory of this incident is all we have to go on, but this is important because from what we’ve been able to figure out, this would be the first time Valentino told higher-ups in charge of the investigative services unit that the squad, the very officers investigating crimes in the prison, might be committing serious misconduct. Mimy says at the time, she didn’t fully consider the implications of that—what kind of obligation to report or investigate that Valentino’s allegations might have triggered for Jones. But now she does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I do believe that at that time, she had a right to say something or at least reported, mentioned something, write it down, document it, if anything, but from what I understand, nothing was even documented, which I find very interesting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> To be clear, Mimy says, Valentino also didn’t wanna make an official report. There’s an unwritten code among correctional officers: never tell on each other. But as a supervisor, Jones did have an explicit obligation to act immediately to stop the harassment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I remember specifically saying, “Valentino, if-if-if these people are bothering you and hurting you, you need to report that.” But he was– he didn’t want it to go back to him. He didn’t want it to get traced back that he had said anything about the team or that, um, any type of retaliation could have happened to him or his work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Now, everyone’s memory is imperfect and Mimy wasn’t in this meeting with Jones, so we don’t know for sure what he told her the day he broke down. But we did hear that this happened from another officer who didn’t wanna go on the record, but he confirmed that he’d also heard that Valentino had made these allegations to Jones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We asked CDCR if Jones had been questioned about this incident or her knowledge of discriminatory behavior in the unit, but the agency declined to comment. We asked for an interview with Jones, but a CDCR spokeswoman declined stating that wardens can’t talk about personnel matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Driving music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only action we know for sure the chief deputy warden took was to put Valentino out on medical leave for stress. That worker’s compensation claim was tied to an incident that happened years earlier, back in 2017, where Valentino wound up in the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Captain:\u003c/b> Hey Rodriguez, just calling to see how you’re doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A captain left this voicemail on his phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Captain:\u003c/b> Good job toughing it out yesterday. But man, you need to take it easy. If, uh- if that really is a concussion, enjoy your time. Hopefully, uh, you catch up on any Netflix that you’re behind on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He wasn’t in the squad yet. He was still just a regular officer. And one day after yard time, they were lining up the incarcerated people to search them and escort them back to their cells. Among them was this one guy named Amon Morrison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> Hello?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Hi, is this Amon?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> It’s Amon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Amon, sorry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I actually tracked him down, a prison in Corcoran in central California. The call was really bad quality, but he says he had an illegal phone on him that day. So when they were lining him up to search him and take him back to his cell, he got paranoid and he ran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> I had the phone, I got paranoid, and they’re like here. I’m like, “Man, I’m good.” And then, you know, I ran- where I was gonna go, I had no idea. I wasn’t even, you know what I’m saying? Like where I’m gonna go?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Of course, this is a prison. There’s nowhere to go. Valentino tried to tackle him and they both hit the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> We both ran into the wall– when we both ran into the wall, I heard his head hit, well I hit my head like- like with a loud noise. It was like a “clunk,” like a–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> “Clunk,” he says their heads hit the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> I heard another like “clunk,” and it sounded like it could have been his head or whatever it was. I don’t know. I didn’t know the cause of it, but then I fell to the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He fell on the ground. But Morrison and Valentino’s versions of this story are different. Valentino’s report, which we found a draft of on his phone, says that Morrison hit him with his elbow, knocking his head into the wall. Morrison says he never hit Valentino. He just panicked and ran. Still, he was charged with battery and assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And what– ’cause I know you were charged with assault with a deadly weapon, right? Like what was the deadly weapon?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> [laughs] I’m the deadly weapon. [laughs] I swear it’s like a game I like. I don’t, there is no deadly weapon!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We simply don’t know what exactly took place. But we do know Valentino went to the hospital with a concussion and that his report became the basis for criminal charges against Morrison, charges he’s still fighting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> All right, bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> All right, have a good day. Bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At first, the incident didn’t seem like that big of a deal to Valentino. Over text message, he sounds upbeat and he tells a friend that he’s been prescribed some medication for his injuries. “They gave me Norcos though, and Valium,” he texted. “Whoop whoop.” Norco contains the opioid Hydrocodone. Eventually, a psychologist diagnosed Valentino with anxiety and depression, and at some point he started having panic attacks. Looking at his medical records, his symptoms weren’t all because of this one altercation, though. He also witnessed terrible things at New Folsom—homicides and beatings. And along with the rejection and alienation he felt from his team, it seems like this created a powerful and traumatic feedback loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January 2020, just before Valentino decided to leave the prison for stress, something else happened. One day Mimy came home from work and the house was completely dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was just sick. Like it was the kind of sickness I’ve never seen. It didn’t look like the flu because he didn’t- he wasn’t throwing up the way a flu would make you throw up. But he was sweating and he was attempting to throw up and he was crying and he was upset. And I got scared and I didn’t know what was going on. And I told him we should go to the doctor. But he said, “No, it’s fine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The next day he wasn’t any better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I look at him and I go, Valentino, what’s going on? You’re- I’ve never seen you like this. Tell me what’s going on. What finally made him open up to me is I said, “It looks like you have something to tell me, but you just don’t wanna tell me.” And then he just told me, “I’ve been struggling with something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He was in withdrawal. Like a lot of people affected by the opioid epidemic, Valentino had become dependent on pain pills. He’d dealt with this before, years earlier when he was in college. He called his parents for help and they got him into rehab. He told Mimy this time he felt like he could stop using on his own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> And my goal was like, “Okay, what can we do to get past this? This– you bringing this up to me, okay, great, how can we do this? Well, we have to go to therapy. We have to do these things.” At one point I was like, “Well, rehab?” Because I know that’s common, right? He was like, “No, it’s not that bad,” or “No, it’s not to that extent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In hindsight, after everything that happened, Mimy says she wishes she’d done things differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I wish I would’ve reached out to his parents ’cause he-he told me not to say anything, but I just wanted him to know that he can trust me and that I loved him and we were gonna get past this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy kept her word to Valentino. And though he was privately struggling, he presented a different face to most of his friends and family. His parents, Val Sr. and Erma, say they had no idea this was going on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Upbeat music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were happy he was out of the prison and even better, he was coming to work with them at the family pool business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> When he quit over there, I just felt like I had him all to myself. He was coming here and working all the time with me and his brother, and, um, was always happy. He worked really hard. He was very thorough. My customers loved him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 1:\u003c/b> Hi, Valentino. You were out here and gave us a estimate to resurface our pool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 2:\u003c/b> Hi, Valentino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 3:\u003c/b> Hey, Valentino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 4:\u003c/b> Hey, Valentino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 5:\u003c/b> Just checking in to see if you were able to send off the quote for us for a pool replastering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 6:\u003c/b> I got the bid, I think I’d like to go with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 7:\u003c/b> Your family finished our pool on Tuesday, it looks great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Senior’s grandfather had gotten into the pool business years earlier and Val Sr. carried it on, creating generation pool plastering. Valentino’s mom, Erma, co-owns the business and largely runs the administrative side of things, and his younger brother, Gregory, is a skilled tradesman in plastering and pool construction. Val Sr. says Valentino’s specialty was sales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> When he’d come in the office, sometimes he’d tell me what he did all day at work and I would- I would joke with him and tell him to turn around and I’d pat him on the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Valentino loved getting his dad’s approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And he was just like, “Oh, that feels good, dad.” [laughter] I said, “All right.” [laughs] Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Then COVID-19 hit and there was the statewide shutdown. The pandemic was scary and things were uncertain, of course, but Val Senior remembers it as this golden time that he got to spend with his kids. None of them had anywhere else to go. Valentino would come over and they’d just hang out in the backyard and swim in the pool. Val Sr. says it was on one of these warm summer afternoons in 2020, Valentino was over at the house and they were barbecuing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> My world was just turning perfectly. Everything was just going good and we were swimming in the backyard and, you know, eating and just laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But then he noticed he hadn’t seen Valentino for a couple of hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I says, “Where-where’s– where the hell is Val at?” And he’s in front, he’s on the phone with the prison. I says, “What the hell do they want? He left that job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Valentino had been out of the prison for a few months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So I walked out to the front and he was talking and talking, and I just looked at him and moments later, he-he came in the backyard and I said, “What-what’d the prison want?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It was Sergeant Kevin Steele, his old mentor, who was still working in the investigative services unit at New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He goes, “Oh man, dad,” and he told me about the Aguilar homicide. The video he showed me-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The one he showed him at the Christmas party—of the man, Luis Giovanny Aguilar, being stabbed while he was shackled in the day room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> It was, according to Kevin, was actually orchestrated by officers to get rid of that inmate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What Valentino was telling his dad was that this guy, Sergeant Steele, had found evidence that officers had played a role in that brutal murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He said, “Kevin, unveiled this, uncovered this, and now those guys over there at the prison, they-they don’t like him too much because he’s-he’s turning in this information, this-this evidence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Clearly, Steele was making a really big allegation that officers set up a man to be murdered in prison. CDCR said it cannot comment on this case, and CDCR officials have denied these allegations in court filings. However, multiple sources have told us the FBI is investigating the incident and the prison is still facing a federal civil rights lawsuit from Aguilar’s family. We’re gonna talk to the people that Steele talked to and share the evidence we’ve uncovered in a later episode. We really wish we knew what Valentino knew about this incident and if this call from Steele was the first he’d heard of allegations about officers’ involvement in the killing, but we just don’t. It’s a crucial question because Val Senior would come to believe that his son’s death may not have been an accident—that his son was targeted at least in part for what he knew about this incident. To date, we have not uncovered any evidence that Valentino was purposely killed. But in order to help Val Senior understand what happened to his son, we also needed to understand how he came to believe this. At the time, Val Sr. says Valentino downplayed his role in the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Are you gonna be in trouble for that? And he goes, “No, dad, I-I wasn’t there. I just did what they told me to do and wrote it the way they told me to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> If Valentino did know something was off from the beginning, it’s not reflected in the reports that we’ve seen, which were leaked by a confidential source. In these documents, Valentino writes that Luis Giovanny Aguilar was in a prison gang and that he was killed by rival gang members. Aguilar’s family disputes this version of events. Valentino doesn’t write anything about guards being behind the murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I just stayed in my own lane and just continued on with my day and my own life. That’s Val’s world. Uh, he’s got it handled. The state of California’s got it handled. The warden’s got it handled. All that’s being taken care of… and it wasn’t- it wasn’t taken care of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Senior says they never talked about the homicide again and he thought his son was doing fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was doing really well for his dad, but I can tell that as much as he loved working for his father- ’cause he did, he loved his dad. He wanted– he missed his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At home, Mimy could tell Valentino was not fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He wasn’t at the prison physically, but mentally he was still there. He was still talking to people from the prison. He was still reaching out to people- people from the prison were reaching out to him, telling him what was going on within the prison. He-he had not at all let that go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy tells my reporting partner, Julie, that Valentino’s health at this time wasn’t good. His doctors were concerned about his blood pressure and he’d gained a lot of weight. She says he was also getting increasingly paranoid and frightened. He would rarely leave the house and even at home, he’d set up elaborate security devices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was nervous about anybody coming to the house. At one point, he had put things at the door, so if someone opened it you can hear the door open. He also– like he had a gun and he would sleep with it just to make sure. And I’m like, “What? Who’s coming?” And I would ask him, like, “Is everything okay? You know, who’s– who are you nervous about coming? What is going on?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Would he ever answer that question?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> No. He would just tell me not to worry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> She did worry. But she also saw that he was taking steps to get help: seeing a therapist, taking medication, and trying to eat healthier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I just kept reassuring him like, “Just let– let’s let this year pass. We’re almost there. Just breathe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Upbeat music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy was trying everything she could, and she thought maybe if they finally made things official, it could jumpstart their future together and they could leave behind the things that were holding him back. They’d been engaged for over two years now, but had put their wedding on hold because of COVID-19 restrictions. As the summer of 2020 went on, it looked like things might be opening up again and they decided to go for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> We ended up just saying, eff it, we’re just gonna- we’re just gonna get married.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Even if they couldn’t have a huge gathering inside, they could have the reception at the family business on the patio and grassy lawn next to the warehouse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> They have a little– they have like an outside venue. They have a little patio, they have a little patch of grass. Like it’s a- it’s a really nice little spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They organize the wedding in a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Full-size render… movies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay, could we go back to the chats for a second?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As we look through Valentino’s phone from this time period, September, 2020, we can see it’s all a flurry of invitations: getting the taco guy to cater, a bachelor party near Lake Tahoe… But then we find a long text exchange that’s got a very different tone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Uh, this is the beginning of the conversation with Strohmaier. This is shorter, but, um–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Brandon Strohmaier is a Sergeant Valentino knew from the ISU squad, but from a different division. Importantly, Strohmaier worked in internal affairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> He tells him that he’s gonna get married. He is, you know, moving on and he’s just started therapy. And Strohmaier says, “It sounds great. You left a place that isn’t good for everyone, and I think you made a good decision that will benefit you in the future. Congrats on the marriage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In response, Valentino launches into all the stuff he’s kept in about his boss, Sergeant David Anderson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Yeah, bro. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t respected, and I was being fucked with like crazy by Anderson and the guys. Some unbelievable shit. Threatening to be fired with my job dangling in front of me daily, couldn’t get help, and had expectations placed on me way higher than everyone else. I kept it all to myself and tried to power through it, but at the end, it was too much. And it wasn’t worth losing my fiance or maybe even someday my life over.” Oh God.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This text thread goes on for pages. Valentino tells Strohmaier the homophobic slurs that Daniel Garland would call him and about how another guy named Marcus Jordan would also use the “N” word and call Black incarcerated people monkeys. And Valentino tells Strohmaier these guys would say explicit and demeaning things about Mimy too. That she was, “Sucking and fucking other men,” and repeat anti-Black, and misogynist stereotypes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “I hated it, man. I loved the work. I loved the investigations. I loved winning. But I hate being in that office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He tells Strohmaier how Anderson threatened him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “If you say anything or open your mouth, I’ll fucking replace you like that.” Snap finger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Again, Anderson has not responded to requests for comment. Over text, Strohmaier says he wishes he knew all this was going on. “I put zero blame on you,” Valentino texts back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “I’ll say this, though. That team is broken. There is shit they do, say, or don’t do that could cause everyone from the warden down to get the boot. It’s my fault for not standing up to begin with. I sold my pride for the job, and it wasn’t worth it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But he ends on a positive note.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “My life’s good now, man. I’m a lot happier. My relationship is 1,000 times better than before. She’s happier. My family is happier. They had been worrying about me for a while. I’m moving forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We check out the date on these messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> That’s 9/19/2020. So a month before– a month, and a day before he’s dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In her email, the lawyer for Jordan, Garland, and two other officers denied that her clients harassed Valentino. And she also said there are, “No allegations or findings that any conduct by my clients in any way contributed to Officer Rodriguez’s death.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Emcee:\u003c/b> So it is my privilege to introduce to you Mr. And Mrs. Valentino and Irma Rodriguez. You may kiss the bride. Un beso.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> On a hot day in early October, Valentino and Mimy, whose given name is actually Irma, just like his mom, got married.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I wore this big white ball gown with– it was– it had a cream undertone, and then it had, like white lace and it sparkled. It was- it was really nice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Her long veil covered the dais steps in the cathedral in downtown Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> The church was beautiful. I mean, so many people showed up. My parents, were- they both walked me down the aisle, and then at the end of the aisle, I got to say, you know, I got to see his parents, and it was just nice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy and Valentino rode to the reception in one of Val Sr.’s classic cars, a ’64 Impala.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Emcee:\u003c/b> Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor for me to introduce Irma and Valentino’s first dance as husband and wife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Song: \u003c/b>I would need a million words\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If I tried to define\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the things you mean to me, yeah\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For you, I’d die a thousand lives\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Our song was 17 by Pink Sweats. So I just wanted to commemorate how this song was us being young and in love. And I was gonna love him until the very end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Song:\u003c/b> Special kind of energy\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>‘Cause love is born when hearts collide\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time you touch me\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You remind me that I’m still alive\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He wrote me a letter the morning of our wedding and same thing, just I love you. And it was- it was beautiful. But the speech was amazing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Song: \u003c/b>So promise you’ll never change\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I’ll always be the same\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> Check, check. I want to thank everyone for coming tonight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In this video of their wedding reception, Valentino holds Mimy at his left aside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> I have a great partner in life. I couldn’t ask for anything different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> His arm wrapped around her, he’s wearing a burgundy shirt and a black vest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> You know, this-this whole wedding, I felt it strange that I wasn’t nervous or I wasn’t dreading the day. I was excited and I wanted it to happen. Uh, and it clicked with me when I was standing up there on the altar today that I’m right where I’m supposed to be in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy leans her head into his shoulder. She’s changed out of the white gown into a dress covered in black lace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> I love you, Erma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I love you too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> You are truly the love of my life. I’m excited to spend the rest of my life with you. I can’t wait to make babies, and see where the future goes. [cheering]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He hands her the mic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> You know, I– when I first met Val, I loved him. I’m going to be honest with every single one of you and just as my sister said she thought it was crazy but honestly I didn’t. I wake up every day and I look at him and I just– I don’t want to look at anyone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> I told her on our third date, which was our third day knowing each other, that I loved her. So that’s how that’s how much I knew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Yeah, he’s crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy thanks everyone including family members who came all the way from Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> [Spanish language]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Valentino thanks Mimy’s family, and he thanks her friends for keeping her company when he couldn’t be there. And he toasts his parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> It’s one of the first memories I have with my dad is us go– walking into a movie theater on a rainy day. A man taking off his jacket, holding it over his date’s head. And my dad stopped and said, “No matter what you do in life, I want that you to be a man like that, that cherishes your woman.” Please, have a good rest of the night. We’ll party until we run out of money for the DJ or we run out of alcohol. Cheers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> It was a perfect day. For a long time he was so stuck on the prison, and I think for that day specifically, it just kind of brought him into a place of, like, “I am getting married. I’m moving forward with my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But less than two weeks after his wedding day, on October 15th, Valentino went back to New Folsom to meet with the warden, the man who’s the head of the whole prison, Jeff Lynch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He told me that he went to go talk to the warden about all the corruption that was going on within the prison, at least within the officers that he was working with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Strohmaier, that internal affairs sergeant, had forwarded that long text thread between him and Valentino with all the names and the slurs straight to the warden. Now, Valentino was in the warden’s office, telling him in person about the harassment he’d received.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He told me that he had told the warden about this one sergeant. I believe he was the sergeant of that team, how he put his hands around his neck. And he said, “I can make it look like an accident.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We only have Mimy’s account of this specific allegation. But we do know that Valentino talked about threats from Sergeant Anderson and members with the squad. Documents and recorded testimony Warden Lynch later gave about this meeting largely corroborate Mimy’s account of what was discussed. Valentino told the warden that ISU officers planted contraband on incarcerated people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He spoke to the warden for some time, so I’m assuming there was a lot more said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> CDCR did not respond to questions about this meeting and said the warden can’t comment on personnel matters. As Valentino was leaving the prison, he texted the internal affairs Sergeant Strohmaier, “Let me know how things turn out. Also, I’m not telling Steele or anyone I was up there.” “10/4,” Strohmaier responded. When Valentino got back home, Mimy says he seemed lighter, like a big weight had been lifted off his chest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He felt confident that the warden was gonna help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mhmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was happy coming home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And that evening after the prison, Valentino texted his dad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Uh, October the 15th. And, um, he just texted me out of the blue, “I love you, pop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. texted him back, “I love you too, kiddo.” Val senior says his son mentioned the meeting to him too. He says he told the warden everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And when he emphasized everything, he’d always say everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What Valentino meant by “everything,” we still don’t know. One thing we really wanted to know is did Valentino talk to the warden about the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar. But so far, none of the documents or testimony we’ve been able to get address this, and Mimy and Val Sr. say they don’t know. We do know that after the meeting, the warden had asked Valentino to write up all his allegations into an official report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was asked to write a memo, but he didn’t do it. He should have done it. But he never got a chance to write the memo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Six days later, on October 21st, 2020, Mimy came home from having dinner with her girlfriends and found Valentino slumped over in the bathroom and called 911.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>911 ER:\u003c/b> Edward 20. Edward 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>911 Dispatch:\u003c/b> 20.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>911 ER:\u003c/b> They’re saying this male is unconscious. We’re giving CPR instructions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>911 Dispatch: \u003c/b>Copy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It was around nine o’clock at night, Val Sr. remembers. He was already in bed, watching TV after a long day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> The phone rings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s his other son, Gregory. A friend had heard something on the police scanner and texted him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I call my dad and I go, “Hey, uh, we need to go down to Val’s house.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And he just says, “Dad, there’s something going on at Val’s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Goes, “What am I supposed to do?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I didn’t feel panic or anything, I just stayed really quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I go, “Dad, just pick me up. Let’s go.” He goes, “Okay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> “Yeah, let’s-let’s go over there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> We get there and, um-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And then an ambulance was leaving with the lights off. So I remember feeling relieved, like, “Oh, good, nobody got hurt.” So I started to pull up. It was really dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> We get out and there’s a cop that meets us at the end of the driveway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I asked, “Is Val here?” He says, “My sergeant will come on and talk to you.” So Greg says, “Come on man, tell us something.” He kind of grins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> My dad asked where Val was, and the cop used a term like he was dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Just says he’s deceased.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Right away, my dad just fell to the ground and I was in shock. You know, I just couldn’t believe it. Uh, when I say I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, it was literally I could not believe it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. thought his son’s body must have been in that ambulance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Uh, I just started to think, “I need to tell my wife.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I go, “Hey, just go home to mom.” I go, “I’ll stay here.” And I was there for about an hour by myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I walked in and my wife was on the couch sitting on her legs, and she looked at me and she’s, “What happened?” And I-I just told her, “He died.” I didn’t know how else to say it. I remember standing there. She passed out. She woke up and she was crying, “Where is he? Let’s go see him at the hospital. Is he still alive?” And then I realized, I don’t even know where he’s at. And, uh, the phone rang, it was Greg, and he says, “Dad.” I go, “Yeah.” “Val’s here. He’s in the house.” I can’t remember who the heck was driving, but we drove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> My mom and dad and my sisters pulled up to the house and my mom took off running in the house and-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And there he was on the floor with his arms stretched out. And, uh, he was all purple. I just- I just looked at him, you know, and she jumped on him right away and started holding him, crying, saying, “He’s cold, you know, wake up, Val.” She was telling me to wake him up. I had to reach underneath her arms and-and pull her out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Finally, she gets up and they take off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> On the way out, I looked at the cop and I says, “I-I want a full toxicology report.” And he says, “Oh, yeah.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Eventually, they all went home and Valentino’s body was taken to the coroner so they could do an autopsy and start doing those tests. The coroner’s report notes that the house is still full of wrapped and unwrapped gifts from the couple’s wedding. Valentino’s mom has difficulty speaking about that night. It’s almost too much for her to put into words. And after they went home, she called his phone three times. She gave us permission to play one of the messages she left for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> “Val, you can come back. I know you can. Please. Please. Please, come back. Please.” [crying]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> After Valentino’s death, calls of condolence came in and people stopped by the shop, but there was one call in particular that Val Sr. kept waiting for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> It didn’t ring like-like it never happened. And I says, “Man, this is really weird. It’s like, I haven’t got a phone call from the prison?” I was under this stupid impression that the warden would call me and say, “Hey, you know, I’m sorry about your son. Um, he was a good man. We’re gonna make sure we’re gonna find out.” You know, nothing. It was just-just complete silence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The warden never called.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Coming up next time, Val Sr. reaches out to a source inside New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I text him and I asked him, “Are you still running the race?” He said, “What race?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Agent:\u003c/b> You are hereby directed to cease all communication with any and all employees of California State Prison Sacramento regarding Correctional Officer Valentino Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> The allegation is about ordering murders are-are very shocking. To have a correctional officer, a high-ranking sergeant in an investigative unit, releasing this kind of, uh, detailed report about misconduct, illegal activity, even murder. I don’t Know of another time that that’s happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Credits music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You’re listening to On Our Watch Season Two: New Folsom from KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have any tips or feedback about the series, you can email us at: onourwatch@kqed.org. You can also leave us a review in Apple podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauleon. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Egusa. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts and she executive produced the series. Meticulous fact checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional research for this episode by Cayla Mihalovich, Kathleen Quinn, and Laura Fitzgerald—students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, whose chair David Barstow provided valuable support to the whole series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR and KQED Health Correspondent April Dembosky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from APM Music and Audio Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and the California Endowment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And thanks to KQED’s Otis R. Taylor Jr., Managing Editor of News and Enterprise, Ethan Tovan-Lindsey our Vice President of News, and chief content officer Holly Kernan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Consumed with stress and fed up with how he’s being treated, Valentino Rodriguez reaches a breaking point at work. A veteran officer and mentor to Valentino starts looking into the murder that happened in the dayroom. Valentino and Mimy get married, then Valentino goes in for a final meeting with the warden of New Folsom. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC3540456241\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Warmline Directory\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you have tips or feedback about this series please reach out to us at \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"mailto:onourwatch@kqed.org\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">onourwatch@kqed.org\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer:\u003c/b> Before we start, I just wanted to give you a heads-up that this episode references violent incidents, discriminatory language, and substance use disorder. We also talk about someone’s death by fentanyl poisoning. If you or someone you know needs support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay, so it’s me Sukey and Julie, and Steven, and we’re here at Julie’s house. Two days after, we saw Val and Erma and got the phone, and we’re just–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We’re back from our trip to West Sacramento where I first got to meet the parents of Officer Valentino Rodriguez. And our reporting team is clustered around a computer screen. We don’t know exactly what we’re gonna find on the hard drive that Val Senior handed over in his office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/b>Looking through kinda the materials that are on here that are many, many tens of gigabytes of information, um, and trying to figure out, like, what’s going on here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It contains evidence he’s been able to put together over the past two years as he turned from grieving dad into an investigator trying to solve the riddle of his son’s death and how it might be connected to the place where he worked, New Folsom Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> It’s a letter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Um, then a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Also on the drive is what we’re looking at right now – a duplicate of Valentino’s cellphone, with messages going all the way back to 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascon:\u003c/b> Oh, incoming. Incoming, outgoing\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mm-hmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We’ve gotten hundreds of documents through public record requests. But they’re all steeped in official language, and some are so redacted they barely make sense. What Valentino’s phone promises is both so much more intimate and so much more telling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> What is that? Holy shit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> About what it was like to work at New Folsom, but also about who Val was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> [sings] Super dog, super dog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A guy who sings to his dog.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> This is about Daisy the super dog\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr & Jr:\u003c/b> See you on the other side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> All right, let’s go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Lean back. Look behind you\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Zip lines with his dad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>This way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr: \u003c/b>Woo-hoo\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A man who was loved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Hello, my love, um, I’m gonna see you after work. Also, I’m-I’m gonna try to get off early so we can do something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And we can see his text messages with the guys he worked with at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small: \u003c/b>Woah. It’s all of them, all the–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey:\u003c/b> Oh, all right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Yeah, these are the group texts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And one message jumps out at us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Interesting. When’s the date on that one?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascon:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s on the day, the day he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Steven Rascon:\u003c/b> Oh, he texted Steele the day he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Wow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/b>I think it’s from Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Oh it’s from Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Sergeant Kevin Steele, the Bruce Willis-looking, former military guy who was kind of a mentor to Valentino. Just hours before Valentino died, in October 2020, the sergeant reaches out with this cryptic message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> “I think you already know I did not set up the course, but I am running the race. Steele.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Valentino Texts back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> “Awesome, I just hope that I am not mentioned at all to anyone, not even to those who know my involvement. Not even among people I trust. Iwish that for everyone on this side of the race, my name is left out of everything.” So, they’re talking in some kind of code, right? “I did not set up the course, but I am running the race.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But since both of these men have died, we’re going to have to figure out what these texts mean on our own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As we sift through Valentino’s phone, his photos and videos, voice memos, and notes, along with the documents we’ve gotten from the prison, we’re hoping to find answers. What was Valentino going through? What would lead him to turn on his team? And what was the race he and Steele were running? And we’re also looking to understand the choices made by people in positions of power that he reached out to for help, people who were supposed to act and didn’t. I’m Sukey Lewis. This is \u003ci>On Our Watch,\u003c/i> Season 2: New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> You can read this so you get to know more about him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> What he was going through… but don’t-don’t copy this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>Yeah, or use it maybe– I mean, you can like, uh–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We’d started looking into Valentino’s story to see if the death of this whistleblower was connected to all those cases we’d found showing off the charts’ use of force at New Folsom. But Val Senior was already way ahead of us in investigating his son’s death. So every few weeks, my co-reporter, Julie, would meet up with Val Senior to get more of the evidence he’d collected and she’d share what we were finding with him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small: \u003c/b>So we’ve started a database of the guard’s names and then different allegations against them. And then-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Building this relationship with Val Senior has been tricky. He’s grieving and he feels like he was burned by other people who said they’d look into his son’s death and then dropped it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>Oh, I just-I just want this to work both ways–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small: \u003c/b>Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I need to know what you’re doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> That’s all I’ve ever asked. I might even– I-I– nobody even knows we’re having these meetings other than my wife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He says he’s not trying to swear our reporting, and it doesn’t seem like he is, but it does feel like he’s still testing us to see how serious we are about this investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> You go through stuff and you decide, right? I don’t want to paint a picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I never have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Okay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I’m not gonna bullshit nobody and, uh, ruin anyone’s lives. I just want-I just want the truth told, that– that’s all I’m doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small: \u003c/b>Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s what we want too, but after years of working as reporters, Julie and I both know the truth can be a really complicated thing. Take the harassment Valentino experienced from the squad. As we go through Valentino’s phone, we can see that he was called ugly names. But we can also see that Valentino sometimes used offensive language too, calling his gaming friend a homophobic slur or sending a GIF of a swinging penis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These guys, ’cause they’re all guys on these text threads, work in a prison. Their conversations are dark and their jokes are not usually kind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music] \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s also a particular edge of nastiness to some of the other guys’ texts that feels different than Valentino’s off-color joking. One of our producers agreed to read some of them so you can hear what was being said. Heads up, it’s vulgar, but we’ve bleeped the slurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer: \u003c/b>“Is that the jizz from A Facility? Drink up. In your mouth, you f––. Tell your lady I said hi. You f––. Send a picture of your girl’s ass.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/b>Those messages are all from this one guy, Daniel Garland. And Valentino doesn’t usually take the bait, but there is this one time where you can see he just snaps. It starts with Valentino texting the group something totally innocuous: how to log in to a new HR system for vacation requests. He’s just being helpful. And Garland writes back-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Producer:\u003c/b> Who gives a fuck f––?!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s when Valentino loses it and says, “Go fuck yourself, you dumb shit.” And this is what Garland does in response. He sends this weird video to the group, and it’s of a guy who’s probably in his early 20s, in a black and red sweatshirt at what looks like the gym talking straight into the camera.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Garland’s Son:\u003c/b> If you ever get outta the pocket again I’m gonna slap your fat ass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> You ever get out of pocket again I’m gonna slap your fat ass. That was a flat-out threat. And when he got to work, uh, they laughed at him. They laughed about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The guy saying he was gonna slap Valentino was actually Garland’s son. For Valentino, this was the last straw. Garland had been insulting him since he joined the squad about a year earlier. CDCR does have a no-tolerance policy against discrimination and harassment, which these text messages fell outside the lines of. In an email, an attorney for Garland and some of the other officers in those text threads stated that her clients never bullied, hazed, or harassed Officer Rodriguez while he worked at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the officers coped with their stressful and violent workplace in different ways, but that they “Genuinely cared for and supported each other.” When Valentino first got that video from Garland’s son, he told his dad it wasn’t a big deal. But he told other people it really bothered him. It was clear he couldn’t take much more of this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> In the back of my head, I kept thinking all the time, “Well, the warden knows who he is. He’s gonna take care of him. There’s people that’ll take care of him. That’s-that’s not the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Droning music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Just after the new year, January 2020, Valentino had a lot going on. He was pissed off at the team about the Garland incident and he was stressed about that gruesome stabbing that happened in the day room. The one with the video that he showed his dad, Valentino was still working on writing his reports for that. He’d worked so hard to get here, achieved his dream of being an investigator. But now all he could think about was quitting. He wrote this note into his phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> It’s entitled, “Reasons to Leave. Harassment, disrespect.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>“Disrespect, threats, whistleblower violations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Whistleblower violations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr: \u003c/b>“Voted off team.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Keep your mouth shut, or you’ll be fired. You do stupid work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> “You do stupid work, they do important shit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Just so you know, in his text messages, Valentino complains that the person telling him to stay quiet and demeaning his work was his boss, the new head of the unit, a guy named Sergeant David Anderson. Anderson was also on some of the terrible text threads, so it doesn’t look like Valentino felt like he could turn to him to step in. Anderson did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Valentino’s reasons go on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> “Depressed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “No money, bad health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I’ll work for Dad. Be happy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Be happy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Around the same time that he wrote that note, he also texted a friend that he was getting out soon. He had a plan to stick around for a few months and then switch to a part-time position where he could work a few shifts and still get benefits. But a couple of weeks later, his plans to try and stick it out fell apart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I remember him coming home and telling me that he broke down to the assistant warden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> That’s Mimy Rodriguez, Valentino’s wife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> And he was sobbing and he had told her how he felt about things and he felt just like everything was kind of closing in on him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> She tells Julie and me that Valentino had a really rough day at work. The person he fell apart in front of was Gena Jones, the chief deputy warden of the prison. She was in charge of the squad, the investigative services unit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> And I remember sitting on the couch with him and him saying, “I left work. I left, and it’s gone. I’m not gonna be there anymore. I broke down to the assistant warden.” And I guess he opened up to her about everything that was going on. I remember this very clearly. He said, “This is my identity.” He’s like, “I feel like I’ve given up on everything. I feel like I gave up on my job.” And I was like, “No, you didn’t give up. Valentino, you’re doing this for you.” He’s like, “No, I gave up. This is who I am, and I-I don’t know who I am anymore.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy says something else happened in this meeting too. She says Valentino made some serious allegations about his fellow officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> That officers could have been planting drugs on inmates, could have been planting drugs on, uh, other officers. And I know that he was very nervous to talk to anybody because he didn’t want anyone to retaliate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy’s memory of this incident is all we have to go on, but this is important because from what we’ve been able to figure out, this would be the first time Valentino told higher-ups in charge of the investigative services unit that the squad, the very officers investigating crimes in the prison, might be committing serious misconduct. Mimy says at the time, she didn’t fully consider the implications of that—what kind of obligation to report or investigate that Valentino’s allegations might have triggered for Jones. But now she does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I do believe that at that time, she had a right to say something or at least reported, mentioned something, write it down, document it, if anything, but from what I understand, nothing was even documented, which I find very interesting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> To be clear, Mimy says, Valentino also didn’t wanna make an official report. There’s an unwritten code among correctional officers: never tell on each other. But as a supervisor, Jones did have an explicit obligation to act immediately to stop the harassment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I remember specifically saying, “Valentino, if-if-if these people are bothering you and hurting you, you need to report that.” But he was– he didn’t want it to go back to him. He didn’t want it to get traced back that he had said anything about the team or that, um, any type of retaliation could have happened to him or his work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Now, everyone’s memory is imperfect and Mimy wasn’t in this meeting with Jones, so we don’t know for sure what he told her the day he broke down. But we did hear that this happened from another officer who didn’t wanna go on the record, but he confirmed that he’d also heard that Valentino had made these allegations to Jones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We asked CDCR if Jones had been questioned about this incident or her knowledge of discriminatory behavior in the unit, but the agency declined to comment. We asked for an interview with Jones, but a CDCR spokeswoman declined stating that wardens can’t talk about personnel matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Driving music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The only action we know for sure the chief deputy warden took was to put Valentino out on medical leave for stress. That worker’s compensation claim was tied to an incident that happened years earlier, back in 2017, where Valentino wound up in the hospital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Captain:\u003c/b> Hey Rodriguez, just calling to see how you’re doing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> A captain left this voicemail on his phone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Captain:\u003c/b> Good job toughing it out yesterday. But man, you need to take it easy. If, uh- if that really is a concussion, enjoy your time. Hopefully, uh, you catch up on any Netflix that you’re behind on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He wasn’t in the squad yet. He was still just a regular officer. And one day after yard time, they were lining up the incarcerated people to search them and escort them back to their cells. Among them was this one guy named Amon Morrison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> Hello?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Hi, is this Amon?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> It’s Amon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Amon, sorry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> I actually tracked him down, a prison in Corcoran in central California. The call was really bad quality, but he says he had an illegal phone on him that day. So when they were lining him up to search him and take him back to his cell, he got paranoid and he ran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> I had the phone, I got paranoid, and they’re like here. I’m like, “Man, I’m good.” And then, you know, I ran- where I was gonna go, I had no idea. I wasn’t even, you know what I’m saying? Like where I’m gonna go?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Of course, this is a prison. There’s nowhere to go. Valentino tried to tackle him and they both hit the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> We both ran into the wall– when we both ran into the wall, I heard his head hit, well I hit my head like- like with a loud noise. It was like a “clunk,” like a–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> “Clunk,” he says their heads hit the wall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> I heard another like “clunk,” and it sounded like it could have been his head or whatever it was. I don’t know. I didn’t know the cause of it, but then I fell to the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He fell on the ground. But Morrison and Valentino’s versions of this story are different. Valentino’s report, which we found a draft of on his phone, says that Morrison hit him with his elbow, knocking his head into the wall. Morrison says he never hit Valentino. He just panicked and ran. Still, he was charged with battery and assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And what– ’cause I know you were charged with assault with a deadly weapon, right? Like what was the deadly weapon?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> [laughs] I’m the deadly weapon. [laughs] I swear it’s like a game I like. I don’t, there is no deadly weapon!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We simply don’t know what exactly took place. But we do know Valentino went to the hospital with a concussion and that his report became the basis for criminal charges against Morrison, charges he’s still fighting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> All right, bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Amon Morrison:\u003c/b> All right, have a good day. Bye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At first, the incident didn’t seem like that big of a deal to Valentino. Over text message, he sounds upbeat and he tells a friend that he’s been prescribed some medication for his injuries. “They gave me Norcos though, and Valium,” he texted. “Whoop whoop.” Norco contains the opioid Hydrocodone. Eventually, a psychologist diagnosed Valentino with anxiety and depression, and at some point he started having panic attacks. Looking at his medical records, his symptoms weren’t all because of this one altercation, though. He also witnessed terrible things at New Folsom—homicides and beatings. And along with the rejection and alienation he felt from his team, it seems like this created a powerful and traumatic feedback loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January 2020, just before Valentino decided to leave the prison for stress, something else happened. One day Mimy came home from work and the house was completely dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was just sick. Like it was the kind of sickness I’ve never seen. It didn’t look like the flu because he didn’t- he wasn’t throwing up the way a flu would make you throw up. But he was sweating and he was attempting to throw up and he was crying and he was upset. And I got scared and I didn’t know what was going on. And I told him we should go to the doctor. But he said, “No, it’s fine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The next day he wasn’t any better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I look at him and I go, Valentino, what’s going on? You’re- I’ve never seen you like this. Tell me what’s going on. What finally made him open up to me is I said, “It looks like you have something to tell me, but you just don’t wanna tell me.” And then he just told me, “I’ve been struggling with something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He was in withdrawal. Like a lot of people affected by the opioid epidemic, Valentino had become dependent on pain pills. He’d dealt with this before, years earlier when he was in college. He called his parents for help and they got him into rehab. He told Mimy this time he felt like he could stop using on his own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> And my goal was like, “Okay, what can we do to get past this? This– you bringing this up to me, okay, great, how can we do this? Well, we have to go to therapy. We have to do these things.” At one point I was like, “Well, rehab?” Because I know that’s common, right? He was like, “No, it’s not that bad,” or “No, it’s not to that extent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In hindsight, after everything that happened, Mimy says she wishes she’d done things differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I wish I would’ve reached out to his parents ’cause he-he told me not to say anything, but I just wanted him to know that he can trust me and that I loved him and we were gonna get past this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy kept her word to Valentino. And though he was privately struggling, he presented a different face to most of his friends and family. His parents, Val Sr. and Erma, say they had no idea this was going on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Upbeat music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were happy he was out of the prison and even better, he was coming to work with them at the family pool business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> When he quit over there, I just felt like I had him all to myself. He was coming here and working all the time with me and his brother, and, um, was always happy. He worked really hard. He was very thorough. My customers loved him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 1:\u003c/b> Hi, Valentino. You were out here and gave us a estimate to resurface our pool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 2:\u003c/b> Hi, Valentino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 3:\u003c/b> Hey, Valentino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 4:\u003c/b> Hey, Valentino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 5:\u003c/b> Just checking in to see if you were able to send off the quote for us for a pool replastering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 6:\u003c/b> I got the bid, I think I’d like to go with you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Customer 7:\u003c/b> Your family finished our pool on Tuesday, it looks great.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Senior’s grandfather had gotten into the pool business years earlier and Val Sr. carried it on, creating generation pool plastering. Valentino’s mom, Erma, co-owns the business and largely runs the administrative side of things, and his younger brother, Gregory, is a skilled tradesman in plastering and pool construction. Val Sr. says Valentino’s specialty was sales.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> When he’d come in the office, sometimes he’d tell me what he did all day at work and I would- I would joke with him and tell him to turn around and I’d pat him on the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Valentino loved getting his dad’s approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And he was just like, “Oh, that feels good, dad.” [laughter] I said, “All right.” [laughs] Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Then COVID-19 hit and there was the statewide shutdown. The pandemic was scary and things were uncertain, of course, but Val Senior remembers it as this golden time that he got to spend with his kids. None of them had anywhere else to go. Valentino would come over and they’d just hang out in the backyard and swim in the pool. Val Sr. says it was on one of these warm summer afternoons in 2020, Valentino was over at the house and they were barbecuing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> My world was just turning perfectly. Everything was just going good and we were swimming in the backyard and, you know, eating and just laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But then he noticed he hadn’t seen Valentino for a couple of hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I says, “Where-where’s– where the hell is Val at?” And he’s in front, he’s on the phone with the prison. I says, “What the hell do they want? He left that job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Valentino had been out of the prison for a few months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> So I walked out to the front and he was talking and talking, and I just looked at him and moments later, he-he came in the backyard and I said, “What-what’d the prison want?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It was Sergeant Kevin Steele, his old mentor, who was still working in the investigative services unit at New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He goes, “Oh man, dad,” and he told me about the Aguilar homicide. The video he showed me-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The one he showed him at the Christmas party—of the man, Luis Giovanny Aguilar, being stabbed while he was shackled in the day room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> It was, according to Kevin, was actually orchestrated by officers to get rid of that inmate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What Valentino was telling his dad was that this guy, Sergeant Steele, had found evidence that officers had played a role in that brutal murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> He said, “Kevin, unveiled this, uncovered this, and now those guys over there at the prison, they-they don’t like him too much because he’s-he’s turning in this information, this-this evidence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Clearly, Steele was making a really big allegation that officers set up a man to be murdered in prison. CDCR said it cannot comment on this case, and CDCR officials have denied these allegations in court filings. However, multiple sources have told us the FBI is investigating the incident and the prison is still facing a federal civil rights lawsuit from Aguilar’s family. We’re gonna talk to the people that Steele talked to and share the evidence we’ve uncovered in a later episode. We really wish we knew what Valentino knew about this incident and if this call from Steele was the first he’d heard of allegations about officers’ involvement in the killing, but we just don’t. It’s a crucial question because Val Senior would come to believe that his son’s death may not have been an accident—that his son was targeted at least in part for what he knew about this incident. To date, we have not uncovered any evidence that Valentino was purposely killed. But in order to help Val Senior understand what happened to his son, we also needed to understand how he came to believe this. At the time, Val Sr. says Valentino downplayed his role in the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Are you gonna be in trouble for that? And he goes, “No, dad, I-I wasn’t there. I just did what they told me to do and wrote it the way they told me to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> If Valentino did know something was off from the beginning, it’s not reflected in the reports that we’ve seen, which were leaked by a confidential source. In these documents, Valentino writes that Luis Giovanny Aguilar was in a prison gang and that he was killed by rival gang members. Aguilar’s family disputes this version of events. Valentino doesn’t write anything about guards being behind the murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I just stayed in my own lane and just continued on with my day and my own life. That’s Val’s world. Uh, he’s got it handled. The state of California’s got it handled. The warden’s got it handled. All that’s being taken care of… and it wasn’t- it wasn’t taken care of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Senior says they never talked about the homicide again and he thought his son was doing fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was doing really well for his dad, but I can tell that as much as he loved working for his father- ’cause he did, he loved his dad. He wanted– he missed his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> At home, Mimy could tell Valentino was not fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He wasn’t at the prison physically, but mentally he was still there. He was still talking to people from the prison. He was still reaching out to people- people from the prison were reaching out to him, telling him what was going on within the prison. He-he had not at all let that go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy tells my reporting partner, Julie, that Valentino’s health at this time wasn’t good. His doctors were concerned about his blood pressure and he’d gained a lot of weight. She says he was also getting increasingly paranoid and frightened. He would rarely leave the house and even at home, he’d set up elaborate security devices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was nervous about anybody coming to the house. At one point, he had put things at the door, so if someone opened it you can hear the door open. He also– like he had a gun and he would sleep with it just to make sure. And I’m like, “What? Who’s coming?” And I would ask him, like, “Is everything okay? You know, who’s– who are you nervous about coming? What is going on?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Would he ever answer that question?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> No. He would just tell me not to worry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> She did worry. But she also saw that he was taking steps to get help: seeing a therapist, taking medication, and trying to eat healthier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I just kept reassuring him like, “Just let– let’s let this year pass. We’re almost there. Just breathe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Upbeat music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy was trying everything she could, and she thought maybe if they finally made things official, it could jumpstart their future together and they could leave behind the things that were holding him back. They’d been engaged for over two years now, but had put their wedding on hold because of COVID-19 restrictions. As the summer of 2020 went on, it looked like things might be opening up again and they decided to go for it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> We ended up just saying, eff it, we’re just gonna- we’re just gonna get married.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Even if they couldn’t have a huge gathering inside, they could have the reception at the family business on the patio and grassy lawn next to the warehouse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> They have a little– they have like an outside venue. They have a little patio, they have a little patch of grass. Like it’s a- it’s a really nice little spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> They organize the wedding in a month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Full-size render… movies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Okay, could we go back to the chats for a second?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> As we look through Valentino’s phone from this time period, September, 2020, we can see it’s all a flurry of invitations: getting the taco guy to cater, a bachelor party near Lake Tahoe… But then we find a long text exchange that’s got a very different tone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Uh, this is the beginning of the conversation with Strohmaier. This is shorter, but, um–\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Brandon Strohmaier is a Sergeant Valentino knew from the ISU squad, but from a different division. Importantly, Strohmaier worked in internal affairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> He tells him that he’s gonna get married. He is, you know, moving on and he’s just started therapy. And Strohmaier says, “It sounds great. You left a place that isn’t good for everyone, and I think you made a good decision that will benefit you in the future. Congrats on the marriage.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In response, Valentino launches into all the stuff he’s kept in about his boss, Sergeant David Anderson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “Yeah, bro. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t respected, and I was being fucked with like crazy by Anderson and the guys. Some unbelievable shit. Threatening to be fired with my job dangling in front of me daily, couldn’t get help, and had expectations placed on me way higher than everyone else. I kept it all to myself and tried to power through it, but at the end, it was too much. And it wasn’t worth losing my fiance or maybe even someday my life over.” Oh God.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> This text thread goes on for pages. Valentino tells Strohmaier the homophobic slurs that Daniel Garland would call him and about how another guy named Marcus Jordan would also use the “N” word and call Black incarcerated people monkeys. And Valentino tells Strohmaier these guys would say explicit and demeaning things about Mimy too. That she was, “Sucking and fucking other men,” and repeat anti-Black, and misogynist stereotypes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “I hated it, man. I loved the work. I loved the investigations. I loved winning. But I hate being in that office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He tells Strohmaier how Anderson threatened him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “If you say anything or open your mouth, I’ll fucking replace you like that.” Snap finger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Again, Anderson has not responded to requests for comment. Over text, Strohmaier says he wishes he knew all this was going on. “I put zero blame on you,” Valentino texts back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “I’ll say this, though. That team is broken. There is shit they do, say, or don’t do that could cause everyone from the warden down to get the boot. It’s my fault for not standing up to begin with. I sold my pride for the job, and it wasn’t worth it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But he ends on a positive note.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> “My life’s good now, man. I’m a lot happier. My relationship is 1,000 times better than before. She’s happier. My family is happier. They had been worrying about me for a while. I’m moving forward.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We check out the date on these messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> That’s 9/19/2020. So a month before– a month, and a day before he’s dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In her email, the lawyer for Jordan, Garland, and two other officers denied that her clients harassed Valentino. And she also said there are, “No allegations or findings that any conduct by my clients in any way contributed to Officer Rodriguez’s death.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Emcee:\u003c/b> So it is my privilege to introduce to you Mr. And Mrs. Valentino and Irma Rodriguez. You may kiss the bride. Un beso.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> On a hot day in early October, Valentino and Mimy, whose given name is actually Irma, just like his mom, got married.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I wore this big white ball gown with– it was– it had a cream undertone, and then it had, like white lace and it sparkled. It was- it was really nice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Her long veil covered the dais steps in the cathedral in downtown Sacramento.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> The church was beautiful. I mean, so many people showed up. My parents, were- they both walked me down the aisle, and then at the end of the aisle, I got to say, you know, I got to see his parents, and it was just nice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy and Valentino rode to the reception in one of Val Sr.’s classic cars, a ’64 Impala.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Emcee:\u003c/b> Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor for me to introduce Irma and Valentino’s first dance as husband and wife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Song: \u003c/b>I would need a million words\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If I tried to define\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the things you mean to me, yeah\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For you, I’d die a thousand lives\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Our song was 17 by Pink Sweats. So I just wanted to commemorate how this song was us being young and in love. And I was gonna love him until the very end.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Song:\u003c/b> Special kind of energy\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>‘Cause love is born when hearts collide\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time you touch me\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You remind me that I’m still alive\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He wrote me a letter the morning of our wedding and same thing, just I love you. And it was- it was beautiful. But the speech was amazing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Song: \u003c/b>So promise you’ll never change\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I’ll always be the same\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> Check, check. I want to thank everyone for coming tonight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> In this video of their wedding reception, Valentino holds Mimy at his left aside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> I have a great partner in life. I couldn’t ask for anything different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> His arm wrapped around her, he’s wearing a burgundy shirt and a black vest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> You know, this-this whole wedding, I felt it strange that I wasn’t nervous or I wasn’t dreading the day. I was excited and I wanted it to happen. Uh, and it clicked with me when I was standing up there on the altar today that I’m right where I’m supposed to be in life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy leans her head into his shoulder. She’s changed out of the white gown into a dress covered in black lace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> I love you, Erma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I love you too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> You are truly the love of my life. I’m excited to spend the rest of my life with you. I can’t wait to make babies, and see where the future goes. [cheering]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> He hands her the mic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> You know, I– when I first met Val, I loved him. I’m going to be honest with every single one of you and just as my sister said she thought it was crazy but honestly I didn’t. I wake up every day and I look at him and I just– I don’t want to look at anyone else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> I told her on our third date, which was our third day knowing each other, that I loved her. So that’s how that’s how much I knew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Yeah, he’s crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Mimy thanks everyone including family members who came all the way from Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> [Spanish language]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Valentino thanks Mimy’s family, and he thanks her friends for keeping her company when he couldn’t be there. And he toasts his parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Jr:\u003c/b> It’s one of the first memories I have with my dad is us go– walking into a movie theater on a rainy day. A man taking off his jacket, holding it over his date’s head. And my dad stopped and said, “No matter what you do in life, I want that you to be a man like that, that cherishes your woman.” Please, have a good rest of the night. We’ll party until we run out of money for the DJ or we run out of alcohol. Cheers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> It was a perfect day. For a long time he was so stuck on the prison, and I think for that day specifically, it just kind of brought him into a place of, like, “I am getting married. I’m moving forward with my life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> But less than two weeks after his wedding day, on October 15th, Valentino went back to New Folsom to meet with the warden, the man who’s the head of the whole prison, Jeff Lynch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He told me that he went to go talk to the warden about all the corruption that was going on within the prison, at least within the officers that he was working with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Dramatic music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Strohmaier, that internal affairs sergeant, had forwarded that long text thread between him and Valentino with all the names and the slurs straight to the warden. Now, Valentino was in the warden’s office, telling him in person about the harassment he’d received.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He told me that he had told the warden about this one sergeant. I believe he was the sergeant of that team, how he put his hands around his neck. And he said, “I can make it look like an accident.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> We only have Mimy’s account of this specific allegation. But we do know that Valentino talked about threats from Sergeant Anderson and members with the squad. Documents and recorded testimony Warden Lynch later gave about this meeting largely corroborate Mimy’s account of what was discussed. Valentino told the warden that ISU officers planted contraband on incarcerated people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He spoke to the warden for some time, so I’m assuming there was a lot more said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> CDCR did not respond to questions about this meeting and said the warden can’t comment on personnel matters. As Valentino was leaving the prison, he texted the internal affairs Sergeant Strohmaier, “Let me know how things turn out. Also, I’m not telling Steele or anyone I was up there.” “10/4,” Strohmaier responded. When Valentino got back home, Mimy says he seemed lighter, like a big weight had been lifted off his chest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He felt confident that the warden was gonna help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> Mhmm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was happy coming home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> And that evening after the prison, Valentino texted his dad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Uh, October the 15th. And, um, he just texted me out of the blue, “I love you, pop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. texted him back, “I love you too, kiddo.” Val senior says his son mentioned the meeting to him too. He says he told the warden everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And when he emphasized everything, he’d always say everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> What Valentino meant by “everything,” we still don’t know. One thing we really wanted to know is did Valentino talk to the warden about the murder of Luis Giovanny Aguilar. But so far, none of the documents or testimony we’ve been able to get address this, and Mimy and Val Sr. say they don’t know. We do know that after the meeting, the warden had asked Valentino to write up all his allegations into an official report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/b> He was asked to write a memo, but he didn’t do it. He should have done it. But he never got a chance to write the memo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Six days later, on October 21st, 2020, Mimy came home from having dinner with her girlfriends and found Valentino slumped over in the bathroom and called 911.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>911 ER:\u003c/b> Edward 20. Edward 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>911 Dispatch:\u003c/b> 20.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>911 ER:\u003c/b> They’re saying this male is unconscious. We’re giving CPR instructions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>911 Dispatch: \u003c/b>Copy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It was around nine o’clock at night, Val Sr. remembers. He was already in bed, watching TV after a long day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> The phone rings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> It’s his other son, Gregory. A friend had heard something on the police scanner and texted him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I call my dad and I go, “Hey, uh, we need to go down to Val’s house.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And he just says, “Dad, there’s something going on at Val’s.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Goes, “What am I supposed to do?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I didn’t feel panic or anything, I just stayed really quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I go, “Dad, just pick me up. Let’s go.” He goes, “Okay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> “Yeah, let’s-let’s go over there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> We get there and, um-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And then an ambulance was leaving with the lights off. So I remember feeling relieved, like, “Oh, good, nobody got hurt.” So I started to pull up. It was really dark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> We get out and there’s a cop that meets us at the end of the driveway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I asked, “Is Val here?” He says, “My sergeant will come on and talk to you.” So Greg says, “Come on man, tell us something.” He kind of grins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> My dad asked where Val was, and the cop used a term like he was dead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Just says he’s deceased.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Right away, my dad just fell to the ground and I was in shock. You know, I just couldn’t believe it. Uh, when I say I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, it was literally I could not believe it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Val Sr. thought his son’s body must have been in that ambulance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> Uh, I just started to think, “I need to tell my wife.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> I go, “Hey, just go home to mom.” I go, “I’ll stay here.” And I was there for about an hour by myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And I walked in and my wife was on the couch sitting on her legs, and she looked at me and she’s, “What happened?” And I-I just told her, “He died.” I didn’t know how else to say it. I remember standing there. She passed out. She woke up and she was crying, “Where is he? Let’s go see him at the hospital. Is he still alive?” And then I realized, I don’t even know where he’s at. And, uh, the phone rang, it was Greg, and he says, “Dad.” I go, “Yeah.” “Val’s here. He’s in the house.” I can’t remember who the heck was driving, but we drove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> My mom and dad and my sisters pulled up to the house and my mom took off running in the house and-\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> And there he was on the floor with his arms stretched out. And, uh, he was all purple. I just- I just looked at him, you know, and she jumped on him right away and started holding him, crying, saying, “He’s cold, you know, wake up, Val.” She was telling me to wake him up. I had to reach underneath her arms and-and pull her out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Gregory Rodriguez:\u003c/b> Finally, she gets up and they take off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> On the way out, I looked at the cop and I says, “I-I want a full toxicology report.” And he says, “Oh, yeah.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Eventually, they all went home and Valentino’s body was taken to the coroner so they could do an autopsy and start doing those tests. The coroner’s report notes that the house is still full of wrapped and unwrapped gifts from the couple’s wedding. Valentino’s mom has difficulty speaking about that night. It’s almost too much for her to put into words. And after they went home, she called his phone three times. She gave us permission to play one of the messages she left for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/b> “Val, you can come back. I know you can. Please. Please. Please, come back. Please.” [crying]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> After Valentino’s death, calls of condolence came in and people stopped by the shop, but there was one call in particular that Val Sr. kept waiting for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> It didn’t ring like-like it never happened. And I says, “Man, this is really weird. It’s like, I haven’t got a phone call from the prison?” I was under this stupid impression that the warden would call me and say, “Hey, you know, I’m sorry about your son. Um, he was a good man. We’re gonna make sure we’re gonna find out.” You know, nothing. It was just-just complete silence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> The warden never called.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Theme music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> Coming up next time, Val Sr. reaches out to a source inside New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Valentino Rodriguez, Sr:\u003c/b> I text him and I asked him, “Are you still running the race?” He said, “What race?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>CDCR Agent:\u003c/b> You are hereby directed to cease all communication with any and all employees of California State Prison Sacramento regarding Correctional Officer Valentino Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Julie Small:\u003c/b> The allegation is about ordering murders are-are very shocking. To have a correctional officer, a high-ranking sergeant in an investigative unit, releasing this kind of, uh, detailed report about misconduct, illegal activity, even murder. I don’t Know of another time that that’s happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>[Credits music]\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/b> You’re listening to On Our Watch Season Two: New Folsom from KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you have any tips or feedback about the series, you can email us at: onourwatch@kqed.org. You can also leave us a review in Apple podcasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauleon. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Egusa. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts and she executive produced the series. Meticulous fact checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional research for this episode by Cayla Mihalovich, Kathleen Quinn, and Laura Fitzgerald—students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, whose chair David Barstow provided valuable support to the whole series.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR and KQED Health Correspondent April Dembosky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from APM Music and Audio Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and the California Endowment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And thanks to KQED’s Otis R. Taylor Jr., Managing Editor of News and Enterprise, Ethan Tovan-Lindsey our Vice President of News, and chief content officer Holly Kernan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"title": "California Advocacy Group Sues ICE, Judge Orders Release of All Immigration Policies",
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"content": "\u003cp>Federal immigration authorities will soon be required to release a trove of documents that have until now been shielded from public view. In a lawsuit brought by a San Diego-based immigrant rights group, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., has given U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement until the end of February to begin releasing its policy documents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a time when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974484/immigration-border-security-loom-large-in-2024\">immigration enforcement is emerging as a key issue\u003c/a> in this year’s presidential election, the ruling has the potential to bring greater transparency to the sprawling agency responsible for immigration detention and deportation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Andrew Fels, attorney, Al Otro Lado\"]‘For us, it’s just this idea of trying to stop ICE from, intentionally or not, functioning as a secret police force. We don’t know what they’re doing. We don’t know how they’re doing it. And that’s not what the law allows.’[/pullquote]Al Otro Lado filed the complaint in May after ICE failed to respond to requests for public records. Last month, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/ICEPDFNikAltenberg.pdf\">ordered ICE to release (PDF)\u003c/a> all of the agency’s 339 active policies, as many as 5,627 pages, according to court documents. She gave the agency until Oct. 31 to produce all documents and required that ICE regularly update its website with current policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andrew Fels, an attorney for Al Otro Lado, called the ruling “fantastic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For us, it’s just this idea of trying to stop ICE from, intentionally or not, functioning as a secret police force,” Fels said. “We don’t know what they’re doing. We don’t know how they’re doing it. And that’s not what the law allows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public agencies are required to make their policies available online, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/oip/freedom-information-act-5-usc-552\">Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)\u003c/a>. ICE is “wildly out of compliance” with this requirement, Fels said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An ICE spokesperson said in an email that the agency does not comment on pending litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fels said ICE has been more cooperative with the process than he would have expected. “They have not fought this as much as they could,” he said. “There are aspects of ICE’s job that are made easier by having all of these policies public. And certainly, it makes life easier for their FOIA officers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Accountability for mistreatment in ICE detention\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For advocates representing people who have reported mistreatment in ICE detention centers, the release of these policies could be a game-changer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are really at a loss of why they’ve been treated so cruelly and inhumanely. People are really living in the dark,” said Niketa Kumar, a spokesperson for the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus, a civil rights group that has represented immigrants in detention. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11962387,news_11946255,news_11942414\"]Jose Ruben Hernandez Gomez was one of several \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943030/ice-aburptly-transfers-4-detainee-hunger-strikers-from-california-to-texas-sparking-fears-of-force-feeding\">detainees at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center\u003c/a> in Bakersfield who went on a hunger strike in May to protest conditions in the facility. ICE agents then allegedly dragged him and three others and transferred them to a facility in Texas, where he said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11970816/californian-who-joined-hunger-strike-in-ice-detention-seeks-1-million-in-complaint\">he was threatened with \u003c/a>force-feeding and experienced medical neglect. Attorneys with the Asian Law Caucus helped him file a complaint against ICE, a precursor to a potential lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kumar said she hopes that the documents that ICE must make public under the judge’s order will “affirm and underscore what Jose Ruben and others have been saying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we can expect that this will bring to light practices that have been in the shadows,” Kumar said. “A lot of people who have gone on hunger strike, they’ve put their lives on the line to bring attention to the conditions” in detention centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ICE policies often only come to light after litigation, Kumar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement submitted to the court on Jan. 12, Fernando Pineiro, director of ICE’s FOIA office, said that as of January, the office was “handling 168 active FOIA litigations” and, on average, “producing approximately 18,000 pages of responsive records each month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Niketa Kumar, spokesperson, Asian Law Caucus\"]‘I think we can expect that this will bring to light practices that have been in the shadows. A lot of people who have gone on hunger strike, they’ve put their lives on the line to bring attention to the conditions.’[/pullquote]Making ICE policies publicly available could also make it harder for private contractors to skirt responsibility. In California, GEO Group is contracted to run several ICE detention centers. Kumar said the lack of transparency around policies can lead to a lack of accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When GEO engages in misconduct — such as sexually abusive patdowns — the corporation claims that they are doing so pursuant to ICE policy and instructions,” Kumar wrote in an email. But without knowing these policies, it is hard to hold anyone accountable for the alleged mistreatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, when people try to raise grievances with ICE, “ICE often replies that they do not have control over GEO staff,” Kumar wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GEO Group did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Shedding light on family separation\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Among the 339 active ICE policies, advocates expect to see documentation governing ICE’s role in the widely condemned practice of separating migrant families at the border. On \u003ca href=\"https://www.ice.gov/foia/library\">ICE’s FOIA “reading room,”\u003c/a> the webpage where the agency is required to make many of its public records available, the only document related to the policy of family separation is \u003ca href=\"https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/dro_policy_memos/parentchildseparationsmay232008.pdf\">a half-page memo from 2008 (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family separations intensified under former President Donald Trump’s administration. Yet, details of the policies implemented under his administration are still largely unknown, according to Fels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The November presidential election is one reason that the Oct. 31 deadline for ICE to make all the documents public is important, Fels said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Making sure that we know, before there are any radical shifts in policy, what the current policy actually is — that seems of paramount importance,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Al Otro Lado filed the complaint in May after ICE failed to respond to requests for public records. Last month, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/ICEPDFNikAltenberg.pdf\">ordered ICE to release (PDF)\u003c/a> all of the agency’s 339 active policies, as many as 5,627 pages, according to court documents. She gave the agency until Oct. 31 to produce all documents and required that ICE regularly update its website with current policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andrew Fels, an attorney for Al Otro Lado, called the ruling “fantastic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For us, it’s just this idea of trying to stop ICE from, intentionally or not, functioning as a secret police force,” Fels said. “We don’t know what they’re doing. We don’t know how they’re doing it. And that’s not what the law allows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public agencies are required to make their policies available online, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/oip/freedom-information-act-5-usc-552\">Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)\u003c/a>. ICE is “wildly out of compliance” with this requirement, Fels said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An ICE spokesperson said in an email that the agency does not comment on pending litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fels said ICE has been more cooperative with the process than he would have expected. “They have not fought this as much as they could,” he said. “There are aspects of ICE’s job that are made easier by having all of these policies public. And certainly, it makes life easier for their FOIA officers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Accountability for mistreatment in ICE detention\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>For advocates representing people who have reported mistreatment in ICE detention centers, the release of these policies could be a game-changer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People are really at a loss of why they’ve been treated so cruelly and inhumanely. People are really living in the dark,” said Niketa Kumar, a spokesperson for the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus, a civil rights group that has represented immigrants in detention. “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Jose Ruben Hernandez Gomez was one of several \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11943030/ice-aburptly-transfers-4-detainee-hunger-strikers-from-california-to-texas-sparking-fears-of-force-feeding\">detainees at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center\u003c/a> in Bakersfield who went on a hunger strike in May to protest conditions in the facility. ICE agents then allegedly dragged him and three others and transferred them to a facility in Texas, where he said \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11970816/californian-who-joined-hunger-strike-in-ice-detention-seeks-1-million-in-complaint\">he was threatened with \u003c/a>force-feeding and experienced medical neglect. Attorneys with the Asian Law Caucus helped him file a complaint against ICE, a precursor to a potential lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kumar said she hopes that the documents that ICE must make public under the judge’s order will “affirm and underscore what Jose Ruben and others have been saying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think we can expect that this will bring to light practices that have been in the shadows,” Kumar said. “A lot of people who have gone on hunger strike, they’ve put their lives on the line to bring attention to the conditions” in detention centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ICE policies often only come to light after litigation, Kumar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement submitted to the court on Jan. 12, Fernando Pineiro, director of ICE’s FOIA office, said that as of January, the office was “handling 168 active FOIA litigations” and, on average, “producing approximately 18,000 pages of responsive records each month.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I think we can expect that this will bring to light practices that have been in the shadows. A lot of people who have gone on hunger strike, they’ve put their lives on the line to bring attention to the conditions.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Making ICE policies publicly available could also make it harder for private contractors to skirt responsibility. In California, GEO Group is contracted to run several ICE detention centers. Kumar said the lack of transparency around policies can lead to a lack of accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When GEO engages in misconduct — such as sexually abusive patdowns — the corporation claims that they are doing so pursuant to ICE policy and instructions,” Kumar wrote in an email. But without knowing these policies, it is hard to hold anyone accountable for the alleged mistreatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, when people try to raise grievances with ICE, “ICE often replies that they do not have control over GEO staff,” Kumar wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GEO Group did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Shedding light on family separation\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Among the 339 active ICE policies, advocates expect to see documentation governing ICE’s role in the widely condemned practice of separating migrant families at the border. On \u003ca href=\"https://www.ice.gov/foia/library\">ICE’s FOIA “reading room,”\u003c/a> the webpage where the agency is required to make many of its public records available, the only document related to the policy of family separation is \u003ca href=\"https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/dro_policy_memos/parentchildseparationsmay232008.pdf\">a half-page memo from 2008 (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family separations intensified under former President Donald Trump’s administration. Yet, details of the policies implemented under his administration are still largely unknown, according to Fels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The November presidential election is one reason that the Oct. 31 deadline for ICE to make all the documents public is important, Fels said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Making sure that we know, before there are any radical shifts in policy, what the current policy actually is — that seems of paramount importance,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>On Monday, a Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge threw out sentence enhancements in a criminal case where Antioch police officers sent racist text messages about four men accused of murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his ruling, Judge David Goldstein said the behavior by officers violated the California Racial Justice Act, a state law designed to eliminate racial bias from the justice system by empowering defendants to challenge racism in the justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up fast:\u003c/strong> The four men, all in their early 20s, are accused of a drive-by shooting in an Antioch neighborhood in March 2021. Arnold Marcel Hawkins, 22, was killed and another man was injured. The arrest of the four men was heralded by East Bay law enforcement as a step toward reducing gun violence. In court, the men argued their arrests were motivated by racial bias.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The context: \u003c/strong>For years, Antioch residents have reported racist and illegal behavior by local law enforcement. They have protested fatal shootings by police. Last summer, an FBI investigation into criminal misconduct by Pittsburg and Antioch police officers uncovered thousands of racist text messages. Nearly half of the Antioch police department was temporarily put on leave after the discovery and the police chief resigned. Ten law enforcement employees were eventually charged with federal crimes, including fraud, civil rights abuses and falsification of records. The still-unfolding police misconduct scandal is the biggest to hit the Bay Area since the Oakland Riders case in the early 2000s.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nThe big picture: \u003c/strong>The California Racial Justice Act, the first of its kind in the nation, was passed in 2020. Contra Costa is a hot spot for defense attorneys testing the law’s limit. In the case decided this week, attorneys argued that the entire Antioch Police Department has operated with a culture that permits and promotes racism for years. [aside label='More on Antioch Police Department' tag='antioch-police-department']\u003cstrong>What we are watching: \u003c/strong>The ruling could affect hundreds of criminal cases in the county and around the state. Following the FBI investigation, Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton dismissed more than 30 criminal cases and is evaluating others. Defense attorneys arguing that racial bias played a role in a client’s arrest, charging or sentencing now have a clearer pathway to use the RJA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The opposing view: \u003c/strong>For survivors of crime, seeing charges dismissed can be devastating. Hawkins’ family members filled the gallery benches at court dates. When parts of the justice system, such as policing, are found to be shaped by racism and can’t be relied upon for a just outcome, where will the survivors of crime turn for accountability?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The bottom line:\u003c/strong> The decision in Contra Costa County cements a radical change in California’s justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Monday, a Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge threw out sentence enhancements in a criminal case where Antioch police officers sent racist text messages about four men accused of murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his ruling, Judge David Goldstein said the behavior by officers violated the California Racial Justice Act, a state law designed to eliminate racial bias from the justice system by empowering defendants to challenge racism in the justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Catch up fast:\u003c/strong> The four men, all in their early 20s, are accused of a drive-by shooting in an Antioch neighborhood in March 2021. Arnold Marcel Hawkins, 22, was killed and another man was injured. The arrest of the four men was heralded by East Bay law enforcement as a step toward reducing gun violence. In court, the men argued their arrests were motivated by racial bias.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The context: \u003c/strong>For years, Antioch residents have reported racist and illegal behavior by local law enforcement. They have protested fatal shootings by police. Last summer, an FBI investigation into criminal misconduct by Pittsburg and Antioch police officers uncovered thousands of racist text messages. Nearly half of the Antioch police department was temporarily put on leave after the discovery and the police chief resigned. Ten law enforcement employees were eventually charged with federal crimes, including fraud, civil rights abuses and falsification of records. The still-unfolding police misconduct scandal is the biggest to hit the Bay Area since the Oakland Riders case in the early 2000s.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nThe big picture: \u003c/strong>The California Racial Justice Act, the first of its kind in the nation, was passed in 2020. Contra Costa is a hot spot for defense attorneys testing the law’s limit. In the case decided this week, attorneys argued that the entire Antioch Police Department has operated with a culture that permits and promotes racism for years. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What we are watching: \u003c/strong>The ruling could affect hundreds of criminal cases in the county and around the state. Following the FBI investigation, Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton dismissed more than 30 criminal cases and is evaluating others. Defense attorneys arguing that racial bias played a role in a client’s arrest, charging or sentencing now have a clearer pathway to use the RJA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The opposing view: \u003c/strong>For survivors of crime, seeing charges dismissed can be devastating. Hawkins’ family members filled the gallery benches at court dates. When parts of the justice system, such as policing, are found to be shaped by racism and can’t be relied upon for a just outcome, where will the survivors of crime turn for accountability?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The bottom line:\u003c/strong> The decision in Contra Costa County cements a radical change in California’s justice system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "1-welcome-to-the-family-s2-new-folsom",
"title": "1. Welcome to the Family | S2: New Folsom",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Soon after correctional officer Valentino Rodriguez starts working at New Folsom prison, he gets caught up in a bad incident. An incarcerated man ends up in the hospital with horrific injuries, and the prison starts an investigation. Valentino feels pressured to back up his fellow officers’ version of the story, even though he thinks it might not be the truth. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then he gets an opportunity he’s dreamed of — to join an elite unit investigating crimes in the prison.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7715585512\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">Warmline Directory\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Narrator: \u003c/strong>This is a series investigating some of the difficult things that happened to the people who live and work inside California’s prisons. So we wanted to give you a heads up that this episode touches on intense topics including substance use, state violence, and self-harm. If you need support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description. The story begins with a death that is intense and upsetting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I park my car and I walk in the house and he’s not on the couch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>On October 21st, 2020, Mimy Rodriguez came home from having dinner with her friends and called out to her husband, Valentino Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>So I go Val, Val where are you? And all the lights were on in the house. And I go into the kitchen, he’s not in the kitchen. So I go into our bedroom and he’s not in our bedroom. And I knew something was wrong. And, I go, Val? Val where are you? And I run into the bathroom and he’s just, he’s on his knees. He’s on his knees with his head up against the wall, hunched over. And I just scream. And I had my Airpods in. So I go Siri, call 911. So Siri calls 911.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>20:45, 26 seconds, October 21, 2020. \u003cem>[phone dialing sounds]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez\u003c/strong>: [inaudible] Wake up baby, I love you. I love you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>911, what is your emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/strong> [inaudible]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Ma’am you have to give her the address, again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/strong> On the call, she’s like hello and I go, please– like please help me. I’m scared. I don’t know what to do. This has happened, he’s dead, please.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Please tell me what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And I’m screaming and I’m going to grab him. And I pull him back, and I put his head back and he has vomit coming out of his mouth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The 911 operator tells Mimy to perform CPR on him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio:\u003c/strong> Hard and fast, twice per second. Okay, we want to make sure the chest comes up all the way in between pumps. Ok, we’re gonna do this 600 times until help can take over. We’re going to count together. Okay? 1234. One. Two. Three. Four.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino’s hands were purple and he wasn’t breathing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Is that front door open, are they’re going to be able to get in to you? [Mimy inaudible] It is open? Okay. Keep going, keep doing the chest compressions. Is anybody else in the house with you? Keep going…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>Eventually the police came. I don’t know how fast. I think like two minutes, or three. But she kept telling me she’s like, they’re outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Great job just hang in there, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, they’re parking right now, they’re almost to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And I was like, just open the door. Just come inside, please. Like seven officers ran in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Please!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And I was I was like, I’m in the bathroom. Help me. And I said, save him, please save him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The police pulled her out of the house and had her sit in the back of a squad car. They told her they needed to ask her some questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>The officer that was trying to talk to me was this lady, and she, she’s like, how? What happened? She goes, what do you, how did this happen? I was like, I don’t know, but it’s his job. And I just kept saying, it’s his job. This is all because of his job. She goes, where does he work? And I’m like, he works at CDCR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>CDCR, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[sobbing]\u003c/em> It’s this stupid job. It just, it just overtook his life, his thoughts, everything that like he stood for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[THEME MUSIC]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Correctional officer Valentino Rodriguez was 30 years old when he died. He’d worked for the department for about five years. Like a lot of officers, that time changed him, especially the time he spent inside the walls of this one prison, New Folsom. This is a story about that place, about broken promises and unwritten rules, and who gets hurt when the system that promises to keep us safe is bent on protecting itself. I’m Sukey Lewis. This is On Our watch, Season Two: New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>GPS:\u003c/strong> Go past these lights. Then at the next set. Turn left. Stay in the second lane…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>A little more than two years after Officer Valentino Rodriguez died, in December 2022, our reporting team went to go see his family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>GPS:\u003c/strong> Half a mile. Turn right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>We’re driving from the Bay Area through rice paddies and apple orchards to West Sacramento, a city on the outskirts of the state capital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Everything about this case just raises questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>That’s my co-reporter, Julie Small. The official cause of Valentino’s death was fentanyl intoxication. But his family, and especially his father, Val Sr, still aren’t satisfied with how it was investigated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Maybe the answers are benign, but because they’re unanswered, I think, you know. Yeah. Makes you think the worst or it certainly, Val keeps going over and over in his head, Val Sr, trying to tie up the loose ends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/strong> We also think there might be more to the story of Valentino’s death because he was a whistleblower. He’d reported corruption and abuse by his fellow officers just days before he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>But they said no signs of…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>No signs of foul play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Julie’s been talking to Val Sr for the past few months. It’s taken a while to gain his trust. Today, Steven Rascón, our producer, is along to record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steven Rascón: \u003c/strong>So today’s, like, an icebreaker?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>I think so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>It’s my first chance to meet Valentino’s parents, Valentino Rodriguez Sr. And his wife, Erma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steven Rascón: \u003c/strong>This one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small:\u003c/strong> Are you rolling?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[greeting sounds]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Inside, the walls are covered with photos. They’ve got a good-looking family. Five grandchildren, at the time. And their four adult kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And one thing about them, all four of them, just sat there and talked, made fun of each other, and laughed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>The kids were really close.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>In a couple weeks the family’s planning to get together. But of course, one of them will be missing: Valentino. It’ll be their third Christmas without him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I was in the fog for a good year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>It’s a different fog, now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>For his dad, Valentino’s death started him on this search to find answers–from the police, the FBI, the prison. He wants to understand what happened to his son and why, and who’s responsible. But instead of finding answers, Val Sr just keeps finding more questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>This thing is just all tangled. I’m just trying to untangle it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Now, Val Senior says he feels like a stereotype out of a true crime series on TV. The grieving parent on a quest for justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>And here I am, in the driver’s seat. And uh, I couldn’t do it any other way. But I never wanted to be that person on TV. Right? Just consumed with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Yeah. Would you, be able to tell us, like, your favorite story of your son?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>Him? With him? There’s a lot. We have four kids, and they’re all completely different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino was their second child and the oldest boy. As we sit around the dining room table, Erma pulls out some of the stuff she saved over the years: his first communion prayer book, a newspaper clipping from when he made student of the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I remember his third grade teacher said he was a very good writer. She told him one day he was going to be a writer, and she couldn’t wait to hear his stories because he used to like to write. I still have all those, with little pictures…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Erma points out Valentino in a Little League team photo. He looks about 11 or 12. She says he wasn’t any good at baseball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And he wasn’t very good at soccer either. And I had all four kids playing, so it was like every Saturday I’m driving around all over Sacramento taking them. And I tell him one day, why do you run around with your eyes closed? He’s like, I would pretend I was an airplane flying in the air. \u003cem>[laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I remember when I used to watch him go wrestle. He’d always lose. But, after he was done, he’d be talking to the guy that beat him up. Yeah. Being friendly\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/strong>Yeah. He’d be talking to them… \u003cem>[laughing]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>They tell us this was typical Valentino. Goofy, dreamy, smart, eager to turn enemies into friends. After college, when he told them he was going to train to be a correctional officer, his parents were kind of surprised. They weren’t a law enforcement family. But he’d have job security and good benefits. Val Senior says he remembers the day his son graduated from the academy. It was May 1st, 2015, and he looked out over this ocean of young faces. His son was among the about 200 cadets sworn in that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Academy Ceremony: \u003c/strong>Raise your right hand and repeat after me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>This is tape from a more recent graduation, reciting the same oath Valentino took.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Academy Ceremony: \u003c/strong>I, state your name, recognize the badge of my office. As a symbol of public faith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Photos from that day show Valentino in his Class A uniform– creases sharp, his hair neatly combed. They promise to protect the innocent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Academy Ceremony: \u003c/strong>Dedicating myself before all present…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>To be honest. And to hold each other accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Academy Ceremony: \u003c/strong>Congratulations, and welcome to the family. \u003cem>[applause]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>One of Valentino’s first assignments was working on death row at San Quentin State Prison, the oldest prison in California. He’d often carpool to work with a bunch of other correctional officers. And on the way back, they’d get dropped off at In-N-Out Burger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I was a cashier, and he’d come in, in his little green suit. He’s so cute, and his little boots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>That’s Mimy again, talking to my colleague Julie. She calls him cute, but Valentino was not a little man. He was five foot seven and at least 200 pounds, clean shaven, with dark hair and big brown eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>So his order was a three by three ketchup only, no salt. With a cheese fry no salt, and then a large 7Up. So I knew his order from the moment… because, of course, you know, the cute guy comes in. I’m going to memorize his order!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Mimy recognized Valentino from a party she’d gone to at his house, thrown by his brother Greg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I was like, oh, how are you? And he’s like, good. And I think in his mind he’s like, who is this girl? I know your brother! And he’s like, what? And he was just, hecka weirded out. And in my head it’s going great, right? But he started coming to In-N-Out more often, and I would give him free burgers or shakes, when my manager wasn’t looking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>And they started messaging on Facebook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And he’s like, hey, I haven’t seen you. Like, did you switch jobs? And I’m like, oh, this boy texted me, or this boy messaged me. And I was like, hello, yes, hi! It was just me being all excited. He was a kid at heart, very playful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>They’d play video games together and watch movies, and they liked introducing each other to new things: food, music or art… This one time they went out to a sip and paint night at a local spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/strong> He was kind of nervous. I think he just, it was a new thing for him. But we had gone to a paint night with one of my coworkers, and, we went on a double date and he painted this really nice picture. It was supposed to be of a pelican at the end of a bridge, but he changed it. And it’s a painting of him and his dad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The scene is of the two of them from behind– a boy and his father, sitting side by side with their fishing poles in the water. Wispy white clouds over the horizon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And he gave it to his dad after we got back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Mimi says they fell hard for each other, and just two months after they started dating, her roommate moved out and she needed to find a new place to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I was going to move into my brother’s house, but he was like, no, you should move in with me. And I’m like, no, this is kind of soon. And he’s like, come on, think about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino’s mom had helped him find a cute little house just about five miles away from their place in West Sacramento. Mimy moved in. And it was right around this time that Valentino got what he saw as a big break, an opportunity to work in a different prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He specifically chose Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The official name of New Folsom is California State Prison, Sacramento, or CSP SAC. It’s called New Folsom because it was built back in the 80s, next to the old Folsom Prison that was made famous by country singer Johnny Cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johnny Cash: \u003c/strong>Okay. Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He wrote a song called Folsom Prison Blues and then later recorded this performance live at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johnny Cash:\u003c/strong> I hear the train coming, it’s rolling round the bed, and I ain’t seen the sunshine, since I don’t know when.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>You can actually see the guard towers of Old Folsom from New Folsom Prison. They’ve got a medieval castle kind of look to them. New Folsom, on the other hand, where Valentino was transferring to, has a more industrial, utilitarian look. A lot of razor wire and gray concrete. It’s a high security prison that the state set up to accommodate people with risky medical conditions and mental health needs. It also houses active gang members and people who’ve been convicted of some of the most serious crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He said he wanted to go there because it was the most…He said it was the most dangerous prison in California. But he described it as there was just a lot of, activity there with officers, with inmates, and he just wanted to be in there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>There are a lot of infamous prisons in this country, and a fair number here in California. There’s San Quentin with its death row, the state’s first supermax, Pelican Bay. Corcoran, where in the 90s, officers allegedly set up gladiator style fights between rival gangs and then shot incarcerated people to stop the fights. But as we dug through a bunch of data and public records, we realized in the past decade, New Folsom has been the most violent prison in the state, and that violence is committed by people who are locked up, and officers. We found that in the six years after 2014, New Folsom officers used serious force, meaning they either badly injured someone or used deadly force, at a rate three times higher than any other prison in the state. This was stunning to us. CDCR declined our multiple requests to comment on this finding. I’ve done quite a bit of reporting on prisons, and Julie’s been reporting on prisons for even longer. New Folsom just wasn’t on our radar in the same way. We’ll dig into those numbers more later. But for now, it’s important to know that with just a year of experience as a correctional officer, this is the environment Valentino was walking into. Mimy says he was looking forward to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He was excited to go into this prison. He was excited for the work. He was excited for what he was going to learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He wanted to be an investigator in this elite squad called the ISU or the Investigative Services Unit. A prison is like its own city, and the ISU squad are like the police force of the prison. They’ve got a K-9 unit, a gang investigation unit, a prosecution division, and one for internal affairs to look into complaints of excessive force or allegations of officer corruption. Walking through New Folsom, the squad stood out. They had special black and green patches on their uniforms. And unlike regular officers, they could bring their cell phones into work. They could also go anywhere in the prison they wanted—total access. Valentino’s goal was to earn his patch and get into that squad. But first he had to pay his dues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[break]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Officer Valentino Rodriguez’s first assignment was working in the prison’s psychiatric unit, guarding one of the most vulnerable and difficult parts of the population: people with severe mental illnesses. I’ve talked to a number of people incarcerated in this unit, and it sounds like a really tough place to be. It can be very loud and chaotic. Sometimes the people in this unit are angry and confrontational, while others are simply terrified or heavily medicated. And officers like Valentino are required to get training in how to prevent incarcerated people from hurting each other and themselves. Valentino had been working at New Folsom and in this unit for just a few months when he got caught up in a really bad incident that Val Senior says was a turning point for him. An incarcerated man ended up in the hospital with broken bones and injuries to his face and head. So investigators started looking into how the man got those injuries. We were able to get the tapes and paperwork for that incident. Just to note, we noticed a lot of inconsistencies in what people say happened. The incarcerated man’s story changes a bit. One officer contradicts himself, and other officers have slightly different versions of the incident. You’ll also hear some places where the department has redacted the audio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent\u003c/strong>: So what we’re going to talk about is on the 12th of August, Friday, you were involved in an incident which occurred. REDACTED your cell? Where you were at before?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C\u003c/strong>: Yes, sir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>They’re looking into this incarcerated man’s allegations that officers caused his injuries, and then lied about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent:\u003c/strong> …you made the allegation, “While trying to hang myself, the COs came in and smashed my face into the wall.” Can you tell me about that? What you mean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>Well, the whole story?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Because of some sensitive details about his mental health, we decided not to use this man’s name. I’m just going to call him by the initial of his last name, C. So C tells the investigators that it all started because of the meds he was taking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C:\u003c/strong> I was having a hard time on medication. When I have a hard time on medication I have side effects of committing suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>First C says he put his head in the toilet in his cell to try and drown himself. And then C told a passing officer that he was feeling suicidal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C:\u003c/strong> He put uh, a sheet, like a suicide sheet…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He says the officer handed him a sheet with a noose already tied in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>…he threw it into my cell, he said, hang yourself. So I tried to hang myself in front of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Officers have to follow really strict rules to prevent suicides. They have to check on people in their cells every 30 minutes. When someone says they’re suicidal, officers are supposed to call mental health services right away, and that person might even get moved to a different unit or checked into a hospital. To be clear, handing someone a noose would totally violate what officers are meant to do in this situation. No officers admitted giving him a noose. A responding officer tells investigators he was doing his rounds and saw C with the sheet already tied around his neck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Officer: \u003c/strong>At that time, I opened the food port, gave him multiple orders to stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>When C doesn’t respond, the officer says he sprays him with pepper spray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Officer\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>:\u003c/strong> My intent was to have, to save his life from—stopping him, from actually choking himself, from killing himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/strong> An officer gets C to come to the door to put handcuffs on him, and he’s shackled by his feet and behind his back. And then they escort him to what’s called a decontamination cell. It’s basically a cage the size of a phone booth that they can spray a hose into to wash the pepper spray off him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>And they just, boom! They just pushed me in there, and I hit my face against the back of the cell. I went like that, boom…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>This injury, that’s right there across your nose?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>[inaudible] Well I hit my head and the face, like that? Boom. And then my eye and then my face and then my neck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>But the officers who were escorting him tell it differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Officer: \u003c/strong>He just kept trying to pull away. So I tightened my grip and, counseled him to not, not pull away from myself…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The officer says C broke away from them and lunged toward the shower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Officer: \u003c/strong>And then he ended up tripping over the, there’s a lip on that shower, tripping over the bottom lip, smashing in the back of the shower. And then I immediately closed the shower, locked it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Again, C denies this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Were you resisting at all?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>I wasn’t resisting at all!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent:\u003c/strong> You were just walking calmly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>I was walking calmly, yeah. I mean, I didn’t get the injuries from trying to hang myself. I got the injuries from him pushing me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>So to recap, according to C, he was suicidal. An officer gave him a noose, pepper sprayed him and he was forcibly thrown into a cage and injured really badly. The version officers tell is that C already had the noose. They pepper sprayed him to save his life, and he got hurt— first when he fell from his bunk, and then again when he pulled away from them and tripped face-first into the shower cage. The last account of events I’m going to walk you through is Valentino’s, because he was one of the officers who responded that day. Here he is introducing himself on tape to an investigator with the Internal Affairs Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>Valentino Rodriguez, correctional officer, California Department of Corrections. Yeah. Sacramento State Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The agent tells Valentino he’s here as a witness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Can you give me your account of that incident?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>Heard on the radio announcement that there was a, inmate, hanging inmate, attempted hanging in two block, in D section.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino says he put on his gloves and rushed to the cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>It was apparent that he was sprayed with OC, OC pepper spray because he had, you know, spitting up mucus and a little bit of blood on his face from, from being sprayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>As the two officers took C to hose off, they walked him past Valentino, who says he saw a little bump on C’s forehead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Could you see blood on his clothing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>I don’t remember. I don’t remember if I could at time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Can you now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>So C goes to the shower cage with really no major injuries that Valentino could see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>At what point did you observe an injury on him?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>When the water was turned off and I walked up to the cage to open it up. I observed, some injuries to the top of his head and across his face, I think. I believe it was across the face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Okay. Can you tell me about, describe those injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>They were two gashes, like, large, large gashes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino was asked to photograph C’s injuries and then take him to get medical attention. We got those pictures that he took. The man’s face is partially blacked out, but you can see a five-inch gash across his forehead, and his cheek is split open from his nose to below his cheekbone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Is there anything else you’d like to tell me which you have not already discussed during this interview? Before I turn off the recorder, I want to remind you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>It’s a big deal any time an officer gets pulled into an investigation, even just as a witness. Because lying is a fire-able offense. We know Valentino told the people closest to him about this incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I remember that when it happened, he was so scared for weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>When we got this recording through a public records request to CDCR, it was one of the things we really wanted to share with Val Senior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>You want to hear it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>My co-reporter Julie Small sat down with him and pressed play on the recording.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>It is December 9th, 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Val Senior had never heard this interview with his son before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>Yeah, he had a bump, about an inch above his eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Okay, do you know which eye?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>I can’t recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[to Val Sr]\u003c/em> You’re making a face? Do you think that he’s telling the truth there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I think, because I know my son—he has a really good memory, is really detail-orientated. And for him not to remember which side the cut was on, and certain things, is just, to me… he sounds like he’s worried right there, scared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino told him that what happened during the incident was different than what those officers wrote in their reports and told investigators. But he said he felt like he had to go along with their story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>You should have seen his face when he’d come over. That broke my heart, man, because he had a job…And he told me, Dad, you have to, you have to tell the same story because you’re on a team. Yeah. And if you don’t, then you’re the odd man out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Mimy told us something similar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He was told, like, hey, you know, this is what we’re writing. And it’s important that all of us have the same story, and it’s important for all of us to be on the same page. And he told me how they never really specifically said, you must do it this way. You must write it this, you must do it that. It was more of like, this is what we are doing and this is how we’re going to do it. And this is what’s important for our team, so we can all be on the same page. He felt a lot of pressure, just cause he didn’t want to lose his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>CDCR did not respond to specific questions about this incident. A spokesperson did write in an email that the agency takes all allegations of employee misconduct seriously, and there is a new process for making sure complaints are, quote, “properly, fairly and thoroughly reviewed.” The spokesperson also pointed out that there is a new system of fixed and body cameras at New Folsom. So, we don’t know exactly what the truth is about this incident. What we do know is that C was severely injured. Medical reports show he received 27 stitches. His nose was broken, and his spine was fractured in three places. Ultimately, those in charge believed the officer’s story that C fractured his back when he slipped and fell off his bunk and injured his face and head when he lunged away from officers and landed on the metal rails of the decontamination shower. And that’s the story that Valentino chose to go along with, even though he told his father it wasn’t true. This wouldn’t be the last time Valentino felt compromised by his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[break]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Mimy Rodriguez told my colleague Julie and me that working in the psychiatric unit really took a toll on Valentino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He would talk about how draining it was, and he would come home drained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>What did that look like to you?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/strong> I mean, he would just drag his feet. He would drag his feet, come in and he didn’t want to eat. He would shower and just go to sleep. I mean, he was just quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He worked double shifts so he could get more days off in a row to recharge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>That’s when he would talk more about work. And be like, Yeah, like, you know, it was a little stressful, and I’m dealing with this or I’m talking about this, but, you know, I’m happy to go in. And he was always very enthusiastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>About two and a half years after he’d gotten to New Folsom, late 2018, Valentino’s hard work looked like it was paying off. Remember the squad, that detective unit Valentino was aiming for? An officer there went on leave for PTSD, and there was a vacancy on the team. One of the supervisors who knew Valentino thought he’d be good at the job and gave him the chance to fill in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He was really excited for that, but he didn’t think he was going to get that opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He’d made the squad. Working in the Security and Investigations unit, but on a temporary basis. To get the position permanently, he’d have to impress the right people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He’s like, yes, of course, like, I’ll do it. I mean, he was ready.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino called to let his parents know he got promoted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He called his mom first, and she told me that Val got a promotion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He told them it was a really good position, one that a lot of other people wanted, and that he was the youngest on the team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I asked him, how’s your, how was your first day? And he goes, it’s a bunch of older guys, Dad, that have been there. He called them OGs. I said, well, how did it go? He goes, they asked, who the fuck are you?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>So, from the very beginning, there was tension on the team. Some of the people he worked with felt like he’d skipped the line, that he hadn’t done enough to prove himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>There was one time where he had asked me to make little cheesecakes. There’s a little mini pie cheesecakes that I would make, and I made a bunch for the team and like nobody had them, nobody ate them. And they would just tell him like, no, we don’t want this or we don’t want that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>At first he tried to earn their acceptance by just working really hard, trying to prove that he was up to the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez\u003c/strong>: He just continued to just put his head down and work, and I think that’s what really bothered him, that he would just try to do the right thing, and it just didn’t seem like it was enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino was making busts and working cases, but to some of his coworkers, this might have made him seem like even more of a threat because higher ups were noticing his work. Valentino was getting a reputation for being a diligent investigator, thorough, and for writing really good reports. This was a big deal because paperwork, reports, are hugely important in prison. With 115,000 people incarcerated in the state’s prisons at the time, these reports are how the agency kept track of everybody. Officers need to document everything: gang affiliations, medical needs, disability status, history of suicide, fights with staff and so on. And these reports are also the basis for disciplinary action, like sending someone to solitary confinement or charging them with a new crime. These reports hold a lot of power, and it is a crime for an officer to falsify an official report. Valentino wanted to keep moving up in the system and expanding his skills as an investigator. On the weekends when he wasn’t working, he’d pay out of pocket to go to these training events and seminars. And during these trips, he became friends with a guy named Sergeant Kevin Steele. Steele passed away in 2021, so we couldn’t interview him, but Val Senior came to know him well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong> He was about 5’ 7”… my age, maybe a little bit older, he was in good shape. You know, he shaved his head and stood straight up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Picture a Bruce Willis type in his 50s, with intense bright blue eyes. He was a military veteran and a straight shooter. Sergeant Steele also worked in the ISU. He was senior to Valentino, but he was in a different division. He was in the prosecution division. It was his job to prepare cases for the district attorney to bring criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He was very good at speaking and writing. Very passionate about his job, and loyal. He was very, very important to that prison for a good reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The two officers really respected each other. Both of them were kind of law enforcement nerds committed to going the extra mile. Valentino would testify in court for Steele’s cases. All that extra training meant he was a great expert witness. And Steele became one of the few people Valentino trusted—a mentor, and someone he called regularly for advice about criminal case protocol or how to handle evidence. Things with the other guys in his division, however, were getting worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Sometimes he would text the guys for help and they’d have their own group text and they would like, they wouldn’t—they didn’t want to help him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Some of these group texts are pretty awful. They mock his weight and call him half-patch to remind him he’s still just a temporary member of the squad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Are these things that you saw after he died? Only after?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Mm-hm. He never, he never said, look Dad, look what they’re sending. He just never…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>But these messages would escalate even further before they stopped. The brotherhood, the family that Valentino had been promised at his academy graduation, was nowhere to be found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>And he used to go in on weekends to, to work, because some of the team wasn’t there to harass him. Nobody was calling him names or anything or intimidate him anyway. So he liked going there on Saturdays. I know that, he told me. He used to go to work in the mornings, and then he told me he would go into the restroom to vomit because he felt so much anxiety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>An attorney for these officers declined our request to interview her clients. But she said that any allegations that any of them bullied, hazed or harassed Valentino are false. Val Senior says he wouldn’t understand until much later, the full scope of what his son was going through, or of the things he was being asked to do in the name of this team. But he did notice a change come over his son. He wasn’t sleeping, and he gained 60 pounds over the course of the year he was in the ISU squad. Sometimes when they were hanging out, he’d get this blank look on his face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I could tell that he was starting to build this mental mechanism where he knew how to turn things off. You know, because I used to see him stare into space, you know, and then he’d snap out of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>And this distance was coming between Valentino and Mimy too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>What really bothered me about his job was that he was never home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>They were planning to get married and have kids, but more and more she felt like Valentino was always gone. There were the overtime shifts he had to work and the milestones in their life together were passing by without him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I understood that it was his job and it was a requirement. But what would frustrate me is that when I would ask him, like, why coudn’t you make it? Or why couldn’t you this. He would say, well, I asked for help and no one came to help me. And I would tell him, Valentino, we’re your family. Like, we love you. You know, if something happens to you, that job is just going to replace you. But how—we can’t replace you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>She remembers one holiday, maybe Thanksgiving, where she went to his family’s house for dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I remember just sitting there waiting for him in his grandma’s house. Just waiting. He couldn’t show up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Once again, Valentino had to stay late working at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>Then it like, it just broke my heart because I just felt alone. I felt really lonely. His family—very nice. I mean, don’t get me wrong, very kind people, but—I don’t want to sit next to his grandma, per se, when I can just sit next to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>It was in the midst of these pressures—Valentino was overworked, the holidays were happening, and he felt ostracized by his team—that something major happened at the prison. Val Senior says he was at the family Christmas party. Everyone was having a good time, eating and drinking. They had a game of white elephant going and they were all laughing a lot. Valentino showed up late, straight from work around 10:00 at night, and as soon as he walked in the door, Val Senior knew something was wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>And I could just see his face, just like something really bothering him. I seen that look on his face before, but it was really intense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Val Senior asked him what was going on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>And that’s when he took his phone out and he showed me the video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The scene that Val Senior saw on his son’s cell phone was incredibly violent. A video taken by surveillance cameras in one of the most high-security housing units in New Folsom. The camera angle is from inside the control booth, which looks out on two tiers of cells. Right in front of the booth there’s an open area on the ground floor called a dayroom. In this dayroom, there are these metal desks in a semicircle with clear dividers in between them. In the video, Val Senior saw a man shackled to one of these chairs with two other guys standing over him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>This guy, this kid’s being stabbed over and over and over, and he literally would shrug your shoulders and cover his neck when they were trying to stab him in the neck. And then they would go back down on the chest, and then he would try to cover his chest by concaving his chest inward, and then they’d go back to his neck and it was just back and forth. So finally the kid threw himself on the floor, and they proceeded to just stab him—to the point to where the knives were literally hitting the ground, because every time they pulled up, his body would go up with it\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The man on the floor was now lifeless. Val senior watched as two attackers painted his blood across their faces. But Valentino wanted his dad to notice something else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He had said, lookit, dad, the guy in the tower is not even aiming, and they’re using rubber bullets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino was pointing out to his dad that the officer in the control booth didn’t use his rifle to immediately stop the deadly threat. He fired his less lethal weapon that shoots rounds made out of hard foam, and he fired it way too late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He goes, he’s supposed to use live rounds. I tried not to emphasize or talk about or look at it. I just wanted to go on to my little Christmas party. So I told him, you know, to put that thing away. [inaudible] And he just, like, did what he does, he snapped out of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>But that wasn’t all. Valentino was also instructed to write up a particular type of confidential report for statewide gang investigators. The report was supposed to lay out how the killing was tied to a dispute between rival gangs. A lot of questions would later be raised about that report and who was really behind the murder. CDCR said it cannot comment on the case because it’s part of an active investigation. Val Senior wonders about this murder, too. His son was found dead by fentanyl intoxication less than a year after this Christmas party, and he was one of the people who suspected there was something really wrong about what happened in that dayroom at New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[sounds of things put down on a table]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>You have all of the laptop to follow along? I guess. How are we gonna do this?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>In Val Senior’s office, at his swimming pool construction company in Sacramento, hanging on the wall, he’s got that picture that Valentino painted of the two of them sitting side by side on the edge of the dock, fishing. Sometimes he says he can still feel his son close to him, by his side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He’s holding my hand. He just wants me to find, find peace. And, I find parts of peace, but not completely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>When Valentino was a kid and Val Senior would come home from work, he says his son would run up and pull on the sleeve of his shirt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad… But, I just feel him tugging still, you know? Yeah. I owe that to him. And I’m going to go as far as I can. And then in the end, if nothing, there’s nothing—I tried. Right? I’ll find my answers when my time comes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Since his son’s death, Val Senior has been pulled into a new role. Now he’s become the investigator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>…shows where they got moved to, where is it at, it’s different…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>As our little reporting team—Julie, Steven and I—crowd around the computer in his office Val Senior shows us the evidence he’s collected about the killing of that guy in the dayroom, a 29-year-old man named Luis Giovanny Aguilar. He’s still trying to understand how and if that murder connects to his son’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>There was another…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Where did this come from?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Just people were sending me stuff. Look at they’re…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Your secret source?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>All these different sources…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>It’s stuff from his confidential sources who work inside New Folsom. Val Senior drags and drops the folders on his computer, one by one, onto the hard drive that we’ve brought for just this purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>We’ll do our best to try and keep you informed about our process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Is this one of the bigger stories you’ve done with podcast? Or one of the most confusing or difficult?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s a very, it’s a very complex story. But at the same time, I think it’s really like, a really important story. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>I tell him we’re looking into this because his son’s story is part of something even larger. Since 2019, when a new transparency law went into effect here in California, Julie and I have been trying to get a clear picture of what the consequences are for correctional officers who use excessive force in prison, lie on their reports, or discriminate against their colleagues. That’s been a black box for decades, hidden by laws that were lobbied for by correctional officer and police unions. Now, we’ve gotten hundreds and hundreds of documents. Some of them are related to troubling use of force incidents, like the tapes you heard earlier. And as we went through them, we discovered that a really high number of these incidents had taken place at New Folsom. When we heard there was an officer who was blowing the whistle on misconduct there and then died, we knew we had to see if there was a connection, and the answer to that question could be among the evidence Val Senior was loading onto our hard drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>What you’re offering, by what you have, or the content that you have, the text messages, combined with all the records that we’ve requested, we’ll be able to see into the prisons and how they function in a way that really hasn’t been done much…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Or ever. These records were completely secret. And we are the first people to analyze them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>As we walk out of his office… \u003cem>[sounds of leaving, saying bye]\u003c/em> Val Senior hands us back the hard drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>But, you know, lemme know what else comes up…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Closing Theme Music]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Coming up next time, Valentino reaches a breaking point at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>That was a flat-out threat. And when he got to work, they laughed at him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I remember this very clearly. He said, this is my identity. He’s like, I feel like I’ve given up on everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>And someone else starts looking into the murder in the dayroom and finding clues. Clues that point the finger not just at the two men with knives, but also at New Folsom itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>When’s the date on that one? Okay, that’s the day he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steven Rascón: \u003c/strong>Oh, he texted Steele the day he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Wow…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>That’s from Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>You’re listening to On Our Watch Season Two, New Folsom from KQED. If you have any tips or feedback about the series, you can email us at on our watch at KQED.org. You can also leave us a review in Apple Podcasts. The series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauleon. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Agusta. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts, and she executive produced the series. Meticulous fact checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional research by Cayla Mihalovich and Kathleen Quinn, students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR, KQED health correspondent April Dembosky. And to our in-house counsel, Rebecca Hopkins. Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from Cameron Fraser, APM Music and Audio Network. We got tremendous support from David Barstow, chair of the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, and graduate students Julietta Bisharyan, William Jenkins, Armon Owlia, Vera Watt, and Junyao Yang.Thanks also to UC Berkeley’s Jeremy Rue and Amanda Glazer for their data analysis. The internal records highlighted in this podcast were obtained as part of the California Reporting Project. Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and the California Endowment. Thank you to our managing editor of News and Enterprise, Otis R. Taylor Junior, Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our vice president of news, and KQED chief content officer Holly Kernan. Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">View the full episode transcript.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Soon after correctional officer Valentino Rodriguez starts working at New Folsom prison, he gets caught up in a bad incident. An incarcerated man ends up in the hospital with horrific injuries, and the prison starts an investigation. Valentino feels pressured to back up his fellow officers’ version of the story, even though he thinks it might not be the truth. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then he gets an opportunity he’s dreamed of — to join an elite unit investigating crimes in the prison.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7715585512\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Resources\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you are currently in crisis, you can dial 988 [U.S.] to reach the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline\">SAMHSA National Help Line\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://988lifeline.org/\">988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.nami.org/help\">NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Helpline\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/index.html\">US Health and Human Services\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://warmline.org/warmdir.html\">Warmline Directory\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://journalism.berkeley.edu/programs/mj/investigative-reporting/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Investigative Reporting Program\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism was a key partner in making Season 2 of On Our Watch. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The records obtained for this project are part of the\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://projects.scpr.org/california-reporting-project/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> California Reporting Project\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a coalition of news organizations in California. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Narrator: \u003c/strong>This is a series investigating some of the difficult things that happened to the people who live and work inside California’s prisons. So we wanted to give you a heads up that this episode touches on intense topics including substance use, state violence, and self-harm. If you need support, we’ve got links to resources in the episode description. The story begins with a death that is intense and upsetting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I park my car and I walk in the house and he’s not on the couch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>On October 21st, 2020, Mimy Rodriguez came home from having dinner with her friends and called out to her husband, Valentino Rodriguez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>So I go Val, Val where are you? And all the lights were on in the house. And I go into the kitchen, he’s not in the kitchen. So I go into our bedroom and he’s not in our bedroom. And I knew something was wrong. And, I go, Val? Val where are you? And I run into the bathroom and he’s just, he’s on his knees. He’s on his knees with his head up against the wall, hunched over. And I just scream. And I had my Airpods in. So I go Siri, call 911. So Siri calls 911.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>20:45, 26 seconds, October 21, 2020. \u003cem>[phone dialing sounds]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez\u003c/strong>: [inaudible] Wake up baby, I love you. I love you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>911, what is your emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/strong> [inaudible]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Ma’am you have to give her the address, again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/strong> On the call, she’s like hello and I go, please– like please help me. I’m scared. I don’t know what to do. This has happened, he’s dead, please.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Please tell me what happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And I’m screaming and I’m going to grab him. And I pull him back, and I put his head back and he has vomit coming out of his mouth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The 911 operator tells Mimy to perform CPR on him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio:\u003c/strong> Hard and fast, twice per second. Okay, we want to make sure the chest comes up all the way in between pumps. Ok, we’re gonna do this 600 times until help can take over. We’re going to count together. Okay? 1234. One. Two. Three. Four.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino’s hands were purple and he wasn’t breathing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Is that front door open, are they’re going to be able to get in to you? [Mimy inaudible] It is open? Okay. Keep going, keep doing the chest compressions. Is anybody else in the house with you? Keep going…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>Eventually the police came. I don’t know how fast. I think like two minutes, or three. But she kept telling me she’s like, they’re outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Great job just hang in there, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, they’re parking right now, they’re almost to you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And I was like, just open the door. Just come inside, please. Like seven officers ran in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>911 Audio: \u003c/strong>Please!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And I was I was like, I’m in the bathroom. Help me. And I said, save him, please save him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The police pulled her out of the house and had her sit in the back of a squad car. They told her they needed to ask her some questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>The officer that was trying to talk to me was this lady, and she, she’s like, how? What happened? She goes, what do you, how did this happen? I was like, I don’t know, but it’s his job. And I just kept saying, it’s his job. This is all because of his job. She goes, where does he work? And I’m like, he works at CDCR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>CDCR, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[sobbing]\u003c/em> It’s this stupid job. It just, it just overtook his life, his thoughts, everything that like he stood for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[THEME MUSIC]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Correctional officer Valentino Rodriguez was 30 years old when he died. He’d worked for the department for about five years. Like a lot of officers, that time changed him, especially the time he spent inside the walls of this one prison, New Folsom. This is a story about that place, about broken promises and unwritten rules, and who gets hurt when the system that promises to keep us safe is bent on protecting itself. I’m Sukey Lewis. This is On Our watch, Season Two: New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>GPS:\u003c/strong> Go past these lights. Then at the next set. Turn left. Stay in the second lane…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>A little more than two years after Officer Valentino Rodriguez died, in December 2022, our reporting team went to go see his family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>GPS:\u003c/strong> Half a mile. Turn right.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>We’re driving from the Bay Area through rice paddies and apple orchards to West Sacramento, a city on the outskirts of the state capital.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Everything about this case just raises questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>That’s my co-reporter, Julie Small. The official cause of Valentino’s death was fentanyl intoxication. But his family, and especially his father, Val Sr, still aren’t satisfied with how it was investigated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Maybe the answers are benign, but because they’re unanswered, I think, you know. Yeah. Makes you think the worst or it certainly, Val keeps going over and over in his head, Val Sr, trying to tie up the loose ends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/strong> We also think there might be more to the story of Valentino’s death because he was a whistleblower. He’d reported corruption and abuse by his fellow officers just days before he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>But they said no signs of…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>No signs of foul play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Julie’s been talking to Val Sr for the past few months. It’s taken a while to gain his trust. Today, Steven Rascón, our producer, is along to record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steven Rascón: \u003c/strong>So today’s, like, an icebreaker?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>I think so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>It’s my first chance to meet Valentino’s parents, Valentino Rodriguez Sr. And his wife, Erma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steven Rascón: \u003c/strong>This one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small:\u003c/strong> Are you rolling?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>[greeting sounds]\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Inside, the walls are covered with photos. They’ve got a good-looking family. Five grandchildren, at the time. And their four adult kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And one thing about them, all four of them, just sat there and talked, made fun of each other, and laughed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>The kids were really close.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>In a couple weeks the family’s planning to get together. But of course, one of them will be missing: Valentino. It’ll be their third Christmas without him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I was in the fog for a good year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>It’s a different fog, now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>For his dad, Valentino’s death started him on this search to find answers–from the police, the FBI, the prison. He wants to understand what happened to his son and why, and who’s responsible. But instead of finding answers, Val Sr just keeps finding more questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>This thing is just all tangled. I’m just trying to untangle it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Now, Val Senior says he feels like a stereotype out of a true crime series on TV. The grieving parent on a quest for justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>And here I am, in the driver’s seat. And uh, I couldn’t do it any other way. But I never wanted to be that person on TV. Right? Just consumed with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Yeah. Would you, be able to tell us, like, your favorite story of your son?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>Him? With him? There’s a lot. We have four kids, and they’re all completely different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino was their second child and the oldest boy. As we sit around the dining room table, Erma pulls out some of the stuff she saved over the years: his first communion prayer book, a newspaper clipping from when he made student of the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I remember his third grade teacher said he was a very good writer. She told him one day he was going to be a writer, and she couldn’t wait to hear his stories because he used to like to write. I still have all those, with little pictures…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Erma points out Valentino in a Little League team photo. He looks about 11 or 12. She says he wasn’t any good at baseball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And he wasn’t very good at soccer either. And I had all four kids playing, so it was like every Saturday I’m driving around all over Sacramento taking them. And I tell him one day, why do you run around with your eyes closed? He’s like, I would pretend I was an airplane flying in the air. \u003cem>[laughter]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I remember when I used to watch him go wrestle. He’d always lose. But, after he was done, he’d be talking to the guy that beat him up. Yeah. Being friendly\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Erma Rodriguez:\u003c/strong>Yeah. He’d be talking to them… \u003cem>[laughing]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>They tell us this was typical Valentino. Goofy, dreamy, smart, eager to turn enemies into friends. After college, when he told them he was going to train to be a correctional officer, his parents were kind of surprised. They weren’t a law enforcement family. But he’d have job security and good benefits. Val Senior says he remembers the day his son graduated from the academy. It was May 1st, 2015, and he looked out over this ocean of young faces. His son was among the about 200 cadets sworn in that day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Academy Ceremony: \u003c/strong>Raise your right hand and repeat after me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>This is tape from a more recent graduation, reciting the same oath Valentino took.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Academy Ceremony: \u003c/strong>I, state your name, recognize the badge of my office. As a symbol of public faith.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Photos from that day show Valentino in his Class A uniform– creases sharp, his hair neatly combed. They promise to protect the innocent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Academy Ceremony: \u003c/strong>Dedicating myself before all present…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>To be honest. And to hold each other accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Academy Ceremony: \u003c/strong>Congratulations, and welcome to the family. \u003cem>[applause]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>One of Valentino’s first assignments was working on death row at San Quentin State Prison, the oldest prison in California. He’d often carpool to work with a bunch of other correctional officers. And on the way back, they’d get dropped off at In-N-Out Burger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I was a cashier, and he’d come in, in his little green suit. He’s so cute, and his little boots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>That’s Mimy again, talking to my colleague Julie. She calls him cute, but Valentino was not a little man. He was five foot seven and at least 200 pounds, clean shaven, with dark hair and big brown eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>So his order was a three by three ketchup only, no salt. With a cheese fry no salt, and then a large 7Up. So I knew his order from the moment… because, of course, you know, the cute guy comes in. I’m going to memorize his order!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Mimy recognized Valentino from a party she’d gone to at his house, thrown by his brother Greg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I was like, oh, how are you? And he’s like, good. And I think in his mind he’s like, who is this girl? I know your brother! And he’s like, what? And he was just, hecka weirded out. And in my head it’s going great, right? But he started coming to In-N-Out more often, and I would give him free burgers or shakes, when my manager wasn’t looking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>And they started messaging on Facebook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And he’s like, hey, I haven’t seen you. Like, did you switch jobs? And I’m like, oh, this boy texted me, or this boy messaged me. And I was like, hello, yes, hi! It was just me being all excited. He was a kid at heart, very playful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>They’d play video games together and watch movies, and they liked introducing each other to new things: food, music or art… This one time they went out to a sip and paint night at a local spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/strong> He was kind of nervous. I think he just, it was a new thing for him. But we had gone to a paint night with one of my coworkers, and, we went on a double date and he painted this really nice picture. It was supposed to be of a pelican at the end of a bridge, but he changed it. And it’s a painting of him and his dad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The scene is of the two of them from behind– a boy and his father, sitting side by side with their fishing poles in the water. Wispy white clouds over the horizon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>And he gave it to his dad after we got back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Mimi says they fell hard for each other, and just two months after they started dating, her roommate moved out and she needed to find a new place to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I was going to move into my brother’s house, but he was like, no, you should move in with me. And I’m like, no, this is kind of soon. And he’s like, come on, think about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino’s mom had helped him find a cute little house just about five miles away from their place in West Sacramento. Mimy moved in. And it was right around this time that Valentino got what he saw as a big break, an opportunity to work in a different prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He specifically chose Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The official name of New Folsom is California State Prison, Sacramento, or CSP SAC. It’s called New Folsom because it was built back in the 80s, next to the old Folsom Prison that was made famous by country singer Johnny Cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johnny Cash: \u003c/strong>Okay. Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He wrote a song called Folsom Prison Blues and then later recorded this performance live at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Johnny Cash:\u003c/strong> I hear the train coming, it’s rolling round the bed, and I ain’t seen the sunshine, since I don’t know when.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>You can actually see the guard towers of Old Folsom from New Folsom Prison. They’ve got a medieval castle kind of look to them. New Folsom, on the other hand, where Valentino was transferring to, has a more industrial, utilitarian look. A lot of razor wire and gray concrete. It’s a high security prison that the state set up to accommodate people with risky medical conditions and mental health needs. It also houses active gang members and people who’ve been convicted of some of the most serious crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He said he wanted to go there because it was the most…He said it was the most dangerous prison in California. But he described it as there was just a lot of, activity there with officers, with inmates, and he just wanted to be in there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>There are a lot of infamous prisons in this country, and a fair number here in California. There’s San Quentin with its death row, the state’s first supermax, Pelican Bay. Corcoran, where in the 90s, officers allegedly set up gladiator style fights between rival gangs and then shot incarcerated people to stop the fights. But as we dug through a bunch of data and public records, we realized in the past decade, New Folsom has been the most violent prison in the state, and that violence is committed by people who are locked up, and officers. We found that in the six years after 2014, New Folsom officers used serious force, meaning they either badly injured someone or used deadly force, at a rate three times higher than any other prison in the state. This was stunning to us. CDCR declined our multiple requests to comment on this finding. I’ve done quite a bit of reporting on prisons, and Julie’s been reporting on prisons for even longer. New Folsom just wasn’t on our radar in the same way. We’ll dig into those numbers more later. But for now, it’s important to know that with just a year of experience as a correctional officer, this is the environment Valentino was walking into. Mimy says he was looking forward to it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He was excited to go into this prison. He was excited for the work. He was excited for what he was going to learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He wanted to be an investigator in this elite squad called the ISU or the Investigative Services Unit. A prison is like its own city, and the ISU squad are like the police force of the prison. They’ve got a K-9 unit, a gang investigation unit, a prosecution division, and one for internal affairs to look into complaints of excessive force or allegations of officer corruption. Walking through New Folsom, the squad stood out. They had special black and green patches on their uniforms. And unlike regular officers, they could bring their cell phones into work. They could also go anywhere in the prison they wanted—total access. Valentino’s goal was to earn his patch and get into that squad. But first he had to pay his dues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[break]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Officer Valentino Rodriguez’s first assignment was working in the prison’s psychiatric unit, guarding one of the most vulnerable and difficult parts of the population: people with severe mental illnesses. I’ve talked to a number of people incarcerated in this unit, and it sounds like a really tough place to be. It can be very loud and chaotic. Sometimes the people in this unit are angry and confrontational, while others are simply terrified or heavily medicated. And officers like Valentino are required to get training in how to prevent incarcerated people from hurting each other and themselves. Valentino had been working at New Folsom and in this unit for just a few months when he got caught up in a really bad incident that Val Senior says was a turning point for him. An incarcerated man ended up in the hospital with broken bones and injuries to his face and head. So investigators started looking into how the man got those injuries. We were able to get the tapes and paperwork for that incident. Just to note, we noticed a lot of inconsistencies in what people say happened. The incarcerated man’s story changes a bit. One officer contradicts himself, and other officers have slightly different versions of the incident. You’ll also hear some places where the department has redacted the audio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent\u003c/strong>: So what we’re going to talk about is on the 12th of August, Friday, you were involved in an incident which occurred. REDACTED your cell? Where you were at before?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C\u003c/strong>: Yes, sir.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>They’re looking into this incarcerated man’s allegations that officers caused his injuries, and then lied about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent:\u003c/strong> …you made the allegation, “While trying to hang myself, the COs came in and smashed my face into the wall.” Can you tell me about that? What you mean?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>Well, the whole story?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Because of some sensitive details about his mental health, we decided not to use this man’s name. I’m just going to call him by the initial of his last name, C. So C tells the investigators that it all started because of the meds he was taking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C:\u003c/strong> I was having a hard time on medication. When I have a hard time on medication I have side effects of committing suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>First C says he put his head in the toilet in his cell to try and drown himself. And then C told a passing officer that he was feeling suicidal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C:\u003c/strong> He put uh, a sheet, like a suicide sheet…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He says the officer handed him a sheet with a noose already tied in it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>…he threw it into my cell, he said, hang yourself. So I tried to hang myself in front of him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Officers have to follow really strict rules to prevent suicides. They have to check on people in their cells every 30 minutes. When someone says they’re suicidal, officers are supposed to call mental health services right away, and that person might even get moved to a different unit or checked into a hospital. To be clear, handing someone a noose would totally violate what officers are meant to do in this situation. No officers admitted giving him a noose. A responding officer tells investigators he was doing his rounds and saw C with the sheet already tied around his neck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Officer: \u003c/strong>At that time, I opened the food port, gave him multiple orders to stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>When C doesn’t respond, the officer says he sprays him with pepper spray.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Officer\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>:\u003c/strong> My intent was to have, to save his life from—stopping him, from actually choking himself, from killing himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis:\u003c/strong> An officer gets C to come to the door to put handcuffs on him, and he’s shackled by his feet and behind his back. And then they escort him to what’s called a decontamination cell. It’s basically a cage the size of a phone booth that they can spray a hose into to wash the pepper spray off him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>And they just, boom! They just pushed me in there, and I hit my face against the back of the cell. I went like that, boom…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>This injury, that’s right there across your nose?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>[inaudible] Well I hit my head and the face, like that? Boom. And then my eye and then my face and then my neck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>But the officers who were escorting him tell it differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Officer: \u003c/strong>He just kept trying to pull away. So I tightened my grip and, counseled him to not, not pull away from myself…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The officer says C broke away from them and lunged toward the shower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Officer: \u003c/strong>And then he ended up tripping over the, there’s a lip on that shower, tripping over the bottom lip, smashing in the back of the shower. And then I immediately closed the shower, locked it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Again, C denies this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Were you resisting at all?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>I wasn’t resisting at all!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent:\u003c/strong> You were just walking calmly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>C: \u003c/strong>I was walking calmly, yeah. I mean, I didn’t get the injuries from trying to hang myself. I got the injuries from him pushing me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>So to recap, according to C, he was suicidal. An officer gave him a noose, pepper sprayed him and he was forcibly thrown into a cage and injured really badly. The version officers tell is that C already had the noose. They pepper sprayed him to save his life, and he got hurt— first when he fell from his bunk, and then again when he pulled away from them and tripped face-first into the shower cage. The last account of events I’m going to walk you through is Valentino’s, because he was one of the officers who responded that day. Here he is introducing himself on tape to an investigator with the Internal Affairs Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>Valentino Rodriguez, correctional officer, California Department of Corrections. Yeah. Sacramento State Prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The agent tells Valentino he’s here as a witness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Can you give me your account of that incident?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>Heard on the radio announcement that there was a, inmate, hanging inmate, attempted hanging in two block, in D section.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino says he put on his gloves and rushed to the cell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>It was apparent that he was sprayed with OC, OC pepper spray because he had, you know, spitting up mucus and a little bit of blood on his face from, from being sprayed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>As the two officers took C to hose off, they walked him past Valentino, who says he saw a little bump on C’s forehead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Could you see blood on his clothing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>I don’t remember. I don’t remember if I could at time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Can you now?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>No.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>So C goes to the shower cage with really no major injuries that Valentino could see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>At what point did you observe an injury on him?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>When the water was turned off and I walked up to the cage to open it up. I observed, some injuries to the top of his head and across his face, I think. I believe it was across the face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Okay. Can you tell me about, describe those injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>They were two gashes, like, large, large gashes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino was asked to photograph C’s injuries and then take him to get medical attention. We got those pictures that he took. The man’s face is partially blacked out, but you can see a five-inch gash across his forehead, and his cheek is split open from his nose to below his cheekbone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Is there anything else you’d like to tell me which you have not already discussed during this interview? Before I turn off the recorder, I want to remind you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>It’s a big deal any time an officer gets pulled into an investigation, even just as a witness. Because lying is a fire-able offense. We know Valentino told the people closest to him about this incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I remember that when it happened, he was so scared for weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>When we got this recording through a public records request to CDCR, it was one of the things we really wanted to share with Val Senior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>You want to hear it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>My co-reporter Julie Small sat down with him and pressed play on the recording.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>It is December 9th, 2016.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Val Senior had never heard this interview with his son before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>Yeah, he had a bump, about an inch above his eye.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>IA Agent: \u003c/strong>Okay, do you know which eye?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Jr.: \u003c/strong>I can’t recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>\u003cem>[to Val Sr]\u003c/em> You’re making a face? Do you think that he’s telling the truth there?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I think, because I know my son—he has a really good memory, is really detail-orientated. And for him not to remember which side the cut was on, and certain things, is just, to me… he sounds like he’s worried right there, scared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino told him that what happened during the incident was different than what those officers wrote in their reports and told investigators. But he said he felt like he had to go along with their story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>You should have seen his face when he’d come over. That broke my heart, man, because he had a job…And he told me, Dad, you have to, you have to tell the same story because you’re on a team. Yeah. And if you don’t, then you’re the odd man out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Mimy told us something similar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He was told, like, hey, you know, this is what we’re writing. And it’s important that all of us have the same story, and it’s important for all of us to be on the same page. And he told me how they never really specifically said, you must do it this way. You must write it this, you must do it that. It was more of like, this is what we are doing and this is how we’re going to do it. And this is what’s important for our team, so we can all be on the same page. He felt a lot of pressure, just cause he didn’t want to lose his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>CDCR did not respond to specific questions about this incident. A spokesperson did write in an email that the agency takes all allegations of employee misconduct seriously, and there is a new process for making sure complaints are, quote, “properly, fairly and thoroughly reviewed.” The spokesperson also pointed out that there is a new system of fixed and body cameras at New Folsom. So, we don’t know exactly what the truth is about this incident. What we do know is that C was severely injured. Medical reports show he received 27 stitches. His nose was broken, and his spine was fractured in three places. Ultimately, those in charge believed the officer’s story that C fractured his back when he slipped and fell off his bunk and injured his face and head when he lunged away from officers and landed on the metal rails of the decontamination shower. And that’s the story that Valentino chose to go along with, even though he told his father it wasn’t true. This wouldn’t be the last time Valentino felt compromised by his job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[break]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Mimy Rodriguez told my colleague Julie and me that working in the psychiatric unit really took a toll on Valentino.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He would talk about how draining it was, and he would come home drained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>What did that look like to you?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez:\u003c/strong> I mean, he would just drag his feet. He would drag his feet, come in and he didn’t want to eat. He would shower and just go to sleep. I mean, he was just quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He worked double shifts so he could get more days off in a row to recharge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>That’s when he would talk more about work. And be like, Yeah, like, you know, it was a little stressful, and I’m dealing with this or I’m talking about this, but, you know, I’m happy to go in. And he was always very enthusiastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>About two and a half years after he’d gotten to New Folsom, late 2018, Valentino’s hard work looked like it was paying off. Remember the squad, that detective unit Valentino was aiming for? An officer there went on leave for PTSD, and there was a vacancy on the team. One of the supervisors who knew Valentino thought he’d be good at the job and gave him the chance to fill in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He was really excited for that, but he didn’t think he was going to get that opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He’d made the squad. Working in the Security and Investigations unit, but on a temporary basis. To get the position permanently, he’d have to impress the right people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>He’s like, yes, of course, like, I’ll do it. I mean, he was ready.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino called to let his parents know he got promoted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He called his mom first, and she told me that Val got a promotion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>He told them it was a really good position, one that a lot of other people wanted, and that he was the youngest on the team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I asked him, how’s your, how was your first day? And he goes, it’s a bunch of older guys, Dad, that have been there. He called them OGs. I said, well, how did it go? He goes, they asked, who the fuck are you?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>So, from the very beginning, there was tension on the team. Some of the people he worked with felt like he’d skipped the line, that he hadn’t done enough to prove himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>There was one time where he had asked me to make little cheesecakes. There’s a little mini pie cheesecakes that I would make, and I made a bunch for the team and like nobody had them, nobody ate them. And they would just tell him like, no, we don’t want this or we don’t want that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>At first he tried to earn their acceptance by just working really hard, trying to prove that he was up to the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez\u003c/strong>: He just continued to just put his head down and work, and I think that’s what really bothered him, that he would just try to do the right thing, and it just didn’t seem like it was enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino was making busts and working cases, but to some of his coworkers, this might have made him seem like even more of a threat because higher ups were noticing his work. Valentino was getting a reputation for being a diligent investigator, thorough, and for writing really good reports. This was a big deal because paperwork, reports, are hugely important in prison. With 115,000 people incarcerated in the state’s prisons at the time, these reports are how the agency kept track of everybody. Officers need to document everything: gang affiliations, medical needs, disability status, history of suicide, fights with staff and so on. And these reports are also the basis for disciplinary action, like sending someone to solitary confinement or charging them with a new crime. These reports hold a lot of power, and it is a crime for an officer to falsify an official report. Valentino wanted to keep moving up in the system and expanding his skills as an investigator. On the weekends when he wasn’t working, he’d pay out of pocket to go to these training events and seminars. And during these trips, he became friends with a guy named Sergeant Kevin Steele. Steele passed away in 2021, so we couldn’t interview him, but Val Senior came to know him well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong> He was about 5’ 7”… my age, maybe a little bit older, he was in good shape. You know, he shaved his head and stood straight up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Picture a Bruce Willis type in his 50s, with intense bright blue eyes. He was a military veteran and a straight shooter. Sergeant Steele also worked in the ISU. He was senior to Valentino, but he was in a different division. He was in the prosecution division. It was his job to prepare cases for the district attorney to bring criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He was very good at speaking and writing. Very passionate about his job, and loyal. He was very, very important to that prison for a good reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The two officers really respected each other. Both of them were kind of law enforcement nerds committed to going the extra mile. Valentino would testify in court for Steele’s cases. All that extra training meant he was a great expert witness. And Steele became one of the few people Valentino trusted—a mentor, and someone he called regularly for advice about criminal case protocol or how to handle evidence. Things with the other guys in his division, however, were getting worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Sometimes he would text the guys for help and they’d have their own group text and they would like, they wouldn’t—they didn’t want to help him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Some of these group texts are pretty awful. They mock his weight and call him half-patch to remind him he’s still just a temporary member of the squad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Are these things that you saw after he died? Only after?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Mm-hm. He never, he never said, look Dad, look what they’re sending. He just never…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>But these messages would escalate even further before they stopped. The brotherhood, the family that Valentino had been promised at his academy graduation, was nowhere to be found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>And he used to go in on weekends to, to work, because some of the team wasn’t there to harass him. Nobody was calling him names or anything or intimidate him anyway. So he liked going there on Saturdays. I know that, he told me. He used to go to work in the mornings, and then he told me he would go into the restroom to vomit because he felt so much anxiety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>An attorney for these officers declined our request to interview her clients. But she said that any allegations that any of them bullied, hazed or harassed Valentino are false. Val Senior says he wouldn’t understand until much later, the full scope of what his son was going through, or of the things he was being asked to do in the name of this team. But he did notice a change come over his son. He wasn’t sleeping, and he gained 60 pounds over the course of the year he was in the ISU squad. Sometimes when they were hanging out, he’d get this blank look on his face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>I could tell that he was starting to build this mental mechanism where he knew how to turn things off. You know, because I used to see him stare into space, you know, and then he’d snap out of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>And this distance was coming between Valentino and Mimy too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>What really bothered me about his job was that he was never home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>They were planning to get married and have kids, but more and more she felt like Valentino was always gone. There were the overtime shifts he had to work and the milestones in their life together were passing by without him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I understood that it was his job and it was a requirement. But what would frustrate me is that when I would ask him, like, why coudn’t you make it? Or why couldn’t you this. He would say, well, I asked for help and no one came to help me. And I would tell him, Valentino, we’re your family. Like, we love you. You know, if something happens to you, that job is just going to replace you. But how—we can’t replace you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>She remembers one holiday, maybe Thanksgiving, where she went to his family’s house for dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I remember just sitting there waiting for him in his grandma’s house. Just waiting. He couldn’t show up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Once again, Valentino had to stay late working at the prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>Then it like, it just broke my heart because I just felt alone. I felt really lonely. His family—very nice. I mean, don’t get me wrong, very kind people, but—I don’t want to sit next to his grandma, per se, when I can just sit next to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>It was in the midst of these pressures—Valentino was overworked, the holidays were happening, and he felt ostracized by his team—that something major happened at the prison. Val Senior says he was at the family Christmas party. Everyone was having a good time, eating and drinking. They had a game of white elephant going and they were all laughing a lot. Valentino showed up late, straight from work around 10:00 at night, and as soon as he walked in the door, Val Senior knew something was wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>And I could just see his face, just like something really bothering him. I seen that look on his face before, but it was really intense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Val Senior asked him what was going on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>And that’s when he took his phone out and he showed me the video.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The scene that Val Senior saw on his son’s cell phone was incredibly violent. A video taken by surveillance cameras in one of the most high-security housing units in New Folsom. The camera angle is from inside the control booth, which looks out on two tiers of cells. Right in front of the booth there’s an open area on the ground floor called a dayroom. In this dayroom, there are these metal desks in a semicircle with clear dividers in between them. In the video, Val Senior saw a man shackled to one of these chairs with two other guys standing over him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>This guy, this kid’s being stabbed over and over and over, and he literally would shrug your shoulders and cover his neck when they were trying to stab him in the neck. And then they would go back down on the chest, and then he would try to cover his chest by concaving his chest inward, and then they’d go back to his neck and it was just back and forth. So finally the kid threw himself on the floor, and they proceeded to just stab him—to the point to where the knives were literally hitting the ground, because every time they pulled up, his body would go up with it\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>The man on the floor was now lifeless. Val senior watched as two attackers painted his blood across their faces. But Valentino wanted his dad to notice something else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He had said, lookit, dad, the guy in the tower is not even aiming, and they’re using rubber bullets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Valentino was pointing out to his dad that the officer in the control booth didn’t use his rifle to immediately stop the deadly threat. He fired his less lethal weapon that shoots rounds made out of hard foam, and he fired it way too late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He goes, he’s supposed to use live rounds. I tried not to emphasize or talk about or look at it. I just wanted to go on to my little Christmas party. So I told him, you know, to put that thing away. [inaudible] And he just, like, did what he does, he snapped out of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>But that wasn’t all. Valentino was also instructed to write up a particular type of confidential report for statewide gang investigators. The report was supposed to lay out how the killing was tied to a dispute between rival gangs. A lot of questions would later be raised about that report and who was really behind the murder. CDCR said it cannot comment on the case because it’s part of an active investigation. Val Senior wonders about this murder, too. His son was found dead by fentanyl intoxication less than a year after this Christmas party, and he was one of the people who suspected there was something really wrong about what happened in that dayroom at New Folsom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[sounds of things put down on a table]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>You have all of the laptop to follow along? I guess. How are we gonna do this?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>In Val Senior’s office, at his swimming pool construction company in Sacramento, hanging on the wall, he’s got that picture that Valentino painted of the two of them sitting side by side on the edge of the dock, fishing. Sometimes he says he can still feel his son close to him, by his side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>He’s holding my hand. He just wants me to find, find peace. And, I find parts of peace, but not completely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>When Valentino was a kid and Val Senior would come home from work, he says his son would run up and pull on the sleeve of his shirt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad… But, I just feel him tugging still, you know? Yeah. I owe that to him. And I’m going to go as far as I can. And then in the end, if nothing, there’s nothing—I tried. Right? I’ll find my answers when my time comes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Since his son’s death, Val Senior has been pulled into a new role. Now he’s become the investigator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>…shows where they got moved to, where is it at, it’s different…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>As our little reporting team—Julie, Steven and I—crowd around the computer in his office Val Senior shows us the evidence he’s collected about the killing of that guy in the dayroom, a 29-year-old man named Luis Giovanny Aguilar. He’s still trying to understand how and if that murder connects to his son’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>There was another…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Where did this come from?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Just people were sending me stuff. Look at they’re…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Your secret source?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>All these different sources…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>It’s stuff from his confidential sources who work inside New Folsom. Val Senior drags and drops the folders on his computer, one by one, onto the hard drive that we’ve brought for just this purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>We’ll do our best to try and keep you informed about our process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>Is this one of the bigger stories you’ve done with podcast? Or one of the most confusing or difficult?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Yeah, yeah. I mean, it’s a very, it’s a very complex story. But at the same time, I think it’s really like, a really important story. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>I tell him we’re looking into this because his son’s story is part of something even larger. Since 2019, when a new transparency law went into effect here in California, Julie and I have been trying to get a clear picture of what the consequences are for correctional officers who use excessive force in prison, lie on their reports, or discriminate against their colleagues. That’s been a black box for decades, hidden by laws that were lobbied for by correctional officer and police unions. Now, we’ve gotten hundreds and hundreds of documents. Some of them are related to troubling use of force incidents, like the tapes you heard earlier. And as we went through them, we discovered that a really high number of these incidents had taken place at New Folsom. When we heard there was an officer who was blowing the whistle on misconduct there and then died, we knew we had to see if there was a connection, and the answer to that question could be among the evidence Val Senior was loading onto our hard drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>What you’re offering, by what you have, or the content that you have, the text messages, combined with all the records that we’ve requested, we’ll be able to see into the prisons and how they function in a way that really hasn’t been done much…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Or ever. These records were completely secret. And we are the first people to analyze them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>As we walk out of his office… \u003cem>[sounds of leaving, saying bye]\u003c/em> Val Senior hands us back the hard drive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>But, you know, lemme know what else comes up…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>[Closing Theme Music]\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>Coming up next time, Valentino reaches a breaking point at work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Valentino Rodriguez Sr.: \u003c/strong>That was a flat-out threat. And when he got to work, they laughed at him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mimy Rodriguez: \u003c/strong>I remember this very clearly. He said, this is my identity. He’s like, I feel like I’ve given up on everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>And someone else starts looking into the murder in the dayroom and finding clues. Clues that point the finger not just at the two men with knives, but also at New Folsom itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>When’s the date on that one? Okay, that’s the day he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Steven Rascón: \u003c/strong>Oh, he texted Steele the day he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Julie Small: \u003c/strong>Wow…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>That’s from Steele.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Sukey Lewis: \u003c/strong>You’re listening to On Our Watch Season Two, New Folsom from KQED. If you have any tips or feedback about the series, you can email us at on our watch at KQED.org. You can also leave us a review in Apple Podcasts. The series is reported by me, Sukey Lewis, and Julie Small. It’s edited by Victoria Mauleon. It’s produced and scored by Steven Rascón and Chris Agusta. Sound design and mixing by Tarek Fouda. Jen Chien is KQED’s director of podcasts, and she executive produced the series. Meticulous fact checking by Mark Betancourt. Additional research by Cayla Mihalovich and Kathleen Quinn, students in the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. Special thanks to Rahsaan Thomas of Ear Hustle, Sandhya Dirks of NPR, KQED health correspondent April Dembosky. And to our in-house counsel, Rebecca Hopkins. Original music by Ramtin Arablouei, including our theme song. Additional music from Cameron Fraser, APM Music and Audio Network. We got tremendous support from David Barstow, chair of the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, and graduate students Julietta Bisharyan, William Jenkins, Armon Owlia, Vera Watt, and Junyao Yang.Thanks also to UC Berkeley’s Jeremy Rue and Amanda Glazer for their data analysis. The internal records highlighted in this podcast were obtained as part of the California Reporting Project. Funding for On Our Watch is provided in part by Arnold Ventures and the California Endowment. Thank you to our managing editor of News and Enterprise, Otis R. Taylor Junior, Ethan Toven-Lindsey, our vice president of news, and KQED chief content officer Holly Kernan. Thanks for listening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"title": "Half Moon Bay Farm Involved in Shooting Paid $126,000 in Workplace Violations",
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"content": "\u003cp>One of the two businesses where seven farmworkers were fatally shot last year in Half Moon Bay has paid more than $126,000 for workplace violations uncovered after the mass shooting, the U.S. Department of Labor confirmed to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Terra Garden paid $84,000 in back wages and $42,500 in penalties assessed under federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/agriculture/mspa\">protections\u003c/a> covering migrant and seasonal agricultural workers. This is in addition to a separate $150,000 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11973396/half-moon-bay-commemorates-1-year-anniversary-of-mass-shooting-that-killed-7\">settlement paid\u003c/a> by the business to the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, according to a spokesperson for the agency. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Alberto Raymond, assistant district director, U.S. Department of Labor San José Office\"]‘The Department of Labor will enforce laws that protect all workers, particularly vulnerable workers. And will put every effort to seek justice, to level the playing field.’[/pullquote]A Department of Labor investigation into the second site where the back-to-back shootings occurred, Concord Farms, is ongoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A team of investigators found California Terra Garden charged dozens of farmworkers to live in “deplorable” housing on-site and failed to notify them in writing about the terms of their employment as required, said Alberto Raymond, assistant district director at the agency’s San José office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Department of Labor will enforce laws that protect all workers, particularly vulnerable workers,” Raymond told KQED. “And will put every effort to seek justice, to level the playing field.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Terra Garden made the full payment to the Department of Labor last summer. The agency has been working to track down 39 workers who are eligible for restitution over two years, according to Raymond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attempts to reach California Terra Garden representatives for comment were unsuccessful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller, who has helped the county take steps to support wage theft victims and to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11973396/half-moon-bay-commemorates-1-year-anniversary-of-mass-shooting-that-killed-7\">start developing\u003c/a> more affordable housing units for agricultural workers, welcomed the news. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller\"]‘The enforcement and recovery work by the U.S. Department of Labor is another step toward justice for the families affected by the tragedy in Half Moon Bay.’[/pullquote]“The enforcement and recovery work by the U.S. Department of Labor is another step toward justice for the families affected by the tragedy in Half Moon Bay,” Mueller said in a statement. “On the county level, we are making active strides to ensure a safe and healthy future for all agricultural workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deemed an extreme case of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11939361/im-afraid-half-moon-bay-shootings-may-have-been-extreme-case-of-workplace-violence\">workplace violence\u003c/a>, the murders on Jan. 23, 2023, at the two mushroom farms exposed very low wages and substandard housing conditions for workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day after the shooting, Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters that the farmworkers lived in “shipping containers” and earned only $9 an hour, far below California’s minimum wage. State and county officials vowed to investigate. [aside label='More on Half Moon Bay' tag='half-moon-bay']One year later, California workplace regulators \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11973396/half-moon-bay-commemorates-1-year-anniversary-of-mass-shooting-that-killed-7\">accused\u003c/a> the two farm employers of various \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2023/2023-46.html\">safety\u003c/a> and labor law violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A criminal grand jury indicted the alleged gunman, Chunli Zhao, with seven counts of murder, among other charges. The judge in the case scheduled an arraignment for later this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zhao allegedly shot five people at California Terra Garden, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11966741/culture-cures-accordion-classes-for-half-moon-bay-farmworkers-offer-healing-through-music\">one of whom survived\u003c/a>. The former forklift operator, 66 at the time of the attacks, then shot and killed three more people at nearby Concord Farms, where he used to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers can check if they are owed wages by searching the Department of Labor’s \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/QLyCC5yWjXS6RzNRuz34vp?domain=webapps.dol.gov\">Workers Owed Wages website\u003c/a>, said an agency spokesperson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They can also call a toll-free helpline at 1-866-487-9243 or contact the \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/3E5MC680k4syMgwMS6yUM6?domain=dol.gov\">local office\u003c/a> where the case was managed. The California Terra Garden case was handled by the department’s Walnut Creek Area office at 415-625-7720.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California Terra Garden paid $84,000 in back wages and $42,500 in penalties under federal protections for agricultural workers. A Department of Labor investigation into Concord Farms, the second site of consecutive shootings, is ongoing.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>One of the two businesses where seven farmworkers were fatally shot last year in Half Moon Bay has paid more than $126,000 for workplace violations uncovered after the mass shooting, the U.S. Department of Labor confirmed to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Terra Garden paid $84,000 in back wages and $42,500 in penalties assessed under federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/agriculture/mspa\">protections\u003c/a> covering migrant and seasonal agricultural workers. This is in addition to a separate $150,000 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11973396/half-moon-bay-commemorates-1-year-anniversary-of-mass-shooting-that-killed-7\">settlement paid\u003c/a> by the business to the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, according to a spokesperson for the agency. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A Department of Labor investigation into the second site where the back-to-back shootings occurred, Concord Farms, is ongoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A team of investigators found California Terra Garden charged dozens of farmworkers to live in “deplorable” housing on-site and failed to notify them in writing about the terms of their employment as required, said Alberto Raymond, assistant district director at the agency’s San José office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Department of Labor will enforce laws that protect all workers, particularly vulnerable workers,” Raymond told KQED. “And will put every effort to seek justice, to level the playing field.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Terra Garden made the full payment to the Department of Labor last summer. The agency has been working to track down 39 workers who are eligible for restitution over two years, according to Raymond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attempts to reach California Terra Garden representatives for comment were unsuccessful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller, who has helped the county take steps to support wage theft victims and to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11973396/half-moon-bay-commemorates-1-year-anniversary-of-mass-shooting-that-killed-7\">start developing\u003c/a> more affordable housing units for agricultural workers, welcomed the news. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘The enforcement and recovery work by the U.S. Department of Labor is another step toward justice for the families affected by the tragedy in Half Moon Bay.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The enforcement and recovery work by the U.S. Department of Labor is another step toward justice for the families affected by the tragedy in Half Moon Bay,” Mueller said in a statement. “On the county level, we are making active strides to ensure a safe and healthy future for all agricultural workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Deemed an extreme case of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11939361/im-afraid-half-moon-bay-shootings-may-have-been-extreme-case-of-workplace-violence\">workplace violence\u003c/a>, the murders on Jan. 23, 2023, at the two mushroom farms exposed very low wages and substandard housing conditions for workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The day after the shooting, Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters that the farmworkers lived in “shipping containers” and earned only $9 an hour, far below California’s minimum wage. State and county officials vowed to investigate. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>One year later, California workplace regulators \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11973396/half-moon-bay-commemorates-1-year-anniversary-of-mass-shooting-that-killed-7\">accused\u003c/a> the two farm employers of various \u003ca href=\"https://www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2023/2023-46.html\">safety\u003c/a> and labor law violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A criminal grand jury indicted the alleged gunman, Chunli Zhao, with seven counts of murder, among other charges. The judge in the case scheduled an arraignment for later this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Zhao allegedly shot five people at California Terra Garden, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11966741/culture-cures-accordion-classes-for-half-moon-bay-farmworkers-offer-healing-through-music\">one of whom survived\u003c/a>. The former forklift operator, 66 at the time of the attacks, then shot and killed three more people at nearby Concord Farms, where he used to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Workers can check if they are owed wages by searching the Department of Labor’s \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/QLyCC5yWjXS6RzNRuz34vp?domain=webapps.dol.gov\">Workers Owed Wages website\u003c/a>, said an agency spokesperson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They can also call a toll-free helpline at 1-866-487-9243 or contact the \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/3E5MC680k4syMgwMS6yUM6?domain=dol.gov\">local office\u003c/a> where the case was managed. The California Terra Garden case was handled by the department’s Walnut Creek Area office at 415-625-7720.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A group of California lawmakers is tackling reparations for Black descendants of enslaved people with a set of bills modeled after recommendations that a state reparations task force spent years studying and developing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislative package — a set of 14 bills the California Legislative Black Caucus released Wednesday — addresses everything from criminal justice to food. It includes proposed laws requiring the governor and Legislature to apologize for human rights violations. One bill would provide financial aid for redlined communities, while another proposal aims to protect the right to wear “natural and protective” hairstyles in all competitive sports. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who chairs the Black Caucus\"]‘While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more.’[/pullquote]The headliner of the package, authored by state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/steven-bradford-1960/\">Sen. Steven Bradford\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Inglewood who served on the task force, would address \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ab3121-agenda11-ch22-policies-addressing-housing-segregation-and-unjust-property-takings-05062023.pdf\">unjust property takings\u003c/a> — referring to land, homes or businesses that were seized from Black owners through discriminatory practices and eminent domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would “restore property taken during raced-based uses of eminent domain to its original owners or provide another effective remedy where appropriate, such as restitution or compensation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, none of the proposed new laws would include widespread cash compensation for the descendants of slavery, as was recommended by the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/05/reparations-payments-california/\">state’s reparations task force\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more,” said state Assemblymember\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/lori-wilson-1976/\"> Lori Wilson\u003c/a>, who chairs the Black Caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need a comprehensive approach to dismantling the legacy of slavery and systemic racism,” said Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Reparations to ‘right the wrongs’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/members\">nine-member reparations task force\u003c/a>, which included five members appointed by the governor, issued its final recommendations last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While serving on the state panel, Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/reginald-jones-sawyer-1957/\">Reggie Jones-Sawyer\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Los Angeles, urged his colleagues to be practical about which measures could get approved and signed into law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, he applauded the first set of bills, which include proposals to provide medically supportive food to Medi-Cal recipients and to require advance notice when grocery stores close in underserved communities. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Democrat from Los Angeles\"]‘We will endeavor to right the wrongs committed against Black communities through laws and policies designed to restrict and alienate African Americans.’[/pullquote]“We will endeavor to right the wrongs committed against Black communities through laws and policies designed to restrict and alienate African Americans,” Jones-Sawyer said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hundreds of legislative and budgetary reparatory recommendations were made within the final report, and I, along with the members of the Black Caucus, look forward to working with our legislative colleagues to achieve true reparations and justice for all Black Californians,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the bills announced Wednesday include only broad strokes of what the proposed legislation would do, and some have not yet been formally introduced. All of the proposed bills in the reparations slate will be formally introduced by the Feb. 16 deadline, a spokesman for Jones-Sawyer said.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The handful of proposed laws makes the Golden State the first in the nation to undertake reparations for Black Californians, but it is being released amid turbulent political and financial waters. The state is facing a budget deficit that the governor’s office says is $38 billion, making it a daunting task to gather support for any measures with hefty price tags attached.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Newsom and some Democratic leaders applauded the creation and work of the state’s reparations task force, which held monthly meetings in several cities, from San Diego to Sacramento. Formed in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd, the task force began while initial public support for racial justice was strong, but it has \u003ca href=\"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ks5g9f6#main\">since waned\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the governor aims to boost his national profile, he has responded cooly to the state panel’s final recommendations, which included more than 115 wide-ranging policy prescriptions and a formula for calculating direct cash payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11974452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11974452\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02.jpg\" alt=\"A memorial stone plaque reads "Bruce's Beach."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1315\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1920x1262.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan Beach on June 30, 2022. The beach was returned to the descendants of the Bruce family in 2022. \u003ccite>(Raquel Natalicchio/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The panel held 15 public hearings, deliberated for two years, and considered input from more than 100 expert witnesses and the public. Task force advisors suggested the state owes Black Californians hundreds of millions of dollars for the harm they’ve suffered because of systemic racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/05/california-payment-calculator-reparations/\">created an interactive tool for calculating\u003c/a> how much a person is owed, using formulas in the task force’s final reports and how long a person lived in California during the periods of racial harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An uphill battle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates face an uphill battle convincing other ethnic groups that a payout is due, in part because they have also endured racism and unfair treatment. Asians and Latino voters, who combined make up a majority of the California electorate, largely oppose reparations, as do a majority of white residents, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/29/california-reparations-black-latino-asian-support/\">polls show\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Newsom said Wednesday that the governor “continues to have productive conversations with the California Legislative Black Caucus. The governor is committed to further building upon California’s record of advancing justice, opportunity, and equity for Black Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference announcing his proposed budget last month, Newsom said he had “devoured” the more than thousand-page report issued by the state reparations panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are deeply mindful of what will come next in partnership with the Caucus, and the work continues in that space,” Newsom said. [aside label='More on California Reparations' tag='california-reparations']Jonathan Burgess, a fire battalion chief from Sacramento and well-known advocate for reparations, called the legislative package “phenomenal,” especially its proposal to restore property or repay former owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a monumental, profound time,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burgess and his family say a portion of land that is now within the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in El Dorado County once belonged to him and his family and was unfairly taken away by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His great-great-grandfather first came to California from New Orleans in 1849, initially brought here as a slave to mine for gold. Burgess regularly attended the state task force’s meetings, speaking about California’s racist history and the need for repair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started my work almost five years ago now,” Burgess told CalMatters on Wednesday, hours after the legislative package was released. “It’s very emotional for me. It’s hard to put into words how I feel — a sense of joy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burgess said many of the wrongs committed against Black people and their families can never be fully quantified with any dollar amount, but returning property is one of the most important measures because it correlates to what would have been generational wealth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really about righting history and showing our nation the path forward,” he said. “This is just the beginning, I’d like to hope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The headliner of the package, authored by state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/steven-bradford-1960/\">Sen. Steven Bradford\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Inglewood who served on the task force, would address \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ab3121-agenda11-ch22-policies-addressing-housing-segregation-and-unjust-property-takings-05062023.pdf\">unjust property takings\u003c/a> — referring to land, homes or businesses that were seized from Black owners through discriminatory practices and eminent domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill would “restore property taken during raced-based uses of eminent domain to its original owners or provide another effective remedy where appropriate, such as restitution or compensation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Notably, none of the proposed new laws would include widespread cash compensation for the descendants of slavery, as was recommended by the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/05/reparations-payments-california/\">state’s reparations task force\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While many only associate direct cash payments with reparations, the true meaning of the word, to repair, involves much more,” said state Assemblymember\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/lori-wilson-1976/\"> Lori Wilson\u003c/a>, who chairs the Black Caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need a comprehensive approach to dismantling the legacy of slavery and systemic racism,” said Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Reparations to ‘right the wrongs’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/ab3121/members\">nine-member reparations task force\u003c/a>, which included five members appointed by the governor, issued its final recommendations last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While serving on the state panel, Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/reginald-jones-sawyer-1957/\">Reggie Jones-Sawyer\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Los Angeles, urged his colleagues to be practical about which measures could get approved and signed into law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, he applauded the first set of bills, which include proposals to provide medically supportive food to Medi-Cal recipients and to require advance notice when grocery stores close in underserved communities. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“We will endeavor to right the wrongs committed against Black communities through laws and policies designed to restrict and alienate African Americans,” Jones-Sawyer said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Hundreds of legislative and budgetary reparatory recommendations were made within the final report, and I, along with the members of the Black Caucus, look forward to working with our legislative colleagues to achieve true reparations and justice for all Black Californians,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the bills announced Wednesday include only broad strokes of what the proposed legislation would do, and some have not yet been formally introduced. All of the proposed bills in the reparations slate will be formally introduced by the Feb. 16 deadline, a spokesman for Jones-Sawyer said.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The handful of proposed laws makes the Golden State the first in the nation to undertake reparations for Black Californians, but it is being released amid turbulent political and financial waters. The state is facing a budget deficit that the governor’s office says is $38 billion, making it a daunting task to gather support for any measures with hefty price tags attached.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2020, Newsom and some Democratic leaders applauded the creation and work of the state’s reparations task force, which held monthly meetings in several cities, from San Diego to Sacramento. Formed in the aftermath of the police murder of George Floyd, the task force began while initial public support for racial justice was strong, but it has \u003ca href=\"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5ks5g9f6#main\">since waned\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the governor aims to boost his national profile, he has responded cooly to the state panel’s final recommendations, which included more than 115 wide-ranging policy prescriptions and a formula for calculating direct cash payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11974452\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11974452\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02.jpg\" alt=\"A memorial stone plaque reads "Bruce's Beach."\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1315\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1020x671.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/CMReparations02-1920x1262.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan Beach on June 30, 2022. The beach was returned to the descendants of the Bruce family in 2022. \u003ccite>(Raquel Natalicchio/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The panel held 15 public hearings, deliberated for two years, and considered input from more than 100 expert witnesses and the public. Task force advisors suggested the state owes Black Californians hundreds of millions of dollars for the harm they’ve suffered because of systemic racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CalMatters \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/05/california-payment-calculator-reparations/\">created an interactive tool for calculating\u003c/a> how much a person is owed, using formulas in the task force’s final reports and how long a person lived in California during the periods of racial harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>An uphill battle\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates face an uphill battle convincing other ethnic groups that a payout is due, in part because they have also endured racism and unfair treatment. Asians and Latino voters, who combined make up a majority of the California electorate, largely oppose reparations, as do a majority of white residents, \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/29/california-reparations-black-latino-asian-support/\">polls show\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesperson for Newsom said Wednesday that the governor “continues to have productive conversations with the California Legislative Black Caucus. The governor is committed to further building upon California’s record of advancing justice, opportunity, and equity for Black Californians.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference announcing his proposed budget last month, Newsom said he had “devoured” the more than thousand-page report issued by the state reparations panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are deeply mindful of what will come next in partnership with the Caucus, and the work continues in that space,” Newsom said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Jonathan Burgess, a fire battalion chief from Sacramento and well-known advocate for reparations, called the legislative package “phenomenal,” especially its proposal to restore property or repay former owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a monumental, profound time,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burgess and his family say a portion of land that is now within the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in El Dorado County once belonged to him and his family and was unfairly taken away by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His great-great-grandfather first came to California from New Orleans in 1849, initially brought here as a slave to mine for gold. Burgess regularly attended the state task force’s meetings, speaking about California’s racist history and the need for repair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I started my work almost five years ago now,” Burgess told CalMatters on Wednesday, hours after the legislative package was released. “It’s very emotional for me. It’s hard to put into words how I feel — a sense of joy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Burgess said many of the wrongs committed against Black people and their families can never be fully quantified with any dollar amount, but returning property is one of the most important measures because it correlates to what would have been generational wealth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really about righting history and showing our nation the path forward,” he said. “This is just the beginning, I’d like to hope.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Police Can No Longer Ask 'Do You Know Why I Pulled You Over?' in California — Here's Why",
"headTitle": "Police Can No Longer Ask ‘Do You Know Why I Pulled You Over?’ in California — Here’s Why | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Police officers in California can no longer ask, “Do you know why I pulled you over?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because of a new state law that came into effect on Jan. 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2773\">Assembly Bill 2773\u003c/a>, passed in 2022 by the state government and sponsored by Assemblymember Chris Holden, D-41, \u003ca href=\"https://a41.asmdc.org/press-releases/20220622-assemblymember-holdens-public-safety-bill-package-moves-through-senate\">now requires an officer making a traffic stop to “state the reason for the stop before asking any questions”\u003c/a> — and the reason also needs to be officially documented in any reports that officer makes. The law also extends to pedestrian stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One exception is if an officer “\u003ca href=\"https://a41.asmdc.org/press-releases/20220622-assemblymember-holdens-public-safety-bill-package-moves-through-senate\">reasonably believes that withholding the reason for the stop is necessary\u003c/a> to protect life or property from imminent threat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://spsf.senate.ca.gov/sites/spsf.senate.ca.gov/files/ab_2773_analysis.pdf\">Holden said his “goal” with this bill was\u003c/a> “to promote equity and accountability in communities across California” and that the new law “brings transparency to service of protecting our public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how do experts believe this law will play out in the coming year? And what should you know about your rights if you are pulled over while driving in California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for our guide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#whattoknow\">\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: What to know about being pulled over in 2024\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>What is the background of the new law?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>AB 2773 is intended to limit what are called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/california-police-pretext-stop-18577175.php\">pretext stops\u003c/a>” — when a police officer pulls a motorist over for a minor infraction, like a broken taillight — to be able to then search the vehicle for illegal items like drugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Black motorists across California are far more likely to be stopped by the police than their white counterparts, according to research by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/research/2022-10-06/high-cost-traffic-stops\">nonprofit organization San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a 2022 report by the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory, \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ripa-board-report-2024.pdf\">Black individuals made up almost 13% of traffic stops — despite only making up 5% of California’s population (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11927758]Oakland Privacy — an \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandprivacy.org/\">organization focused on citizen privacy and promoting oversight around surveillance techniques\u003c/a> — wrote in support of this new bill, saying it \u003ca href=\"https://spsf.senate.ca.gov/sites/spsf.senate.ca.gov/files/ab_2773_analysis.pdf\">“addresses a problem that has taken lives and ended in tragedy far too often.” (PDF)\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nonemergency traffic stops for busted taillights or expired registration should, we can all agree, never end in death and violence, and yet they do,” wrote the organization. “\u003ca href=\"https://exhibits.stanford.edu/saytheirnames/feature/philando-castile\">Philando Castile\u003c/a> was pulled over for a busted taillight in 2016. He did not survive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/\">a thousand people have been shot and killed by the police\u003c/a> in the past twelve months, according to January data from \u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em>. \u003cem>The Post\u003c/em>’s analysis using data from 2015 shows that Black people are shot and killed by police at more than twice the rate of White people. Hispanic Americans are also shot and killed at a disproportionate rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Privacy’s statement also noted that many people naturally become frightened when pulled over, especially if the officer is not explaining the reason for the stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Despite all the ‘know your rights’ pamphlets (which by the most optimistic of estimates will reach only a fraction of the population), it is difficult to control these feelings, which can be interpreted by law enforcement officers as having ‘something to hide,’” said the organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These reactions are “going to be exacerbated,” said Oakland Privacy, when it comes to groups “that have difficult relationships with law enforcement due to racial profiling or previous encounters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A simple explanation of the reason for the stop at the beginning can do a lot to prevent fear, panic and the urge to flee,” they said. “The role of law enforcement is to enforce the law, not to play cat and mouse games to try to provoke people into doing the wrong thing and causing the encounter to spiral out of control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shanāe Buffington, president of the \u003ca href=\"https://calblacklawyers.org/cabl-officers/\">California Association Of Black Lawyers (CABL)\u003c/a>, said AB 2773 was a good idea — explaining that before the passage, officers could \u003ca href=\"https://www.greghillassociates.com/may-police-lie-about-the-reason-for-traffic-stop.html#:~:text=Brief%20Synopsis%3A%20The%20police%20may,for%20making%20such%20a%20stop.\">also give false reasons for pulling someone over\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That will give the driver an understanding of why they’re being pulled over. I hear many stories from persons that are of diverse backgrounds being pulled over by police officers, and they have absolutely no reason,” she said. “They don’t know why they’re being pulled over.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buffington said she sees this being a particular issue for individuals who have recently completed parole or probation, who find that history makes them more of a target for traffic stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California also has some of the highest traffic penalties in the country, with some \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11927758/california-traffic-penalties-are-highest-in-us-and-disproportionately-affect-black-and-latinx-drivers-report-finds\">even exceeding $200 over a small speeding ticket.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is the exception to the new law?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the exceptions to AB 2773 is when an officer “reasonably believes that withholding information for the reason of the stop is necessary to protect property or life right from imminent threat.” Only in this instance is a police officer exempted from giving a reason for a traffic stop under this new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11871364,news_11955465,news_11821950\" label=\"More on your rights:\"]“If you’re going to save another person from being harmed or killed possibly, I’m in agreement with that exception,” Buffington said, adding she was not sure if property should have been included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the exception gives officers discretion to “pick and choose when they’re going to withhold certain information specifically about the reason for the stop,” Buffington said. That’s “going to open up the door to disproportionate impact on certain races,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If [the officer] has some biases, he may be more likely to withhold some information if he stops a Black or brown person […] I think that opens up the door for racial profiling,” Buffington said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"whattoknow\">\u003c/a>What to know about being pulled over in 2024?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Buffington said that as of Jan. 1, if you’re pulled over by the police while driving, you can ask the officer why you are being pulled over — and then wait for an explanation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What if an officer still does not give a reason?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the case that an officer does not give a reason for the stop, Buffington said you should ask specifically to speak to an attorney — and not say anything further to the police officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Especially if the motorist feels like it may be going in a situation that can possibly end up in that person being detained,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What if the officer wants to search my car?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a motorist, you are protected against “unreasonable searches and seizures” under the Fourth Amendment, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.westcoastdefense.com/faqs/vehicle-search-with-a-warrant-in-california/\">an officer would need a warrant to search your car\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t consent to the search and seizure. Let the police officer go and get a warrant. Because at that point, there has to be probable cause,” Buffington said. By then, another set of eyes will be on your case — who will determine if there is enough cause to search your vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this situation, a motorist should again ask for an attorney — but without providing any other potentially incriminating details, Buffington said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think at that point, if the officer is going to arrest the motorist, then he will do that,” Buffington said. “But at least if there is a preliminary hearing, or there’s a trial later on down the line, the officer will not be able to use that incriminating statement in a proceeding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When ‘knowing your rights’ isn’t always enough\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Northern California ACLU has \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-police-interactions-black-and-brown-people\">developed a guide specifically for Black and brown people\u003c/a> in regards to their rights in police interactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buffington said it helps for citizens to know about their rights and not “letting the police officer just tell them anything.” But she also said she knows about the fear and anxiety that comes with these interactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a police officer with the ability to alter your life in ways that are just unimaginable,” she said. “What would you do in that situation? You’re going to acquiesce, right? […] ‘I don’t want to resist or, I don’t want to be confrontational or combative because then things can really snowball out of control.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for future lawmaking, Buffington said she supported more exposure of policing practices in general.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CABL is sponsoring AB 797, which would require cities and counties to establish independent civilian commissions to look into the use-of-force cases by the police. The bill is sponsored by Akilah Weber, D-79. “Giving the community the opportunity to be a part of policies and procedures that essentially affects us all,” Buffington said. “I think that’s important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another California bill, SB 50 by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), also seeks to outlaw pretext stops altogether — rather than just limiting them, as AB 2773 does. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/pretext-stops-california-18360581.php\">This bill would have banned police officers from stopping drivers for more minor infractions\u003c/a> like an issue with a single brake light or headlight or the lack of a registration tag. SB 50, while approved by the state Senate in early 2023, later stalled in the Assembly — but will be taken up again this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Assembly Bill 2773 now requires an officer making a traffic stop to 'state the reason for the stop before asking any questions' — but there's an exception. Here's how the new law is meant to work.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Police officers in California can no longer ask, “Do you know why I pulled you over?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because of a new state law that came into effect on Jan. 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2773\">Assembly Bill 2773\u003c/a>, passed in 2022 by the state government and sponsored by Assemblymember Chris Holden, D-41, \u003ca href=\"https://a41.asmdc.org/press-releases/20220622-assemblymember-holdens-public-safety-bill-package-moves-through-senate\">now requires an officer making a traffic stop to “state the reason for the stop before asking any questions”\u003c/a> — and the reason also needs to be officially documented in any reports that officer makes. The law also extends to pedestrian stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One exception is if an officer “\u003ca href=\"https://a41.asmdc.org/press-releases/20220622-assemblymember-holdens-public-safety-bill-package-moves-through-senate\">reasonably believes that withholding the reason for the stop is necessary\u003c/a> to protect life or property from imminent threat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://spsf.senate.ca.gov/sites/spsf.senate.ca.gov/files/ab_2773_analysis.pdf\">Holden said his “goal” with this bill was\u003c/a> “to promote equity and accountability in communities across California” and that the new law “brings transparency to service of protecting our public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how do experts believe this law will play out in the coming year? And what should you know about your rights if you are pulled over while driving in California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for our guide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#whattoknow\">\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: What to know about being pulled over in 2024\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>What is the background of the new law?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>AB 2773 is intended to limit what are called “\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/california-police-pretext-stop-18577175.php\">pretext stops\u003c/a>” — when a police officer pulls a motorist over for a minor infraction, like a broken taillight — to be able to then search the vehicle for illegal items like drugs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Black motorists across California are far more likely to be stopped by the police than their white counterparts, according to research by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.spur.org/publications/research/2022-10-06/high-cost-traffic-stops\">nonprofit organization San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a 2022 report by the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory, \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/ripa-board-report-2024.pdf\">Black individuals made up almost 13% of traffic stops — despite only making up 5% of California’s population (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Oakland Privacy — an \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandprivacy.org/\">organization focused on citizen privacy and promoting oversight around surveillance techniques\u003c/a> — wrote in support of this new bill, saying it \u003ca href=\"https://spsf.senate.ca.gov/sites/spsf.senate.ca.gov/files/ab_2773_analysis.pdf\">“addresses a problem that has taken lives and ended in tragedy far too often.” (PDF)\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nonemergency traffic stops for busted taillights or expired registration should, we can all agree, never end in death and violence, and yet they do,” wrote the organization. “\u003ca href=\"https://exhibits.stanford.edu/saytheirnames/feature/philando-castile\">Philando Castile\u003c/a> was pulled over for a busted taillight in 2016. He did not survive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/\">a thousand people have been shot and killed by the police\u003c/a> in the past twelve months, according to January data from \u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em>. \u003cem>The Post\u003c/em>’s analysis using data from 2015 shows that Black people are shot and killed by police at more than twice the rate of White people. Hispanic Americans are also shot and killed at a disproportionate rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Privacy’s statement also noted that many people naturally become frightened when pulled over, especially if the officer is not explaining the reason for the stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Despite all the ‘know your rights’ pamphlets (which by the most optimistic of estimates will reach only a fraction of the population), it is difficult to control these feelings, which can be interpreted by law enforcement officers as having ‘something to hide,’” said the organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These reactions are “going to be exacerbated,” said Oakland Privacy, when it comes to groups “that have difficult relationships with law enforcement due to racial profiling or previous encounters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A simple explanation of the reason for the stop at the beginning can do a lot to prevent fear, panic and the urge to flee,” they said. “The role of law enforcement is to enforce the law, not to play cat and mouse games to try to provoke people into doing the wrong thing and causing the encounter to spiral out of control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shanāe Buffington, president of the \u003ca href=\"https://calblacklawyers.org/cabl-officers/\">California Association Of Black Lawyers (CABL)\u003c/a>, said AB 2773 was a good idea — explaining that before the passage, officers could \u003ca href=\"https://www.greghillassociates.com/may-police-lie-about-the-reason-for-traffic-stop.html#:~:text=Brief%20Synopsis%3A%20The%20police%20may,for%20making%20such%20a%20stop.\">also give false reasons for pulling someone over\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That will give the driver an understanding of why they’re being pulled over. I hear many stories from persons that are of diverse backgrounds being pulled over by police officers, and they have absolutely no reason,” she said. “They don’t know why they’re being pulled over.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buffington said she sees this being a particular issue for individuals who have recently completed parole or probation, who find that history makes them more of a target for traffic stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California also has some of the highest traffic penalties in the country, with some \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11927758/california-traffic-penalties-are-highest-in-us-and-disproportionately-affect-black-and-latinx-drivers-report-finds\">even exceeding $200 over a small speeding ticket.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is the exception to the new law?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the exceptions to AB 2773 is when an officer “reasonably believes that withholding information for the reason of the stop is necessary to protect property or life right from imminent threat.” Only in this instance is a police officer exempted from giving a reason for a traffic stop under this new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“If you’re going to save another person from being harmed or killed possibly, I’m in agreement with that exception,” Buffington said, adding she was not sure if property should have been included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the exception gives officers discretion to “pick and choose when they’re going to withhold certain information specifically about the reason for the stop,” Buffington said. That’s “going to open up the door to disproportionate impact on certain races,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If [the officer] has some biases, he may be more likely to withhold some information if he stops a Black or brown person […] I think that opens up the door for racial profiling,” Buffington said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"whattoknow\">\u003c/a>What to know about being pulled over in 2024?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Buffington said that as of Jan. 1, if you’re pulled over by the police while driving, you can ask the officer why you are being pulled over — and then wait for an explanation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What if an officer still does not give a reason?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the case that an officer does not give a reason for the stop, Buffington said you should ask specifically to speak to an attorney — and not say anything further to the police officer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Especially if the motorist feels like it may be going in a situation that can possibly end up in that person being detained,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What if the officer wants to search my car?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a motorist, you are protected against “unreasonable searches and seizures” under the Fourth Amendment, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.westcoastdefense.com/faqs/vehicle-search-with-a-warrant-in-california/\">an officer would need a warrant to search your car\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t consent to the search and seizure. Let the police officer go and get a warrant. Because at that point, there has to be probable cause,” Buffington said. By then, another set of eyes will be on your case — who will determine if there is enough cause to search your vehicle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In this situation, a motorist should again ask for an attorney — but without providing any other potentially incriminating details, Buffington said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think at that point, if the officer is going to arrest the motorist, then he will do that,” Buffington said. “But at least if there is a preliminary hearing, or there’s a trial later on down the line, the officer will not be able to use that incriminating statement in a proceeding.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>When ‘knowing your rights’ isn’t always enough\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Northern California ACLU has \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-police-interactions-black-and-brown-people\">developed a guide specifically for Black and brown people\u003c/a> in regards to their rights in police interactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buffington said it helps for citizens to know about their rights and not “letting the police officer just tell them anything.” But she also said she knows about the fear and anxiety that comes with these interactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a police officer with the ability to alter your life in ways that are just unimaginable,” she said. “What would you do in that situation? You’re going to acquiesce, right? […] ‘I don’t want to resist or, I don’t want to be confrontational or combative because then things can really snowball out of control.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for future lawmaking, Buffington said she supported more exposure of policing practices in general.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CABL is sponsoring AB 797, which would require cities and counties to establish independent civilian commissions to look into the use-of-force cases by the police. The bill is sponsored by Akilah Weber, D-79. “Giving the community the opportunity to be a part of policies and procedures that essentially affects us all,” Buffington said. “I think that’s important.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another California bill, SB 50 by Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), also seeks to outlaw pretext stops altogether — rather than just limiting them, as AB 2773 does. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/pretext-stops-california-18360581.php\">This bill would have banned police officers from stopping drivers for more minor infractions\u003c/a> like an issue with a single brake light or headlight or the lack of a registration tag. SB 50, while approved by the state Senate in early 2023, later stalled in the Assembly — but will be taken up again this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Trump Ordered to Pay $83 Million for Defaming Columnist Who Accused Him of Sexual Assault",
"headTitle": "Trump Ordered to Pay $83 Million for Defaming Columnist Who Accused Him of Sexual Assault | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>A New York jury on Friday ordered former President Donald Trump to pay a total of $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for ruining her credibility as an advice columnist when he called her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury awarded Carroll $65 million in punitive damages, $11 million for the damage to her reputation and another $7.3 million. Trump is almost certain to appeal the verdict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the size of the penalty, the verdict was not unexpected. Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled even before the trial that Trump had, in fact, defamed Carroll. The jury only had to decide how much Trump owed her — not if he was liable. This is the second time Trump has been ordered to pay Carroll; last year, he was mandated by a jury to pay $5 million for a separate instance of defamation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"E. Jean Carroll\"]‘I sued to get my reputation back.’[/pullquote]In response, the Trump 2024 campaign issued a statement arguing, without offering evidence, that the trial is a “political weapon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absolutely ridiculous!” the statement said. “I fully disagree with both verdicts and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury’s decision comes just days after Trump won the New Hampshire primary and became the GOP front-runner. The case is one of several involving Trump, who is also awaiting a verdict in a civil trial that could result in him paying at least $250 million to New York state for his business practices, which have been deemed by a judge to be fraudulent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He could also be prohibited from doing business in the state where he made his name as a real estate mogul. In all, Trump faces 91 charges in federal and state trials, ranging from the ones in New York to those at the federal level related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What this case is about\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Carroll, an advice columnist and freelance writer, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in the ’90s. The accusation, which was detailed in her book, was first previewed in a \u003cem>New York \u003c/em>magazine article. After the article’s publication, Trump issued two statements in response to reporters, including one in which he outright denied her claim and said she was “not my type.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Donald Trump\"]‘Absolutely ridiculous! I fully disagree with both verdicts and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party.’[/pullquote]Carroll then sued Trump for defamation, arguing that his comments ruined her reputation as a trusted source in the media and resulted in a slew of insults and threatening messages, emails and comments to her social media accounts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr blocked the lawsuit, arguing Trump had made the comments in his official capacity as president. This caused the lawsuit to be stuck in court for several years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, Biden’s Justice Department reversed course and allowed the first lawsuit on defamation to move forward. In part because of the 2023 decision that had found Trump liable for assault, Judge Kaplan ruled that Trump had defamed Carroll in 2019 and that the former president was also liable.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What testimony showed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Carroll herself was the first witness to take the stand — putting her face to face with Trump, who attended the first few days of the trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carroll testified that she felt as if Trump calling her a liar “ended the world I had been living in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=forum_2010101895225 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/43/2023/12/iStock-535518816-1-1020x574.jpg']While she used to receive hundreds of emails asking for advice to her column email, she said, she now received fewer than 10 a month. Instead, she said, she received threats and insults. Carroll’s lawyer showed the jury several social media posts, messages and emails sent to Carroll in the days after Trump’s statements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I sued to get my reputation back,” Carroll said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, argued damages ought not be traced back to Trump himself. Habba also showed the jury several social media posts, but these were posted in the five-hour “gap” between Carroll’s allegations being published and Trump making the comments he is being sued over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habba also focused on the praise and support Carroll received for her allegation and questioned the writer’s motive for suing and for deleting threats sent to her email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11973902\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11973902\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy.jpg\" alt=\"A white older man waves with a stern expression.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former U.S. President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower for Manhattan federal court for the second defamation trial against him in New York City on Jan. 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Charly Triballeau/AFP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Trump doubled down on allegations Carroll is lying\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After weeks of vowing to take the witness stand in his defense, Trump finally did so on Jan. 25. But it was short-lived — only a few minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In testimony, he said he “100%” stood by his previous deposition. Asked by his lawyer if he ever instructed anyone to hurt Carroll, Trump said that he didn’t and just wanted to defend himself, his family and his presidency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond his testimony, Trump was present for several days of the trial and was vocal about the case outside the courtroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first day of testimony, he was reprimanded by Judge Kaplan for making comments during Carroll’s time on the stand. Carroll’s lawyers twice flagged that they could hear him and the jury might be able to as well. Kaplan warned Trump that his right to be present could be taken away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump also spoke out during campaign rallies in Iowa and New Hampshire and to reporters in New York about his belief this trial is election interference — often reiterating claims similar to those he was being sued over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A New York jury on Friday ordered former President Donald Trump to pay a total of $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for ruining her credibility as an advice columnist when he called her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury awarded Carroll $65 million in punitive damages, $11 million for the damage to her reputation and another $7.3 million. Trump is almost certain to appeal the verdict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the size of the penalty, the verdict was not unexpected. Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled even before the trial that Trump had, in fact, defamed Carroll. The jury only had to decide how much Trump owed her — not if he was liable. This is the second time Trump has been ordered to pay Carroll; last year, he was mandated by a jury to pay $5 million for a separate instance of defamation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In response, the Trump 2024 campaign issued a statement arguing, without offering evidence, that the trial is a “political weapon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Absolutely ridiculous!” the statement said. “I fully disagree with both verdicts and will be appealing this whole Biden Directed Witch Hunt focused on me and the Republican Party.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury’s decision comes just days after Trump won the New Hampshire primary and became the GOP front-runner. The case is one of several involving Trump, who is also awaiting a verdict in a civil trial that could result in him paying at least $250 million to New York state for his business practices, which have been deemed by a judge to be fraudulent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He could also be prohibited from doing business in the state where he made his name as a real estate mogul. In all, Trump faces 91 charges in federal and state trials, ranging from the ones in New York to those at the federal level related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What this case is about\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Carroll, an advice columnist and freelance writer, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in the ’90s. The accusation, which was detailed in her book, was first previewed in a \u003cem>New York \u003c/em>magazine article. After the article’s publication, Trump issued two statements in response to reporters, including one in which he outright denied her claim and said she was “not my type.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Carroll then sued Trump for defamation, arguing that his comments ruined her reputation as a trusted source in the media and resulted in a slew of insults and threatening messages, emails and comments to her social media accounts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr blocked the lawsuit, arguing Trump had made the comments in his official capacity as president. This caused the lawsuit to be stuck in court for several years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2023, Biden’s Justice Department reversed course and allowed the first lawsuit on defamation to move forward. In part because of the 2023 decision that had found Trump liable for assault, Judge Kaplan ruled that Trump had defamed Carroll in 2019 and that the former president was also liable.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What testimony showed\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Carroll herself was the first witness to take the stand — putting her face to face with Trump, who attended the first few days of the trial.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carroll testified that she felt as if Trump calling her a liar “ended the world I had been living in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While she used to receive hundreds of emails asking for advice to her column email, she said, she now received fewer than 10 a month. Instead, she said, she received threats and insults. Carroll’s lawyer showed the jury several social media posts, messages and emails sent to Carroll in the days after Trump’s statements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I sued to get my reputation back,” Carroll said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, argued damages ought not be traced back to Trump himself. Habba also showed the jury several social media posts, but these were posted in the five-hour “gap” between Carroll’s allegations being published and Trump making the comments he is being sued over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Habba also focused on the praise and support Carroll received for her allegation and questioned the writer’s motive for suing and for deleting threats sent to her email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11973902\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11973902\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy.jpg\" alt=\"A white older man waves with a stern expression.\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/01/gettyimages-1944807446-33f657b924375b3f8de8f3ddc342961b9b5ca4a7-s1600-c85-copy-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former U.S. President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower for Manhattan federal court for the second defamation trial against him in New York City on Jan. 22, 2024. \u003ccite>(Charly Triballeau/AFP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Trump doubled down on allegations Carroll is lying\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After weeks of vowing to take the witness stand in his defense, Trump finally did so on Jan. 25. But it was short-lived — only a few minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In testimony, he said he “100%” stood by his previous deposition. Asked by his lawyer if he ever instructed anyone to hurt Carroll, Trump said that he didn’t and just wanted to defend himself, his family and his presidency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beyond his testimony, Trump was present for several days of the trial and was vocal about the case outside the courtroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the first day of testimony, he was reprimanded by Judge Kaplan for making comments during Carroll’s time on the stand. Carroll’s lawyers twice flagged that they could hear him and the jury might be able to as well. Kaplan warned Trump that his right to be present could be taken away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump also spoke out during campaign rallies in Iowa and New Hampshire and to reporters in New York about his belief this trial is election interference — often reiterating claims similar to those he was being sued over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"soldout": {
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