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SAN JOSE -- In a sign of worsening problems in the Santa Clara County jails, the president of the correctional officers' union and two other unidentified guards were walked off the job Thursday and placed on administrative leave, two weeks after three other guards were charged with beating a mentally ill inmate to death.
Lance Scimeca, president of the local branch of the Correctional Peace Officers Association and a sergeant at Elmwood jail, confirmed Friday that he was summarily ordered on paid leave after 20 years on the job without being told why. As long as workers are still being paid, the county does not have to immediately provide the reason for the action.
Defendant Jereh Lubrin, left, listens to his defense attorney Judith Odbert, background right, before his bail hearing at the Santa Clara County Superior
Defendant Jereh Lubrin, left, listens to his defense attorney Judith Odbert, background right, before his bail hearing at the Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 18, 2015. Lubrin is a former corrections officer who is facing murder and assault charges related to the beating death of mentally ill inmate Michael James Tyree. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group) ( LiPo Ching )
The jails, overseen by Sheriff Laurie Smith, have been under heightened scrutiny since guards allegedly beat inmate Michael Tyree to death in his cell. Smith and county supervisors have since called for additional video monitoring in the jails and an outside commission to examine correctional officer supervision and training, and inmate complaints. Thursday's suspensions suggest problems in the jails are more widespread among the county's 700 correctional officers.
A spokesman for Smith declined to comment on the suspensions, citing privacy laws protecting workers in personnel matters. But a source in the union camp said the situation apparently has nothing to do with the beating death of Tyree. Instead, the men are suspected of sending inappropriate text messages, similar to the situation in San Francisco this spring in which police Chief Greg Suhr suspended seven officers and disciplined six others for exchanging racist and homophobic texts.
Scimeca said he knew nothing about such messages. He also declined to identify the other two men, citing legal advice not to comment further.
"I have received zero information," he said.
The action surfaced Friday as a Santa Clara County judge took the unusual step of allowing bail for the three correctional officers accused of fatally beating Tyree inside his cell, but ruled each would have to post $1.5 million to go free while awaiting trial.
Superior Court Judge Allison M. Danner announced her decision before a courtroom packed with supporters of guards Jereh Lubrin, Rafael Rodriguez and Matthew Farris, who had been held without bail in an Alameda County jail on murder charges since their arrests two weeks ago. They face life in prison if convicted.
While the decision disappointed prosecutors who had urged that the men either remain jailed or be required to post $10 million bail each, it didn't exactly cheer the guards' lawyers, who had requested bail of $100,000 to $200,000.
The three are likely to remain in jail until their next court hearing Sept. 28, when the judge will decide whether to allow their families to put up property for some of the bail and supplement the shortfall with cash or some other arrangement.
An attorney for Farris said every effort will be made to raise the bail, but it won't be easy.
"The bail is entirely too high," attorney William Rapoport said outside the courtroom, "but at least bail was set."
Most murder suspects in Santa Clara County are denied bail, though there are exceptions. Last summer, a different judge set $1 million bail for David Zimmer, who was accused of the 1989 cold-case killing of his wife. Those charges later were dropped.
Danner said judges are required to weigh the protection of the public, seriousness of the alleged crimes, previous criminal records of the defendants and whether they are a flight risk. She said the prosecution did not prove to her satisfaction that the officers were likely to cause great bodily harm to others.
Nonetheless, she said she was setting "high" bail because the men are accused of an "exceptionally serious" offense -- "beating to death a person who could not be more vulnerable."
Her ruling outraged the mother of one on the inmates in the cell block where Tyree died Aug. 26.
"I'm pissed and worried about the welfare of all of them (inmates)," said Michelle Pestana in a text message after the hearing, adding that she was particularly incensed by the argument made by Rodriguez's lawyer that he is needed at home because his 1-year-old son has special medical needs.
"Nobody was concerned for the special needs of Tyree, so why the hell should he argue that?" Pestana said.
Prosecutor Matt Braker had argued that if the guards were released, they might try to dissuade inmate-witnesses on Tyree's cell block from testifying. The inmates claimed they saw the guards enter Tyree's cell and heard Tyree screaming. To back up his argument, Braker noted that the guards are also charged with assaulting another mentally ill inmate moments before allegedly attacking Tyree.
"This is not an isolated incident," Braker said.
The prosecutor also cited text messages between Farris and Rodriguez, exchanged weeks before Tyree died, in which they allegedly joke about roughing up inmates, as well as previous violent incidents against inmates involving Lubrin.
But the judge essentially agreed with the defense that the violence was situational and noted the guards' strong community ties. Almost every seat in the courtroom was filled with friends and relatives of the guards, many of whom had written letters of support to the judge. The supporters declined to comment after the hearing. The lawyers had said the men would be willing to be electronically monitored with ankle bracelets, but the judge did not require them.
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