Administrative Investigation

Transcription

1 SEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE Professional Standards Division Professional Conduct Review Section Administrative Investigation DATE: June 30, 2015 SUBJECTS: COMPLAINANT: CASE NUMBER: INVESTIGATOR: Intake/Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker Sheriff Donald F. Eslinger PC Investigator Joy Jackson BASIS FOR INVESTIGATION: On March 12, 2015, Quality Assurance Manager Sharron Harrell provided a memorandum to Major Gregory Futch related to the premature release of Inmate Jason Zow. (Section III) Harrell advised Futch she received notification from the 9 th Circuit State Attorney s Office that Zow had been released in error. Harrell s review of the release packet included the following information: 10/01/2014 Zow was booked into the John E. Polk Correctional Facility for a courtesy hold for Orange County Case #482014CF013080A0, for Home Invasion Robbery with a Weapon, Kidnapping with Intent to Inflict Harm/Terror with a Weapon with No Bond. 10/06/2014 An additional hold was placed on Zow under Orange County Case #482014CF for Burglary of a Dwelling, Grand Theft and Criminal Mischief, with bonds set at $5000, $150, and $ /05/2015 Zow returned from an Orange County court appearance related to case #482014F013080AO, and the charges were changed to Burglary of a Dwelling with Assault or Battery with a Weapon, No Bond. 03/10/2015 Bond was posted for Zow in the amount of $5000, $150, and $100 for Orange County Case #482014CF013080AO, and Zow was released from the facility at 2248 hours. NOTE: Harrell s memorandum indicated the incorrect case number, the bond was actually posted on case #482014CF Harrell stated that the courtesy hold was overlooked. Harrell s memorandum also indicated the release was prepared by

2 Intake Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick, and Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley and Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker reviewed and signed the release packet. ALLEGED VIOLATIONS: Intake/Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker General Order #1, XV.B. Carelessness Employees may be determined to have impaired or jeopardized efficient operation of the Sheriff s Office due to Carelessness or neglect of their responsibilities. Carelessness may be a result of an act or failure to act in a deliberate and willful manner that shows a reckless or wanton disregard for life, safety or property; in a manner contrary to acceptable standards of performance; or in a manner which results or could have resulted in injury, danger to others or damage to property. INVESTIGATIVE SUMMARY: On March 13, 2015, Sheriff Donald F. Eslinger authorized and directed an administrative investigation related to the allegations of misconduct on the part of Intake Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick, Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley and Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker. Manager Sharron Harrell On May 15, 2015, Investigator Joy Jackson and Investigator Brad Bender conducted a recorded interview with Manager Sharron Harrell at the offices of the Professional Conduct Review Section. (Section IV) The following is a summary of the interview: Harrell has been employed with the Sheriff s Office for approximately 12 years, and has been assigned to the Intake/Release Section since her employment began. Harrell said she was promoted to manager approximately six months ago, and prior to that promotion spent time as a training coordinator and booking supervisor. Harrell was asked to explain the process taken by her staff when an inmate is to be released, and explain what she believes led to Zow s release from the facility. Harrell said that after a bond is paid for an inmate, the intake/release clerk is notified and a copy of that bond is obtained by the clerk. Harrell said the clerk would then run the inmate s name through NCIC/FCIC to determine if there had been a hold placed on the inmate by another agency, or if there were other outstanding warrants for arrest. If the NCIC/FCIC check showed a hold from another agency, the clerk would teletype that agency and notify them that the inmate had posted bond. Harrell provided the paperwork that was prepared for the release of Inmate Jason Zow. (Section V) Harrell said Zow was initially brought to the John E. Polk Correctional Facility as a courtesy hold for the Orange County Jail. Harrell said during Zow s stay at the facility, three additional criminal charges were placed against him, and Orange County requested a hold be placed on Zow related to -2-

3 the new charges. Harrell showed the bond paperwork that would have been obtained by the intake/release clerk, which included three separate pages indicating the amount of bond paid for each of the three criminal charges. Harrell said the intake/release clerk should check each hold sheet and compare case numbers for each charge to ensure they matched each hold. NOTE: There are no case numbers listed on the paperwork that is completed when the bond is paid. (Section VI) Harrell said the intake/release clerk should then send a teletype message to the county requesting the hold to advise the inmate s bond had been paid, and prepare the release packet. Harrell showed documentation that the intake/release clerk sent teletype messages to the Orange County Sheriff s Office communications section, and the Orange County Jail. Harrell said the response from the Orange County Sheriff s Office indicated they accepted the bond, and Zow could be released from the facility. (Section VII) Harrell said she did not see a response from the Orange County Jail in Zow s release packet. Harrell pointed out that the Orange County Sheriff s Office communications center would not have information related to the courtesy hold placed on Zow. Harrell stated the staff should have waited to receive a teletype response from the Orange County Jail, and had they done so they would have been informed of the courtesy hold. Harrell said Zow s original criminal charge from Orange County was for a burglary to a dwelling, which was also one of the additional charges that had been placed on Zow after his arrival at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility. Harrell said the hold sheet reflected two charges of burglary to a dwelling, and that should have been an indication that the bonds did not match the charges. Harrell said she believed the staff should have compared the case numbers on each charge to ensure all of the criminal charges and bonds were addressed. NOTE: The case numbers on the teletype response should be compared to the case numbers on the Hold Notification/Transport Information Sheet. Harrell said supervisors are trained to match case numbers to ensure all of the charges the inmate has been booked on are resolved. Harrell was asked if she believed the release of Zow would constitute negligence on the part of the three employees who signed off on his release. Harrell responded by saying she believed the employees were not thorough when they reviewed the release packet, and clearly they assumed that all the charges were the same. They did not check the case numbers. Harrell was asked if she believed that constituted carelessness and she responded, Yes ma am. Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker On June 4, 2015, Investigator Joy Jackson and Investigator Brad Bender conducted a post-garrity recorded interview with Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker at the offices of the Professional Conduct Review Section. (Section VIII) The following is a summary of the interview: Marconi has been employed by the Sheriff s Office for 11 years, and was promoted to sergeant in May Marconi said she worked in the Intake/Release Section of the John E. Polk Correctional Facility throughout her time of employment. Marconi explained the difference between a hold and a courtesy hold by saying that a hold would indicate the inmate had local charges, but were also facing charges from another agency. Marconi -3-

4 said a courtesy hold would indicate the inmate did not have any local charges, but was being held by our facility as a favor to another facility, and the inmate would remain in our facility until they were needed to appear for an out of county court date. Marconi said a courtesy hold would not be entered into NCIC/FCIC, so any check of that database would not indicate a courtesy hold. Marconi said her role in the release process is to review the information prepared by the intake/release clerk and sign off on the release of the inmate. Marconi said two supervisors are tasked with the review and approval of the release packet of each inmate. Marconi outlined some of the procedures she follows when reviewing the inmate release packet and they include, ensuring the inmate information from the Jail Management System matches the information contained in the release packet, reviews the criminal history and request for outstanding warrants, and confirms that the bonds match with the charges in the Jail Management System. Marconi said a courtesy hold will always appear on the paperwork because the inmate is being held for another county, but the hold would be released if bond was posted for every charge. Marconi said the John E. Polk Correctional Facility receives a new bond sheet from Orange County each time the inmate left the facility and was returned from Orange County. NOTE: There are three Hold Notification/Transportation Notification Sheets from Orange County in Zow s release packet. Marconi said she had a conversation with Ripley about Zow s criminal charges, and based on that conversation she was under the impression one of the burglary charges had been changed to a criminal mischief charge, and a grand theft charge had been added by Orange County. Marconi said that because there were no local charges for Zow, there were no case numbers listed on a charge/release form. (Section IX) Marconi said if she would have compared the case numbers on each of the Hold Notification/Transportation Notification Sheets with the teletype confirmation from Orange County, she would have noticed there were two different cases. Marconi said had she searched further into the release packet she would have seen different charges on the original Hold Notification/Transportation Notification Sheet, but was taught they should use the most recent form because it contained the most updated information. Marconi said when she saw the most recent form, she did not believe the other forms were pertinent. Marconi said the fact that courtesy hold was stamped on the forms, and listed on the information in Jail Management indicated to her that the inmate did not have any local charges. Marconi said once a teletype was received from Orange County accepting the bond on those cases, the inmate would be released. Marconi said she does not normally deal with the teletypes and would not be able to differentiate if the information came from the communications center or the jail, and she was unaware they were communicating with two separate departments. Marconi said on the evening of Zow s release there were over 30 arrests, and she believed she and Ripley signed over 40 release packets. Marconi said the reason for the elevated number of arrests and releases were due to a probation operation, and transports for federal inmates and the Florida Department of Corrections. Marconi said she was distracted and frazzled and did not take the time to compare case numbers from the release packet and the teletype confirmation. Marconi described the incident as life changing, and said, I know I have to be careful and I ll have to look at the case numbers. Marconi said she knew Ripley had been dealing with some personal -4-

5 issues, as well as their increased work load that evening and stated, And it got the best of us, apparently. Marconi was asked if she believed if Kendrick and Ripley violated the following written directive: General Order #1, XV.B. Carelessness Yes, and myself. Intake/Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick On June 9, 2015, Investigator Joy Jackson and Staff Assistant Shannon Smith conducted a post- Garrity recorded interview with Intake/Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick at the offices of the Professional Conduct Review Section. (Section X) The following is a summary of the interview: Kendrick has been employed with the Sheriff s Office since March 2014, and has been assigned to Intake/Release since that time. Kendrick described the steps she normally takes in preparing a release packet, to include receiving the bond, ensuring the bonds paid match the charges and bonds in the Jail Management System, then running a criminal history and warrant search. Kendrick said she is tasked with sending a teletype request on charges from another county to ensure they will accept the bond. Kendrick explained the teletype is sent to a mnemonic address specifically assigned to that agency, and in the case of Zow there were several different mnemonic addresses for Orange County that would go to separate sections. Kendrick said she sent the teletype to several different mnemonic addresses, for example the warrants section and correctional facility, to cover our bases. Kendrick said she awaits a response from the agency, and when the bond is accepted she forwards the release packet on for two supervisors to review. When asked how she ensures the bonds match the charges, Kendrick stated she looks at the Hold Notification/Transport Information Sheet from Orange County and the teletype confirming the bonds. NOTE: The case number listed on all three Hold Notification/Transport Information Sheets is CF13080AO, and the case number listed on the teletype response is CF When asked how she would determine the inmate still needed to be kept in custody, she said she asked Ripley because she was not certain if the courtesy hold was in place for the bonds posted. Kendrick said she was confused by the fact that there were several Hold Notification/Transport Information Sheets from Orange County because Zow had been taken back to Orange County twice since his initial booking for court appearances. Kendrick said she believed Zow had taken care of any previous charges with his court appearances and the courtesy hold was only in place for the charges for which the bonds had been posted. When asked if there was a process in which she should check case numbers for the corresponding bonds, Kendrick pointed out that case numbers are not used on the bond sheets when the bond is posted. (Section XI) Kendrick said there are case numbers on the Hold Notification/Transport Information Sheet, and in normal cases there are not several of those sheets contained in the release packet as there was in Zow s case. Kendrick said she reviewed the latest Hold Notification/Transport Information Sheet which showed different charges than the original sheet, and based on what Ripley advised she [Kendrick] believed the original charges had been taken care of, and only current charges were on the latest sheet. Kendrick said she believed she only needed to ensure the charges matched the bond that was paid. -5-

6 Kendrick said it has been difficult for her to determine when a courtesy hold is released, and said the process of communicating between agencies is kinda hard. Kendrick said she was unsure how to determine similar charges coincide with different case numbers. Kendrick said once she received the response from Orange County accepting the bonds, she believed the courtesy hold was released. Kendrick said she was not trained to wait for a response from every mnemonic address she had sent the teletype, and believed the acceptance of the bond from one address was sufficient. Kendrick said there was no case number listed for the courtesy hold, so it appeared the hold was in place for the charges the bonds were paid. Kendrick said she believed the confusion about the charges came about when Zow was sent out on court appearances and brought back to the facility. Kendrick was asked if she believed she violated the following written directive: General Order #1, XV.B. Carelessness Prob ly so, I prob ly could ve checked further into it. I, I you know, went all the way back from the beginnin and maybe try to cross something. There s prob ly something I could ve done. Kendrick was asked if she believed the release of Zow constituted carelessness on the part of Ripley and Marconi, and she said she believed everyone involved in the release shared the same responsibility. Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley On June 15, 2015, Investigator Joy Jackson and Staff Assistant Shannon Smith conducted a post- Garrity recorded interview with Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley at the offices of the Professional Conduct Review Section. (Section XII) The following is a summary of the interview: Ripley has been employed at the Sheriff s Office for 17 years, and has spent 16 years assigned to Intake/Release Section of the facility. Ripley was promoted to Quality Assurance Supervisor in October Ripley said she is responsible for reviewing release packets that are prepared by the intake/release clerks. Ripley reviewed Zow s release packet prior to the interview and was asked if she saw anything in the packet that would indicate a courtesy hold was still in place on Zow. Ripley said she noted the bond was placed on different criminal charges than what the courtesy hold was for. Ripley said the teletype response from Orange County indicated acceptance of the bonds posted, and she believed at the time she initially reviewed the release packet the courtesy hold was in place only for those charges. Ripley said had they received a teletype response from the Orange County Jail, they would have received information related to another charge and been advised not to release Zow. Ripley said she had been trained to check case numbers on the teletype response, but did not do so in this instance. Ripley said she recalled Kendrick asking about the courtesy hold on Zow, and said she informed Kendrick the hold was released because she believed all the bonds were paid. Ripley said it is -6-

7 difficult to discern whether a courtesy hold is released when the inmate is transferred back and forth for court appearances. Ripley said it was hard to tell if their case is still pending, or if the charges were changed from the original charge. Ripley said the case numbers on the teletype received from Orange County should have been compared to the case numbers on the Hold Notification/Transport Information Sheets contained in Zow s release packet. Ripley said she was not trying to make an excuse for Zow s release, but said it was a very busy night for them, the charges were similar, but they should have been more careful. Ripley said she has never felt comfortable releasing an inmate who is in our facility on a courtesy hold because they re not our inmate, because we don t know what is really going on. Ripley was asked if she believed Marconi and Kendrick violated the following written directive: General Order #1, XV.B. Carelessness Yes, I think we [Marconi, Kendrick and Ripley] all did. CONCLUSIONS: Following an investigation by the Professional Conduct Review Section, the allegations have been assigned the following findings based upon the legal standard of preponderance of the evidence: Intake/Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker General Order #1, XV.B. Carelessness, is assigned a finding of SUSTAINED. The following statements support this finding: 1. On October 1, 2014, Inmate Jason Zow was booked into the John E. Polk Correctional Facility as a courtesy hold for the Orange County Jail, under case number CF13080AO. 2. On March 10, 2015, Intake/Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick received paperwork indicating bond had been paid on three separate charges, and she prepared a release packet for Zow. 3. Kendrick sent a teletype to Orange County to determine if they would accept the bonds, and received a response indicating the bonds were accepted. 4. The case number on the teletype response [482014CF ] did not match the case number on the Hold Notification/Transport Information Sheet received from Orange County [482014CF13080AO. 5. Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley and Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker reviewed and approved the release packet prepared by Kendrick and Zow was released from the facility. -7-

8 6. Manager Sharron Harrell said Kendrick, Ripley and Marconi-Straker were not thorough when they reviewed the release packet, and she believed that constituted carelessness on their part. 7. Kendrick, Ripley and Marconi-Straker admitted they all violated the general order related to carelessness. RECOMMENDATIONS: A case number should be written on the bond paperwork at the time the bond is received that coincides with the specific charge for which the bond is being paid. Prior to releasing an inmate who is in the facility on a courtesy hold, the originating facility should be contacted by telephone, informed of the pending release, and verbal approval should be received from that facility, documenting the date, time and person authorizing the hold to be released. INDEX: COMPLAINANT: Sheriff Donald F. Eslinger Address: 100 Bush Boulevard Sanford, Florida Telephone: (407) SUBJECTS: 1. Intake/Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick 2. Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley 3. Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker Address: 211 Bush Boulevard Sanford, Florida Telephone: (407) WITNESS: Manager Sharron Harrell Address: 211 Bush Boulevard Sanford, Florida

9 Telephone: (407) EVIDENCE: Digital Recordings: AF-1 Recorded interview of Manager Sharron Harrell, dated 05/15/2015 AF-2 Recorded interview of Sergeant Nilcia Marconi-Straker, dated 06/04/2015 AF-3 Recorded interview of Intake/Release Clerk Marquetta Kendrick, dated 06/9/2015 AF-4 Recorded interview of Quality Assurance Supervisor Kelly Ripley, dated 06/ Statutory Verification Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing report and that the facts stated in it are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I, the undersigned, do hereby swear, under penalty of perjury, that, to the best of my personal knowledge, information, and belief, I have not knowingly or willfully deprived, or allowed another to deprive, the subject(s) of the investigation of any rights contained in ss and , Florida Statutes. PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS INVESTIGATOR JOY JACKSON Sworn to and signed before me this day of NOTARY PUBLIC (signatory personally known to me) -9-