Sheriff's department: Inmate dies after being assaulted

S1: Another inmate dies in San Diego County jails.

S2: We checked in. As far as we could tell , he has no criminal history. This was his first time in jail.

S1: I'm Maureen CAVANAUGH. This is KPBS midday edition. Two San Diego six year olds are sued for bullying.

S2: That is an extremely strange situation.

S1: San Diego welcomes tens of thousands of streamers and gamers this weekend attending Twitch Khan. That's ahead on Midday Edition. San Diego County jails marked a tragic milestone this week. A man incarcerated at the George Bailey Detention Center died becoming the 19th person to die in county jails this year. That number surpasses last year's record of 18 deaths in San Diego jails. The sheriff's department says it has boosted budgets , added staff and tightened jail monitoring , all in an effort to bring down the number of jail deaths. Despite those efforts , this has already become the deadliest year in the San Diego jail system. Joining me is San Diego Union Tribune reporter Kelly Davis. And , Kelly , welcome. Hi.

S2: Hi. Thank you , Mary.

S1: Tell us about the circumstances of this week's death of Raymond Fogleman. Yeah.

S2: Yeah. So yesterday , my colleague Jeff McDonald and I got a tip that there had been a riot at George Bailey detention facility on Wednesday evening and someone had died. So we reached out to the sheriff's department , and shortly after they issued a press release that confirmed Mr. Williams death only they described it as a fight between several inmates , several individuals. And Mr. Bogeyman was found near his bunk with severe injuries. He was transported to the hospital , but unfortunately , he did not survive.

S1:

S2: He has no criminal history. This was his first time in jail.

S1: Now , a sheriff's department spokesman says this is really the 18th jail death this year , not the 19th. What's the controversy ? Right.

S2: So what the sheriff's department has the ability to do is release someone from custody if they're likely going to die. And so there is a gentleman who is in the hospital. He had a terminal illness and they did release him from custody , but it was only hours before his death. And by doing that , that's what finally allowed his family to spend time with them. He was likely shackled to his bed so that they would release the shackles. The prison deputies who were guarding him would have left. So it was just a few hours before his death. But because he was released from custody by a judge , the sheriff's department does not count that as an in-custody death. So according to the official count , the number that the sheriff's department is required to report to the state , there have been 18 deaths. But when we've been writing about this , we we include this 19th death and we explained the circumstances surrounding it.

S1:

S2: But my first question is , is whether he was properly classified. Was was he in the correct type of housing at that jail ? Was there anything that made him vulnerable to attack ? And we don't know these things yet. One thing we've identified in these inmate on inmate homicides , there have been one or two a year for for the period of time we've been looking at is it sometimes people with a mental illness will be housed with someone with a history of violent crime and it just doesn't end up well. You know , we've seen the number of times where the person with mental illness is beaten to death , and those are in tiny cells. Mr. Vogel his case , he was in sort of a dormitory or barracks style housing unit where people can kind of roam freely.

S1:

S2: And those are the top two. And you tend to see the most deaths at those two facilities because the central jail is the main intake facility. It's downtown. And George Bailey is usually where people go after they're sentenced. Not always , but if you're serving the sentence , you're likely at George Bailey. So those are folks who've been incarcerated longer. They might have chronic health conditions. They might have a real serious addiction.

S1: San Diego County jails are now notorious throughout the state for the number of jail deaths. State audit earlier this year found San Diego had the highest jail mortality rate among large California counties.

S2: They tell me that they're going through each of the audits , recommendations. They're trying to be more responsive when it comes to mental health care. They're trying. Should do better security checks. They're paying more attention to people with chronic and serious health conditions. They've implemented a new drug treatment protocol , which all sounds good. You know , I think we need to look into the efficacy of these new protocols. But despite all these changes , deaths are still happening. So that the big question is , have the reforms just not taken hold yet ? Maybe we'll see better numbers next year. But so far , you know , I think it's good to ask if these changes are really having any sort of effect.

S1:

S2: You know , they want to see alternatives to incarceration. So if someone is taken to jail because they are high on drugs , is there a better place for them to detox where they'll receive better monitoring and perhaps counseling and after care or someone who's in a mental health crisis ? You know , can we take them to the psych hospital or to a crisis center instead of jail ? Because these folks are really overrepresented among people who have died.

S1:

S2: I think they've kind of become the issue. So what I haven't seen yet is a real concrete plan by Kelley Martinez or John Hamm. And those are the two candidates. And , you know , we're coming close to the election. So I think because deaths have become such a forefront issue , voters would like to see , you know , what these two candidates are going to do specifically to address them.

S1: I've been speaking with San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Kelly Davis. Kelly , thank you very much.

S2: Thank you.

S1: A candidate for the 76th Assembly District in San Diego has sued two six year old boys who she claims were bullying her son at school. KPBS investigative reporter Claire TRAGESER looks into the unusual case.

S3: When Kristi Bruce Lane felt her six year old son was being bullied in school , she took too aggressive in unusual steps. First , she filed a lawsuit seeking more than $48 million in damages. She sued the school , the head of the school and the mothers of the six year old boys she thought were bullying her son. But she didn't stop there. She also included the six year old boys themselves. Then she did something even more unusual , according to legal experts. She put the boys full names in the lawsuit. That means the legal action will likely be in the public record for the rest of their lives.

S2: It certainly is unusual to have schoolyard bullying result in a lawsuit.

S3: Dan Eaton is a legal analyst.

S2: Disciplinary problems are usually handled at the school level. That's why this is so extraordinary.

S3: Bruce Lane's son attended the private and pricey San Diego French-American school in La Hoya , beginning when he was two years old. In the complaint filed last April , Bruce Laine claims that when her son entered first grade , he was punched , pushed and called stupid by two classmates. She says she filed complaints with the school and nothing happened. Then the school said her son was not welcome back the next year because she and her husband , quote , prevented a positive or constructive relationship and , quote , seriously interfered with the school's accomplishment of its educational purpose. According to court documents , Bruce Lane filed the lawsuit a month later. In court documents responding to the lawsuit. The school argued it , quote , repeatedly addressed complaints about the alleged bullying over a period of ten months. The school's response goes on to say that Bruce Layne and her husband refused to cooperate with the school and became abusive and threatening to teachers and staff and demanded the school , quote , completely ignore their own son's misbehavior.

S2: That is an extremely strange choice.

S3: Attorney and former city council candidate Willmore says regardless of whether the lawsuit is successful. It's probably bad politics.

S2: That is an interesting political choice.

S3: Bruce Layne is a conservative candidate running on an anti-tax , anti-government platform against Democrat Brian Minchin. She did not respond to requests for comment. Bruce Layne and her husband never attempted to contact the mothers of the boys before filing the lawsuit. So , says Douglas Jaffe , an attorney for Dima Saab , one of the mothers being sued.

S2: There was never any approach by Ms.. Bruce Layne to come to Ms.. Parent to parent , indicating any problem. These are children who went to school together for three years. They had been friends , all attended birthday parties together.

S3: More shocking , Jaffe says , is the decision to include the boy's full names.

S2: It puts unsupported , in our opinion , allegations out there against a minor with that minor's name that shouldn't be there.

S3: The reason why Bruce Layne would include the six year olds in the lawsuit is money , says Monte McIntire , a San Diego attorney and mediator.

S2: It's possible that if this young boy was kicked or hit or verbally harassed , that he hasn't really incurred any medical or psychological expenses.

S3: That would mean that if the court finds Bruce Lee and son is entitled to money to cover his emotional distress , he would have to collect it from the other six year olds , not their parents. This , of course , is unlikely because children usually don't have any money. Claire TRAGESER , KPBS News Changing flight time for.

S1: The school has filed for a summary judgment to dismiss the lawsuit , and a hearing on that is set for April 20 , 23. If the suit goes forward , a trial is scheduled for June 20 , 23. This is KPBS midday edition. I'm Maureen CAVANAUGH. We're doing something a little different for our weekend preview today , talking about which con the convention for the livestreaming video platform Twitch is happening in San Diego this weekend at the downtown Convention Center. Approximately 30,000 people are expected to attend each day of the three day conference. And one of the headliners recently announced for the Twitch Con Party is Grammy winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion. And joining me now with more on Twitch Khan is KPBS reporter Alexander Wynne. And welcome to the show.

S2: Well , thank you for having me.

S1: So , Alex , give us the basic rundown of this convention. It's back. IRS all , of course , meaning in real life this year after a hiatus.

S2: This is what Twitch Con is in a nutshell. It's a convention where live streamers or streamers , as they're known , meet their communities. But it's also a business conference and a pop culture convention. Twitch gets to showcase its new features. Tech companies show their new tools that make live streaming easier or better. And influencers and companies have a chance to meet and make sponsored deals. Aside from the usual panels on streaming , there's there are also music performances , as you just mentioned , e-sports tournaments and art booths.

S1: Now , the Twitch platform was a lifeline for a lot of people during the pandemic , and it really took off during those years. Tell us about that.

S2: Well , you know , I just talked to a computer science professor , and they put during the pandemic , they actually livestream some of their lectures and some of their personal get to know their professors on Twitch. And it's become a lifeline of sorts for students. And he says this generation grew up with live streaming , so they're more comfortable with interacting with their peers that way versus , you know , the more business oriented zoom. Plus , on that platform , there's a lot of things that you can do. You can have these emotes or emojis that's animated and that's , you know , part of the live streaming. So it's a bit more fun and interactive that way.

S1: What are some of the things people can expect to see during Twitch Khan ? What are some of the panels.

S2: People can expect to see ? Panels on monetizing their streams , growing , you know , their audience. And for some streamers , this is a business. They can make as much as $5,000 a month from streaming on the platform. Now , Twitch started out as a live streaming platform for gamers , and it's morphed into a livestream platform for everything and anything. There are music channels , cosplay channels , arts channels , and , you know , even channels where people livestreaming their cooking or eating. But this weekend you can also expect to see top tabletop tournament games as well as Artist Alley and a concert.

S1: And what would you say is the biggest attraction at Twitch or.

S2: The biggest base for Twitch are gamers. It's still gamers. So the biggest attraction definitely is Eat is the e-sports tournament called Twitch Rival. It's a three day competition where teams compete to win some big bucks. And besides the usual e-sports games such as Minecraft and legends , there are also Balloon World Cup regional Championships , where teams compete to win a spot in the World Championship in Barcelona. And of course , as you mentioned , Megan , Thee stallion is going to be there. She's going to have a huge concert.

S1: And the balloon. World Cup , of course , is a grown up version of a children's game where two people compete not to let a balloon touch the ground. There are helmets , furniture and a big trophy involved.

S2: There are some real deals and connections being made. You could probably make the same argument with Comic-Con , but the focus of Twitch Khan is much more business oriented with a pop culture flavor. Typically , Twitch holds two conventions each year , one in North America and one in Europe. San Diego's one of the first cities outside of Silicon Valley to host the convention after the initial convention in San Francisco. It was last held here in 2019 , and it was supposed to be held here again in 2020. But that convention got canceled and there was no 2021 convention. So now it's back in San Diego this year. So that speaks a lot about the growing tech industry here in San Diego.

S1: Now , there were a couple of controversies leading up to the convention. One is to mask or not to mask.

S2: Pushback from content creators , attendees. They walked that back. So now you do need to be vaccinated , show proof of vaccination and a mask while you're in the convention center.

S1:

S2: And one streamer , Clara Sorrenti , and she goes by the Twitter handle Falls , who have made a name for herself on Twitch as an advocate for LGBTQ plus issues , debunking right wing talking points , talking about the abuses that trans streamers get on the platform. And she was banned for a month after her account was reported for hateful slurs and symbols , and her account was later reinstated. But it just shows you that even with a growing platform with , you know , young people , Twitch is not immune to the politics of hate.

S1:

S2: And this is a after all , still a technology convention. So I'm looking forward to see some of the tech technology that makes livestreaming easier , that makes broadcasting easier.

S1: Okay , then. Well , good luck. Have a good time. I've been speaking with KPBS reporter Alexandra Wynne , and thanks for speaking with us.

S2: Well , thank you for having me.