Sacramento sheriff sued over jail attack that left mentally ill inmate in coma

Jan. 27—Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones and his office are being sued over the beating of a mentally ill inmate inside the Main Jail last September that left the man with catastrophic brain injuries that his lawyer says will keep him on life support as long as he lives.

Civil rights attorney Mark Merin filed the lawsuit in federal court in Sacramento Wednesday on behalf of Anthony Cravotta II, 45, who authorities say was attacked in his general population cell on Sept. 26 by his cellmate, Lemar Burleson, another mentally ill inmate.

At the time of the attack, Cravotta had been waiting for more than five months to be transferred to a state hospital because he had been found mentally incompetent in February 2021 to stand trial, the lawsuit says.

But instead of keeping Cravotta in a psychiatric cell where inmates are housed alone, Cravotta was placed into the general population and housed with Burleson on Sept. 24, according to the suit.

Within two days, Burleson attacked Cravotta inside the cell and caused permanent brain injuries from which he will never recover, the lawsuit says. After attacking his cellmate, Burleson used the emergency intercom button inside the cell to report what he had done, the lawsuit says.

Burleson, who has a lengthy criminal record that includes convictions for robbery and burglary, later was charged with attempted murder in the attack. That case is on hold while doctors evaluate his mental competence, according to court records.

Sheriff's Sgt. Rod Grassmann declined to comment Wednesday, citing sheriff's policy against commenting on pending litigation.

But in a statement last fall after The Bee began making inquiries about the attack, Grassmann said the fact that Cravotta was awaiting transfer to Napa State Hospital "is not a factor necessitating solitary housing" and that no determination was made that either Cravotta or Burleson needed to be kept separate from other inmates for their safety.

Grassman wrote in an email to The Bee that Cravotta was "classified as an Out Patient Psych (OPP) inmate at the direction of Jail Psychiatric Staff (JPS), and housed on the OPP floor under JPS care."

"JPS is a separate entity which is contracted through and staffed by UC Davis medical personnel," Grassmann added. "JPS makes the mental health treatment and housing decisions for inmates under their care to facilitate effective treatment. Most OPP inmates are housed with other OPP cell mates unless classification or JPS determines they must be housed alone for safety reasons. There was no such determination for Mr. Cravotta or his cellmate."

Lawsuit questions Sacramento County jail practices

The lawsuit contends that sheriff's officials "do not adequately assess the dangerous or vulnerable nature of an inmate" when deciding where they should be housed, and cited a number of instances where inmates have been killed or gravely injured in attacks by fellow inmates.

One case cited involved Antonio Thomas, who the lawsuit says was attacked by cellmate Joshua Vaden and later died from his injuries.

"Antonio Thomas and Joshua Vaden had extensive mental health histories known to jail staff, and complaints reflecting difficulties with cellmates based on prior incarceration at the jail," the lawsuit says. "Antonio Thomas was held on a probation violation, and Joshua Vaden was held on charges of murder.

"Antonio Thomas and Joshua Vaden where housed together in the jail's general population. Joshua Vaden submitted a grievance that he did not want to be housed with Antonio Thomas, which was ignored by jail staff."

Vaden was charged with murder and is awaiting trial. Merin has a separate civil rights suit against the county pending on behalf of the Thomas family.

Family had little information after injuries

The Cravotta attack drew scrutiny after Cravotta's family contacted The Bee to complain that they were not getting any information from sheriff's officials about what happened and were not being allowed to see Cravotta at UC Davis Medical Center, where he was being treated and had been placed in a medically induced coma.

Cravotta was booked into the jail in November 2020 on a felony charge of possessing obscene material depicting a person under 18, something that his family said stemmed from his more than two decades of mental illness and his belief that he was helping law enforcement break up a child sex ring.

He was arrested after gathering images on his computer to take to law enforcement, his family said.

Burleson was being held at the time on charges of absconding from parole and failure to report for GPS monitoring.

Cravotta remained in custody until Oct. 14, when he was granted compassionate release, but he "remains hospitalized on continuous life-support, which he is expected to require for the remainder of his life," the lawsuit says.

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