The Frontier: Glanz Didn’t Watch Video Of Williams Dying In Jail For More Than A Year

This is an abridged version of a story written by our partner, The Frontier. You can read the full version on their website.

Former Sheriff Stanley Glanz didn’t watch the video of Elliott Williams dying on the floor of Tulsa’s jail until more than a year after Williams died, he testified Thursday.

And when he did watch the videotape in preparation of a 2013 deposition, he didn’t see anything in the video that affected Williams’ health.

Glanz also acknowledged to jurors that he’d pled guilty to a crime involving dishonesty and that he is currently on probation. He said he pled guilty to a charge involving his use of a county vehicle while collecting a car allowance “because I couldn’t afford to defend myself.”

Glanz’s second day of testimony in the civil trial over Williams’ 2011 death in Tulsa’s jail was filled with instances in which the former sheriff was forced to confront the failings of his own agency, as documented by a slew of audits and reviews.

Glanz agreed that he could not name any policy or procedure that changed as a result of the studies’ findings in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. The audits found failures in nearly every area of the jail’s medical and mental health care, including a finding just weeks before Williams’ death of a “prevailing attitude among clinic staff of indifference.”

Glanz testified during the seventh day of a trial in U.S. District Court over Williams’ death in the jail from complications of a broken neck. The lawsuit names Sheriff Vic Regalado in his official capacity and Glanz in his individual capacity. The jail’s former medical provider, Correctional Healthcare Companies Inc., was previously named but has settled with Williams’ estate for an undisclosed amount.

A 2007 review by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care found that “the follow up of inmates with mental health needs is not of sufficient frequency to meet their needs.” The study found a “noted delay” in responding to routine mental health requests by inmates.

A 2009 report completed warned the Sheriff’s Office of systemic problems with the jail’s medical and mental health care.

Consultant Betty Gondles’ report raised issues with a lack of training and orientation for new health staff, nurses failing to document delivery of health services to inmates and delays in inmates receiving medications.

Glanz testified Gondles was a close friend who had reviewed jails and prisons across the U.S.

The report noted many of the issues stemmed from a “lack of understanding of correctional health care issues by jail administration and contract oversight and monitoring of the private provider.” It recommended a bureau of health services to be established and a director of health services be hired to overlook the contract.

Once the measure to hire a contract monitor was taken, Gondles wrote she believed “many of the issues outlined in this report will be resolved.”

However, the Sheriff’s Office didn’t hire a medical professional to oversee the contract until 2014. When a nurse was hired to serve as a watchdog, she filed no reports in two years regarding inmates’ deaths and only one report about the company’s medical care.

Meanwhile, the county’s 2010 contract renewal with its medical provider, Correctional Healthcare Companies Inc., required the sheriff to hire a full-time medical professional to oversee the contract.

The agency designated one of its existing employees, Capt. Rick Weigel, to fulfill that role. Weigel had no medical training, but his wife was a nurse at a Tulsa hospital, Glanz noted on Wednesday.

Glanz said Weigel received training to oversee the jail’s medical contract.

Dan Smolen, an attorney representing Williams’ estate, said in Weigel’s deposition, Weigel testified he was unaware his name was on the contract and never received any training.