Family of man who died in Spokane County Jail suing county for wrongful death, negligence

The family of a man who killed himself in the Spokane County Jail in 2018 is suing the county, alleging his death could have been prevented.

Chris Rogers, a 24-year-old Spokane resident, hanged himself in his jail cell on Jan. 3, 2018. Rogers had schizophrenia and believed that a Martian would kill his family if he did not take his own life. He was arrested in late November 2017 after he escaped from a mental health treatment facility and stole a car.

Rogers’ estate is suing the county and NaphCare, the company that provides mental health evaluations for inmates, saying there were multiple opportunities to intervene while Rogers was in jail which could have prevented his death.

“They don’t want to see this happen to anyone else with mental health issues,” said Josh Maurer, an attorney for Rogers’ family.

Rogers was one of eight inmates who died in the Spokane County Jail in a 14-month span, and one of three who died by hanging.

According to the lawsuit, before Rogers was booked into jail, he made suicidal statements to law enforcement, and medical staff at the jail noted that he had past suicide attempts and had voiced suicidal thoughts. Pre-Trial Services, the department at the county that evaluates defendants for a public defense attorney and creates reports for judges, also noted that Rogers had mental health issues and had a prescription for medication that would address those concerns.

According to previous Spokesman-Review reporting on Rogers’ death, it’s unclear if he ever received another does of his prescribed medication, which would have been a shot, while he was in jail.

According to the lawsuit, Rogers didn’t see an attorney for a week after his first appearance due to a backlog of cases at the Spokane County Public Defenders Office. He did eventually see an attorney and was evaluated by a doctor, but his case was never assigned to an attorney due to caseload limits and no one from the Spokane County Public Defender’s Office was monitoring his mental health status during his time at the jail. He also called the public attorney’s office repeatedly while he was in jail, up to the last hour before he died, but hung up, or was disconnected for other reasons several times without making contact with an attorney.

According to the lawsuit he was put on suicide watch several times, which includes more monitoring and can also include a special gown, which are similar to a wearable sleeping bag that is resistant to tearing, and a tear proof mattress. He was removed from suicide watch after about eight hours after one instance, and in about a day on an other instance. It’s unclear why he was taken off suicide watch.

The lawsuit alleges Spokane County Public Defender’s Office was not properly trained and equipped for dealing with people with mental health issues, and Rogers was never given a proper mental health evaluation or care he needed. The lawsuit alleged that improper staffing, training and inadequate care led to Rogers’ death.

Rogers’ estate is seeking damages which would be determined at a trial including funeral and burial expenses, emotional distress to family, attorney fees and punitive damages “sufficient enough to punish defendants for their wrongdoing and deter future conduct.”