Virginia inspector general's review of an inmate's death flags missing records and a lost hospital transfer order
The Associated Press reported that the state inspector general had released a report calling for changes in how Virginia handles mentally ill inmates after Jamycheal Mitchell died in a Portsmouth jail in August 2015. Mitchell had been ordered to a state hospital by a judge in May and again in July, yet investigators found he was never on a hospital waiting list.
In a letter released the same week, the interim commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services said investigators lacked the authority to obtain certain records and to interview key staff. The initial transfer order was eventually found in a drawer at Eastern State Hospital, never logged, and court employees responsible for forwarding it were not interviewed. The commissioner argued the department needs more funding and better cooperation among agencies.
The account shows how a paperwork failure between a court, a jail and a state hospital can strand a defendant awaiting competency restoration, and it fed the debate over admission timelines for forensic patients.
Source: Department says it lacked access probing inmate's death — Associated Press (via KSL.com), by Associated Press
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