A hearing in the Greenbrier County Circuit Court raised serious concerns about conditions at Southern Regional Jail (SJR) in Beckley.
Defense Attorney Michael Whitt filed a motion looking to transfer his client, Timothy Considine, out of SJR. This motion was heard by Greenbrier County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dent on December 9, six days after Considine’s sentencing and incarceration on November 29.
“Mr. Considine is 74 years old and is very medically fragile,” explained Whitt. “I visited with him yesterday in the run up to this hearing – he was visibly short of breath. … He struggled to hear what I was saying to him, struggled to understand what I was saying to him. [He] disclosed to me that he has gone days at a time since the sentence was imposed without eating because he’s not been provided food at the jail.”
In speaking with The West Virginia Daily News after the hearing, Whitt also stated Considine told him “there are some days he gets medication and some days he doesn’t.”
Whitt continued during the hearing, stating “there are several pods in the jail that have no running water. There are several places in the jail where the heat doesn’t work.”
Greenbrier County Prosecuting Attorney Patrick Via, in response to the filed motion, confirmed his knowledge of the jail conditions.
“The state’s position is, I understand the point [of the motion], understand the problems [at] SRJ,” said Via. “[The West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation] recognizes the problems at SRJ, and I do not dispute that the federal authorities have recognized the problems [at] SRJ, but I don’t know that vests authority in courts to come up with different protocols, which is essentially what’s being requested here.”
Southern Regional Jail was built in 1994 and holds inmates from Fayette, Greenbrier, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties, according to its website. Currently, the Superintendent is Michael Francis.
It’s medical contractor, PrimeCare Medical, “provides comprehensive healthcare services to county jails, prisons, and juvenile detention centers throughout the Northeastern United States. PrimeCare Medical specializes in correctional healthcare management through the significant contributions and strong moral values of our employees.”
Attempts to contact SJR staff by The West Virginia Daily News were unsuccessful. However, Lawrence Messina, Director of Communications and Public Relations for the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security, addressed the allegations in an email response to questions from The West Virginia Daily News.
“I have checked with leadership at the facility and DCR,” explained Messina. “There have been no reported outages or issues with heat, running water, meals (three are served each day) or medical services (including the providing of prescription medication) since this individual was admitted. Facility maintenance is necessary from time to time, and as a result there is a water system repair scheduled for this week. That may (or may not) require a temporary shutoff. In such instances, the facility has quantities of both bottled and bulk water.”
“The remaining allegations by this lawyer appear to involve speculation or matters not directly related to the case at hand,” Messina wrote. “It is important to underscore, however, that current policy ensures the availability of medical services at this and all DCR facilities through its contracted providers.”
Whitt’s concern for Considine’s health can be bolster with recent reporting on the facility. There have been deaths at the jail after inmates with medical histories have been found “unresponsive.”
In 2017, a medical negligence settlement in Kanawha County was brought against PrimeCare Medical of West Virginia, Southern Regional Jail’s medical contractor, and other defendants, by Brenda Riffe, as the personal representative of the estate of Richard Riffe. According to the Kanawha County Circuit Clerk’s office, a petition for approval of wrongful death settlement and distribution of funds was approved in that case on November 5, 2019. The awarded funds total $570,000.
In 2019, a civil suit was brought in Raleigh County against PrimeCare Medical of West Virginia for the death of Christopher Reynolds after a blood clot, something in his medical history. This case remains pending.
Deaths have also continued into 2021. According to reporting from Jessica Farrish with Beckley Register Herald, John Lewis Jarrell was found unresponsive on Sept 4, and was later pronounced dead with no foul play suspected. The Herald also reported Jarrell had allegedly gone through a major surgery a month before entering the jail.
The Herald also reported Kyle ‘Steven’ Robinson, 55, was found unresponsive in his cell on Saturday morning.” Farrish reported “Robinson’s mother, 81-year-old Annell Payne of Beckley, said that while her son was living in Raleigh County, he had undergone a serious surgery on his leg. … She received a call from the prison at about 8:50 a.m. on Saturday. Payne said a male voice on the line identified himself as an employee of Southern Regional and told her that her son had died. … The jail official told her that EMS had been called to the jail and had “administered CPR” when Robinson was found unresponsive in his cell, she added.”
In addition, a class action suit has been brought against the DOC as a whole in federal court, specifically the Southern District of West Virginia. The case was filed on behalf of John Baxley Jr., Eric L. Jones, Samuel Stout, Amber Arnett, Earl Edmondson, Joshua Hall, Donna Wells-Wright, Robert Watson, Heather Reed, and Danny Spiker, Jr., on their own behalf and on behalf of all others similarly situated, with help from Mountain State Justice, against West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Commissioner Betsy Jividen, and others. However, this case focuses not on SJR, but with the Western Regional Jail and Correctional Facility.
The suit “seeks to ensure that jails in West Virginia promptly provide appropriate and necessary medical and mental health treatment to inmates upon admission, as required under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and the Americans with Disabilities Act” and to address “deliberate indifference to plaintiffs’ health and safety as a result of the conditions of confinement in that facility.” In December 2020, the case was approved for class action certification. A motion for summary judgment filed by the plaintiffs was denied, with exceptions, in December 2020.
According to Whitt during the hearing, issues at SRJ have caused transfers out of the jail.
“Several weeks now, there have been a number of problems at the Southern Regional Jail that pose health concerns for particularly fragile individuals, to the extent that the federal authorities are transferring most, if not all, federal inmates at the Southern Regional Jail to facilities outside the state of West Virginia,” said Whitt. “… Judge [Frank Vokl], the United States District Judge sitting in Beckley, U.S. Magistrate Judge [Omar Aboulhosn], sitting in Bluefield, has intimate familiarity with problems at the Southern Regional Jail and can verify the fact that the federal inmates are being systematically transferred out of the Regional Jail due to the problems I’m discussing.”
An official with the U.S. Marshals, who wished not to be identified, stated prisoner information, such as transfer records, would not be released to the public. Calls to verify these claims with both judges by The West Virginia Daily News have not been returned.
When presented with the quote about transfers, Messina said “there were 22 federal pretrial defendants at the facility as of this morning (about the same as last Tuesday, when there were 25).”
Looking back to the December 9 hearing, Via explained Considine would be evaluated and sent to the appropriate facility in time.
“The Southern Regional Jail is one of the specific areas upon which extra focus is and attention has been given for expediting transfers,” Via explained. “… My office was able to direct this case specifically to the attention of those that make those decisions. It simply hadn’t gotten to them – the sentencing order was entered six days ago. … I’m not going to suggest that it’s being given priority status or anything like that, because that would be an embellishment on my part. We simply drew the case to their attention. The [case] will be evaluated [for] a medical or geriatric type consideration. Mr. Whitt is quite correct that those that qualify for that type of classification are largely, if not fully, housed at St. Mary’s. That is the facility within the DOC where the medical personnel are staffed and is available for those types of inmates. I’m further advised that it is expected that a decision as to Mr. Constantine’s eligibility for that facility, and his transfer to that facility, would be anticipated shortly after the first of the year.”
Via also noted “absence of any specific diagnosis and things of that nature.” But even with that, Via continued to argue against the transfer.
“Even if the record was complete with that, while it’s true, that there’s a first time for everything, I really encourage the court to consider the ramifications of undertaking and micromanagement of DOC transfer protocol and DOC management of transfer and housing of inmates, which effectively the courts are being asked to do today. I do think that [it would be] a first time for something that’s not appropriate.”
For Considine’s defense, getting medical care is a prime concern. Whitt hoped the transfer motion would keep Considine alive.
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years, judge, and I’ve never filed a motion asking that one of my clients be transferred out of one facility to another because of health concerns,” Whitt said. “I did that for Mr. Considine because it’s critically necessary that it take place or he is at risk of dying as a result of the conditions at the Southern Regional Jail. That’s not an exaggeration. … The argument of ‘we’ve never really done this before’ – I don’t really care about that. What I care about is Mr. Considine and his life. It certain is the situation [that] it could take several weeks for the diagnosis and classification to occur.”
Dent, before making a decision, reviewed who would have the authority to make this transfer.
“Pursuant to [state code], … if an inmate is committed to the custody of the Division [of Corrections], and needs medical attention, after proper investigation, the superintendent of the facility shall notify the commissioner and shall cause the transfer,” explained Dent. “So, with regard to who holds the authority under state law, I believe that the commissioner once a person has been directed into the custody of the state facility.”
However, case law did allow circuit courts to make transfers, under certain conditions.
“It appears that when the circuit court is to consider a motion to transfer is if there has been a deliberate indifference to the seriousness of the needs of a prisoner that constitutes unnecessary or wanton infliction of action of pain. In other words, it becomes a due process Eighth Amendment article. Otherwise, the court indicates that the court would not disturb the actions of the prison administrators, unless it infringes upon a constitutional right.”
Ultimately, Dent rejected the motion, meaning Considine is expected to be seen by medical professions after the beginning of the new year.
“The way I understand it, it would be premature [to transfer him] because at this point, Mr. Considine has not gone through the classification process,” Dent said. “I think that that process is up to the prison administrators, and then where he is housed in any transfer is in the authority of the commissioner.”
The defendant, Timothy Considine, was recently sentenced for his actions following a fatal ATV accident. The details of Considine’s case can be found in two articles published by The West Virginia Daily News, including “Considine Guilty Of Fleeing Scene Causing Death,” published August 18, and “Considine Sentenced To Prison For Failure To Render Aid After Fatal Accident,” published December 3.
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