海角破解版

Opening statements and the first day of testimony at the trial of former Cuyahoga County Jail Director Ken Mills focused on whether Mills is the right person to hold accountable for conditions inside the jail.

Mills was charged in 2019 with five counts related to overcrowding, insufficient medical care and several deaths at the jail. The first three charges cover alleged lies he told Cuyahoga County Council during a May 2018 appearance. Two additional counts of dereliction of duty are for his role overseeing the jail during 2017 and 2018.

Under state law, sheriffs are responsible for conditions inside county jails.

But, according to Matthew Meyer from the Ohio Attorney General鈥檚 office, Mills went around former Sheriff Clifford Pinkney to set jail policy with County Executive Armond Budish.

鈥淯nder the charter system, there鈥檚 really no sheriff in town,鈥� Meyer said during his opening statement, referring to the new county government approved by voters in 2009 that ended the direct election of sheriff.

鈥淣ow, on paper, and you鈥檒l see the paper, [Mills] answered to the sheriff,鈥� Meyer said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to hear testimony Ken Mills didn鈥檛 like the sheriff, didn鈥檛 respect the sheriff and didn鈥檛 think he had to follow the sheriff鈥檚 directions.鈥�

According to Meyer, Mills was seeking a promotion from Budish, leading him to keep medical staffing low and not tell Budish that the county wasn鈥檛 ready to accept prisoners from Cleveland鈥檚 jail after it closed in 2018.

鈥淜en鈥檚 own staff warned him, 鈥榃e鈥檙e not ready,鈥欌�� Meyer said. 鈥溾�橮eople are going to get hurt.鈥欌��

Mills鈥� attorneys didn鈥檛 dispute there were problems at the jail and the medical department was short staffed. Lead attorney Kevin Spellacy said Mills hadn鈥檛 handled medical staffing since George Taylor became chief deputy in the sheriff鈥檚 department years earlier.

鈥淢edical was no longer any part of Ken Mills鈥� duty other than to have to work with them,鈥� Spellacy said during his opening statement. 鈥淗e didn鈥檛 staff them. He didn鈥檛 budget them. He had to interact with them because they were part of the jail.鈥�

According to Spellacy, the state had hoped to charge higher ranking officials but failed and settled for Mills instead. Specifically, the officials above Mills in the sheriff鈥檚 department were Chief Deputy George Taylor and Sheriff Pinkney. Spellacy also made a reference to people 鈥渙ver there on 9 ^th St.鈥� who the state tried and failed to prosecute, presumably a reference to Budish.

鈥淢y client doesn鈥檛 control how many people are in the jail. He doesn鈥檛 get to control any mergers or acquisitions,鈥� Spellacy said. 鈥淗e does what he鈥檚 told. In this instance, they want the third guy in line, the outsider, to take the heat for the malfeasance of others.鈥�

The only witness to testify on the first day was the jail鈥檚 former director of nursing, Gary Brack. Brack was fired by MetroHealth after publicly accusing Mills of blocking the hiring of additional nurses during a 2018 county council meeting.

Brack testified Wednesday to a few direct actions taken by Mills to reduce the role of nurses at the jail, including an email from Mills to the county鈥檚 former budget director, Maggie Keenan, that sought to block a request for more nurses at the county-leased Euclid jail.

鈥淗e told us in meetings, he felt there were too many nurses, that the nurses didn鈥檛 do anything,鈥� Brack said.

On cross-examination, Spellacy focused on who had control over staffing at the jail, pointing out that Pinkney made the formal request for more nurses to the county executive鈥檚 office

鈥淏ut when it didn鈥檛 work you seemed to like to blame Mr. Mills, no?鈥� said Spellacy.

The trial is expected to last through next week. Originally, Budish was on the schedule to testify Wednesday. It's unclear when he might appear now.