Santa Clara County Jail Inmate Dies at Valley Medical Center

A Santa Clara County inmate died in the hospital Thursday, according to jail officials.

The 57-year-old man—whose name is being withheld until authorities notify his family—died just after 6am at Valley Medical Center, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. James Jensen said.

When police booked him into jail for no-bail outstanding warrants, he told them he had pre-existing health conditions, Jensen said. Last Friday, the jail sent him to Valley Med in San Jose. He died less than a week later.

Thursday’s death marks the third in-custody fatality of 2016, according to Jensen. Per protocol, jail officials have alerted detectives, the District Attorney’s Office and the Medical Examiner-Coroners Office.

Jensen said he won’t release any more information until the county tells the man’s family and until more information turns up from the investigation.

The Sheriff’s Office began sending media alerts about in-custody deaths this past year in response to heightened scrutiny after an inmate’s fatal beating last summer.

10 Comments

  1. The man died at VMC, not the Main Jail, yet the accompanying photo is of the address of the Main Jail. The post by SVN didn’t state whether the man was in the Main Jail or in Elmwood, nor did it say how long he was in custody before he was transferred to VMC. The man admitted to pre-exisitng medical conditions. The man was in VMC for at least 6 days; so, based on a dearth of a time line, it would appear that IF there is a problem, it’s not a Main Jail problem. Try to get ALL relevant facts before you post a story.

  2. JMO’C,

    Sorry to disagree, but after what I’ve learned from the media and local political groups I have no choice but to conclude that this man must have been murdered by a correctional officer motivated by his/her hate for ____ (fill in the blank).

    I await Laurie Smith’s next heavily-medicated attempt to cast herself as a reformer while scapegoating another unfortunate employee.

  3. Sensationalism is alive and well at SJI. Come on he was only in custody for a no bail warrant. He didn’t deserve this kind of treatment and ultimately his death. Now a no bail warrant could be; rape, robbery, ADW, burglary, child molest, child porn and so on and so on…. The point is that the “story” specifically goes to the liberal playbook to the section entitled “down spin” “spin zone” “minimize and deflect” We dont want to let any facts get in the way of our sensational story. Where is Bill O’Reilly? Our friends over at televised media are just as bad with their over enunciation and exaggeration of key words, coupled with exaggerated head bobbling while telling their sensational news stories. Its actually quite comical to those of us not inflicted with the liberal brain disease.

  4. It’s obvious to me this man must have registered as a Republican, was beaten for it and treated under Obama care,
    also known as the final solution.

    End of investigation!

    • Speaking of investigations and beating up Republicans, where is Mayor Liccardo’s and Chief Garcia’s explanation to the City Council of the beatings of Republicans at the Trump rally on June 2?

      How did Liccardo ever make it through law school (of high school) if he didn’t get his work assignments in on time?

      • Oh for God’s sake, don’t intentionally egg on (ha! see what I did there) angry protesters by flipping them off and antagonizing them in a city where the community has successfully decimated and cowed the police force for your amusement when you know protests have been increasingly confrontational. That’s just common sense. Why has everyone but those in San Jose been able to figure that out? Better yet, just do yourself a favor and stay away from the lot of loons from both sides, unless you really, truly do want that 15 minutes of fame where everyone mocks you as a national embarrassment.

        • Yeah, and let’s just get rid of that pesky 1st Amendment, and its outdated language about the right to peacably assemble. And the Constitution, with its quaint language about borders.

          Those “angry protesters” were mostly illegals from the looks of them. So we’d better not make them any angrier, or they might resort to breaking the law — aside from the laws they’re already breaking every day by being here illegally.

          Most importantly, we have a Mayor with priorities. His top priority is supporting the right of citizens of foreign countries who are here illegally to commit violent acts against peaceful American citizens. That’s crystal clear from his actions, no?

          And some folks wonder why Donald Trump is so popular…

  5. Yet another inmate taken to the hospital just in the nick of time to die. What is this, three or four in a row now? Who is making the call to bring these people to VMC and why are they failing so miserably to make the call when something may still be done? What is the training of the medical staff? Is there someone qualified at all times on duty capable of determining when someone should go to the hospital with the opportunity to survive? Or is this another “cost saving measure” of the sheriff’s to delay the decision until it is a clear the inmate is close to death?

    What the ME’s office needs to determine first is if they can get a doctor from another county to do the autopsy in order to circumvent any concerns about bias (like they should have been doing from the very beginning with any law enforcement involved deaths, but apparently didn’t). Then it needs to be determined if this individual could have been saved with more immediate action in regards to his health at the jails? Like we’ve not been told in the last several deaths of inmates at VMC.

  6. I have a very, very sick boyfriend who was denied medical care and given Tylenol and told to go lie down. This went on for 2 days and his Appendix Ruptured. The Elmwood Men’s Jail called the ambulance when they noticed the inmate on the ground, because of excruciating, agonizing pain. He was rushed to Vmc, where he had his appendix removed . I have been praying, that they were able to get all the lifethreatening sepsis out. This lack of professionalism has got to change. We are all human beings. This episode that took place on Sunday, July,31st 2016 could be causing my boyfriend, his life. This is all due to Elmwood lacking professional medically necessary employees. If anyone has any feedback or suggestions that could help us, please contact me at 408-630-5500 and or my email [email protected]. God Bless You and Thank You.

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