Sutter County rejects grand jury findings in inmate's death

By Rob Parsons/Appeal-Democrat.com

Saying the facts presented in the Sutter County grand jury report are "in question," county officials formally responded to the report that concluded the jail's medical clinic may have contributed to an inmate's death last year.

Nathan Alexander Prasad, who died Jan. 28, 2011, at Rideout Memorial Hospital, was behind bars for failing to appear in court and was taken to the hospital twice after his health began to deteriorate, authorities have said.

Prasad, 30, a Glenn County native, had been released from custody at the time of his death.

READ THE COUNTY'S RESPONSE.

Grand jurors concluded that it was unlikely that Prasad's life would have been saved had he been transported to the hospital earlier, but sharply criticized the jail's on-duty nurse, who they said "failed to recognize the emergency and confined the seriously ill inmate in the medical cell for three hours while she attended to other routine duties."

Prasad's family is suing Sutter County in federal court for damages to be determined during trial. A status conference is scheduled in August.

Sutter County Sheriff J. Paul Parker said he could not comment on the report because of ongoing litigation.

"But, the health services of the jail are not controlled by the sheriff's office," Parker said.

County officials disagreed with nearly all the findings of the grand jury and said many of the recommendations in the report have already been implemented.

Officials rejected the notion that jail medical staff "acted inadequately" in their treatment of Prasad, as well as the finding the nurse "did not take any interest or immediate action" responding to a medical emergency.

"The facts as stated in the grand jury report are in question. The finding is a medical and legal conclusion and lacks proper foundation," the county responded.