8 Alameda County sheriff's deputies, medical staff no longer face Santa Rita Jail charges

DUBLIN, Calif. - Six Alameda County sheriff's deputies and two medical staff were officially freed from criminal charges on Thursday, stemming from the death of a man at Santa Rita Jail who lay languishing in his cell for days – while three other deputies remain charged with his alleged negligent care. 

8 dismissed, 3 remain

The deputies who remain charged with felony dependent abuse and neglect of Maurice Monk are: Deputies Donall Chauncy Rowe, Thomas Mowrer, and Robinderpal Singh Hayer. Hayer was also charged with falsifying documents.

But on Thursday, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Mark Bennett dismissed charges against: Alameda County Forensic Behavioral Health Dr. Neal Edwards, Wellpath nurse David Everett Donoho and deputies Ross Burruel, Andre Gaston, Syear Osmani, Mateusz Laszuk, and Christopher Haendel and Troy Hershel White, who attended the court hearing by Zoom and was seen driving in his car before the hearing started. 

Bennett told Alameda County Superior Court Judge David Pareda that Monk suffered "obvious medical deterioration" in November 2021, but that he had "insufficient evidence" to move forward with the case. He added that it doesn't mean that those whose cases were dismissed weren't at fault, but it's just that he didn't feel he could meet the high burden of proving it to a jury. 

In a statement, DA Ursula Jones Dickson said that her office will "vigorously pursue justice on behalf of Mr. Monk and his family as we prosecute this case."

However, one of the defense attorneys was puzzled by the DA's decision to leave her client in the case. 

"The DA's logic on who they left in is not necessarily clear to us," Mowrer's attorney, Alison Berry Wilkinson, told KTVU after court. "I can't figure out the rhyme or reason. It makes no sense to me." 

Relief to those dismissed

The news was a great relief to the deputies and medical staff, who no longer face criminal culpability for Monk's death.

Edwards' attorney, Randy Sue Pollock, said the dismissal of the charges against her client was the right thing to do. 

"My client should never have been charged," she said outside court. 

And Michael Rains, Haendel's defense attorney, credited Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson for her thorough decision-making, while taking a jam at ousted DA Pamela Price, whom he said overcharged the case in the first place to make a "publicity splash."

"She should have looked at the evidence," Rains said, adding that his client only had a very brief interaction with Monk on the day of his death. 

Big show for deputies

The deputies had a huge turnout of support at the Wiley Manuel courthouse. At least a dozen deputies in tactical gear stood outside in the hallway; and several top brass, including Capt. Ray Kelly and Capt. Justin Miguel, sat in the front row of the courtroom. 

In fact, the courtroom was so full that Monk's sister, Elvira Monk, did some reshuffling so that she didn't have to sit near the deputies. An activist shouted "cop killers" and "bullshit" when the charges were dismissed and was quickly escorted out of the room.

Mixed emotions

Elvira Monk's face was visibly distressed, and she bounced her left knee nervously during the proceeding. 

Outside court, she said she was "hurt, angry and happy" with what happened.

"Justice was not served," she said. "But I can't complain about the three charged." 

Her sister, Tiffany, and Monk's daughter, Nia'Amore Monk, also attended the hearing. 

KTVU has followed Monk's story for the last four years, first reporting the conditions of his death after obtaining exclusive body camera video inside the jail that shows no one physically checked on the 45-year-old man, who had been lying half-naked on his bunk, for at least three days, possibly four.

And when deputies finally found Monk's body, stacks of uneaten food trays and pills lay scattered about the floor near an oblong puddle of urine by the foot of his bed.

KTVU had filed California Public Records Requests for that body camera, but was denied. 

The video only surfaced through the wrongful death suits filed by Adante Pointer, Patrick Buelna and Ty Clarke of Lawyers for the People in Oakland. 

Their firm's team pored over dozens of disparate clips of the body cam video, much of it provided out of order and with incorrect time stamps, and put together a timeline of Monk's final days. 

The lawyers also fought, and won, to get Monk's daughter and son $7 million – an unprecedented amount from the sheriff's office, awarded in 2023. 

And as part of the lawsuit, Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez also agreed to make changes to welfare checks and how they're conducted. The jail also now has electronic key cards showing deputies' whereabouts, instead of handwritten logs. 

She made note of those reforms in a statement her office sent out after the court hearing. Sanchez did not attend, but issued a statement later in the day saying she "respects the judicial process and will continue to monitor" the case.

In June, the Monk family won another $2.5 million from Wellpath, the health care provider at Santa Rita Jail. 

Jail reform activists are currently fighting to end Wellpath's contract with Santa Rita Jail, and convince Alameda County to provide its own healthcare instead.