CALDWELL A former inmate at the Canyon County jail claims he lived in unsanitary conditions and slept on the ground in a medical isolation cell with up to nine inmates at a time.
Eric Swain Johnson, 50, of Caldwell filed a prisoner civil rights complaint in December after spending three days in the medical isolation unit, which left him “traumatized” and “afraid to ask for help of any kind,” according to his complaint.
He is asking for $4.25 million in damages and requesting an injunctive relief so that the practices he is claiming he went through no longer happen at the jail.
Johnson, who is now in custody at the Idaho State Corrections Institution for charges of domestic assault, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a weapon, stated he was moved into the medical isolation unit on Oct. 7, 2017.
There, he states, he was stripped and put in only a suicide smock, a tear-resistant single-piece garment, given a blanket and mat and roomed with four other men in a unit, who all had to sleep on the ground.
Johnson claims he slept by the toilet and had to eat his food near the toilet due to lack of space in the cell.
“For the next 48-72 hours I was made to feel degraded, dehumanized, neglected and ashamed,” Johnson writes in the complaint.
The Canyon County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the claims as per policy with pending litigation.
Johnson, who states he is a veteran, said he repeatedly requested transportation to the Veterans Administration Complex Veterans Hospital to get hearing aids, but claims he was denied every time and was not given a reason for the denial.
He claims he was piled in with other inmates sometimes up to 7 to 9 inmates in one cell with varying degrees of mental disorders, all of who were partially clothed. When he asked for more clothing, he states he was denied it.
He stated during his time in the unit not one medical person checked on his vitals or asked if he was doing OK.
The claim states inmates in the unit were only provided liquid soap and toothpaste and were not allowed to wash their hands following use of the toilet.
There was no recreation time, T.V., books to read or counseling offered to him while he was in the medical isolation unit, according to the complaint. Johnson said he was in a cell with a working phone for a time but was unable to call a suicide hotline for positive reassurance.
A former janitor of the jail, Michael Vegas, and four inmates who were housed in the medical isolation unit attest in the complaint to what Johnson claims.
Vegas said he cleaned the medical isolation unit once a day and while there “witnessed the unsafe and unsanitary conditions of the med ISO (medical isolation) cell. He also wrote that at times there were 7 9 men housed in the one cell with nothing but a mat and blanket.
“In my opinion, the med ISO cell in Canyon County is completely unsanitary and I don’t think anyone should be forced to live in those conditions,” Vegas wrote.
Other inmates write that they were denied soap and toothpaste, had to sleep on the floor, stripped naked and forced to wear a smock even if they didn’t want to, felt “degraded” and worse than how they felt before staying in the unit.
One inmate wrote that he “was appalled at the amount of people in such a small room.”
“Everyone had to sleep on the floor around the toilet and couldn’t even use the toilet due to people sleeping around it on the floor, it was literally disgusting and filthy,” the inmate wrote.
Johnson is also claiming he was denied the right to attend church and not even offered the opportunity while living in Unit 1 Pod B starting Nov. 24, 2017.
Prior to filing the complaint, Johnson states he filed forms for grievances and appeals to show he followed jail protocol and the grievance process, which he says were never satisfied. Thirty-two detention center inmate communication forms were attached to the claim.
The claim lists defendants as Sheriff Kieran Donahue, Lt. Andrew Kiehl and Capt. Daren Ward. Johnson said Kiehl answered a majority of his forms, and Ward answered some of them. Johnson says his 8th Amendment rights and 1st Amendment rights were violated.
A scheduling conference is set for April 16 in 3rd District Court.
OTHER PENDING LAWSUITS
A lawsuit filed in January in federal court claims Canyon County and Sheriff Kieran Donahue stopped an inmate from posting bond based on suspicions about his immigration status.
Senobio Padilla-Arredondo was charged with driving under the influence on Jan. 22, 2016. He later pleaded guilty to the charge.
ICE made an immigration detainer, also called an immigration hold, on Padilla-Arredondo with the Canyon County jail, according to the lawsuit. The immigration hold requested the jail keep him in the custody for a period not to exceed 48 hours beyond the time he was to have been released.
The lawsuit alleges ICE agents determined he was an immigration enforcement priority because he has been convicted of a “significant misdemeanor,” which would allow the Department of Homeland Security to take him into custody, the lawsuit states. On March 10, 2016, Padilla-Arredondo was detained by ICE agents.
The lawsuit alleges that Canyon County authorities and Donahue “were aware of the unlawful nature of restraining the plaintiff’s liberty,” and that he was not given the opportunity to contest the county’s decision.
Padilla-Arredondo claims the actions taken by the defendants caused him to suffer from loss of liberty, humiliation, mental suffering, emotional distress and other harm in an amount to be determined at the time of trial. The lawsuit is asking for damages, which will be determined at the time of trial.
Donahue was dismissed from the lawsuit in February, according to Idaho records.
A second lawsuit, filed in 2017, alleges that the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Kieran Donahue unlawfully held and detained a former inmate because of his immigration status and despite a judge’s release order.
Gustavo Carrera-Garcia was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence in May 25, 2015. He was facing the same charges as Pedilla-Arredondo. And like Pedilla-Arredondo, he claims he was wrongfully refused bond in order to be detained by Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents.
According to the lawsuit, Carrera-Garcia is seeking a ruling that would state “detainers are not a substitute for a constitutionally adequate warrant that includes traditional probable clause, notice and due process protections.” It also states the detainer does not comply with the specific warrantless arrest statute in the Immigration and Nationality Act. He is also claiming damages to be determined at the time of a trial.
Nicole Foy contributed to this report.
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