Welcome to Leon's Plea for Justice Blog

This is my families’ testimony of truth:
On September 18, 2008, our family had to endure what we refer to as our family's “911”; our family received a call from an inmate using an illicit cell phone at McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC), informing us that Leon was being air lifted off the island for medical reasons originally thought to be a heart attack. He also said that Leon had been caught with contraband (cell phone) and placed in segregation hours prior to this. We immediately began calling the facility to see what had happened. In a panic and search for answers regarding Leon's status, we as a family, were left in the dark by DOC. We were never contacted directly nor given any detailed information regarding Leon when we contacted the facility. They never once informed his emergency contact or immediate family about his condition. The only thing they told our family was to call his wife, which was in contact with us and also unable to get any straight answers regarding what was happening. We got the complete run-around. We were eventually told, after numerous phone calls, that Leon was being airlifted off of the island to a surrounding area hospital; mind you, because he had suffered a "heart attack".

It was not until later that evening that we began to hear rumors of a possible suicide attempt. My brother was 12 years into and 20 year sentence; in-other-words, he had made it through the most difficult time 10 fold.

With so many questions looming and Leon's fate in hanging in the balance, we were devastated and at a complete loss.

We were not told until the following day what hospital he was at, so for the first day Leon was completely alone in the physical. The next day, upon family arriving, we were each denied visitation with Leon because he was in custody of the WA St DOC; the exception of his "alleged" wife, Rene Matthews, who was allowed to visit for only two hours a day. Imagine, the majority of us having flown across the country, walking into an Intensive Care Unit with a family member in a critical state and receiving no answers as to how these injuries occurred.

Leon was on life-support but shackled and handcuffed to the bed with a 24-hour bedside guard.

Our family has suffered many civil rights violations as well as inhumane treatment courtesy of the WA State DOC and McNeil Island Corrections Center. Our family was made to feel like prisoners throughout this entire ordeal. The Corrections Center (MICC) continues to give our family half truths leading us to believe with that, in addition to others factors that they are directly responsible for my brothers’ serious medical injuries and are involved in a cover-up.

One inmate(who would like to remain anonymous but will stand behind his disclosure)accounts, in detail, what he saw in a letter written to the family; he states that he witnessed WA DOC’s “lack of urgency” in assisting Leon during the emergency situation. He accounts that he and other inmates heard the helicopter turned on and
then off again. He saw the paramedics slowly walking to attend to Leon. He also, at one point, saw Leon sitting up; all at the same instance the guards were saying he was “dead”. Now if they are pronouncing him "dead", is that how DOC handles a dead man; propping him in an upright position instead of respectfully laying him down and covering him? If they announced on more than one occasion he was dead that means Leon started his fight to live amongst the very people that don’t want us to know what truly happened to him. As his family we don’t know if they really tried to save him but one thing for certain is that once we started calling around 11:45 – 12noon PST they finally decided to take him off the island to receive proper care; his suspected "heart attack" was around the hour of 10 am. Why did it take upwards of two hours to transfer him to a medical facility? It is our belief if DOC would have taken him out for medical care immediately he wouldn’t be in the condition he is in now.

Either way we look at this, these injuries were parented while in the care and custody of the Washington State DOC (McNeil Island Corrections Center). In the beginning we were told he had a heart attack, this story as I stated was later changed to an attempted suicide by hanging, which to the family and friends is unbelievable because of the lack of evidence to support his want to die and also various stories we have been given by both inmates and staff of the correctional facility. The bottom line is, as well as fact, that McNeil Island Corrections Center has attributed the events of September 18, 2008 to “bad apples”. They have failed to accept any responsibility or dig deeper for the truth so that those having participated in illegal activities resulting in Leon Toney becoming medically incapacitated can be brought to justice.

How can you admit knowledge of illegal contraband being smuggled into the prison and illicit goods brought in by guards and correctional employees, but say no foul play has been involved? If they wanted to stop contraband from coming into a prison they could. This system is about the economy of the participants; the intentional creation of a criminal class that law abiding citizens will fear as the result of our lack of positive law enforcement; they are guilty of corrupting the very law that they are appointed to uphold.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations, as well as Washington State Patrol and Washington State Department of Corrections, has been investigating this case for six months. To date, one corrections officer has been arrested and convicted following the investigation into illegal activity at the prison.

From the beginning of this investigation our family was told by the DOC that no foul-play was involved; even prior to a review of the surveillance tapes.One quote from a Federal Bureau of Investigations agent was, "all we want or care about is the dirty prison guards nothing else”. That is a pretty insensitive statement regarding a situation in which a man almost lost his life. Are we supposed to believe that all of these state agencies are truly conducting thorough independent investigations?

I'm sure you all know the old adage saying - You can tell of a society by how it treats its weakest members. I’m not proud to be a part of a society that allows prisoners to be murdered or harmed in prison, or a society that doesn't protect the mentally ill.

We are diligently working towards getting the word out against these sorts of injustices and are most certainly open to any and all suggestions or assistance that may be available to us. Thanks for all the prayers, phone calls and efforts to speak out against prison abuse!!!!!
If you have any questions are comments write:
domainquie@yahoo.com
domainquie@gmail.com

McNeil Island CC Closure July 1, 2010

McNeil Island CC Closure - The declining prison population requires the closure of a major institution. Because of its isolation and high cost the budget assumes closure of McNeil Island Corrections Center on July 1, 2010. The Special Commitment Center will remain on the Island and the Department of Health and Social Services will assume responsibility for Island operations, including security at the Steilacoom dock, operation of the wastewater treatment plant and fire department, and transport of staff and visitors. The proposed capital budget includes funding to relocate the Correctional Industries on McNeil Island; laundry operations will move to the Washington Corrections Center for Women (Purdy), the meat plant will relocate to Coyote Ridge Corrections Center (Connell) and the furniture factory will move to Stafford Creek Corrections Center.

Closing prisons could save $30 million in the proposed budget

The state Senate would close two of the state’s oldest prisons to save money.

McNeil Island Correctional Complex, which began as a federal prison in 1875, and Green Hill School, a juvenile lockup that first opened in 1896, are among the largest facility closures included in the Senate budget released by the Democratic majority Monday.

The closures would save about $30 million in the proposed two-year budget.

Senate Ways and Means Chairwoman Margarita Prentice said she believes the island prison is dangerous for staff and inmates because it’s so old. The facility started housing state inmates in 1981 and remains the country’s last island prison accessed only by boat.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown said McNeil Island is more expensive to operate than other state prisons.

The Pierce County prison houses about 1,300 inmates who would be shuffled to other prisons if it is closed. Green Hill School, a maximum-security facility in Chehalis, holds 186 offenders ranging in age from 17 to 20.

Senate Democrats also would cut costs by reducing prison sentences for some offenders and ending at-home police checks of Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders. Those offenders are believed to be the most likely to reoffend.

Sen. Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, said Democrats should place a higher priority on prisons.

“What good does it do to have great schools if our children are raped, murdered and assaulted to and from school? Public safety has to be the first call,” Carrell said.

The closure of McNeil Island wouldn’t affect the Special Commitment Center, the state’s mental-health program for civilly committed sex offenders

sources: http://seattletimes.nwsource
http://atriclesofinterest.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/closing-prisons-could-save-30-million-in-the-proposed-budget/#more-802

Guardianship fight Over Leon Toney

While Leon Toney lay in a coma at a Tacoma rehab facility, the state invalidated his marriage.

The move draws into question whether the women he married, Rene, can continue as his guardian and make key decisions about his medical care.

She was given the role in May after a court battle with Toney’s aunt, Charrene Robinson, who moved to Tacoma from California to help take care of him. Robinson said she plans to redouble her challenge now that the state has voided the couple’s marriage.

Rene, who has largely stopped working to be at Toney’s bedside, said that she was going to fight the revocation.

"I don’t know why we all can’t get along and heal Leon. I’ve been in this man’s life. He called me his wife. I called him my husband. Now they’re trying to twist everything around. He’s going to wake up and be like, ‘What happened?’"

To make matters more complicated, if Toney awakens, the state Department of Corrections has claim to him. The 31-year-old was incapacitated in September after trying to hang himself with a sheet in an isolation cell at McNeil Island Corrections Center.

Toney was sentenced to 28 years for shooting a man in the stomach. He had served 12 years.

Problems with Toney’s marriage were found by a Washington State Patrol detective who was investigating his suicide attempt at the Corrections Department’s request. Based on the detective’s findings, the state voided the couple’s marriage license.


Please visit NASGA Source:
http://nasga-stopguardianabuse.blogspot.com/2009/06/guardianship-fight-over-inmate.html

Full Article and Source:
Guardianship fight centers on inmate in coma
http://www.thenewstribune.com/293/story/785487.html?storylink=omni_popular

Work-release center staff accused of taking bribes, having sex

Seattle police search three people after their arrest in a park across the street from the Reynolds Work Release center on Fourth Avenue. Having the center close to the park, known as a drug-dealing hot spot, poses undeniable challenges, say corrections officials.


Saturday, February 24, 2007
Work-release center staff accused of taking bribes, having sex
Three contract employees at Seattle site fired
By CLAUDIA ROWE
P-I REPORTER
A half-dozen employees of a prison work-release center in Seattle are under investigation as state corrections officials look into allegations that staffers had sex with resident offenders, took bribes and falsified drug tests that could have sent felons back to prison.
An early morning raid at the Reynolds Work Release site last month uncovered cocaine, $3,600 stashed in a resident's room (though inmates are authorized to hold no more than $60) and four prisoner cell phones -- all prohibited -- at least one of which contained personal phone numbers for several staff members.


As a result of the Jan. 6 search by the Department of Corrections -- which involved drug-sniffing dogs, more than a dozen investigators and drug tests for all of the 82 offenders on site -- five inmates are back behind bars, three employees have been fired and three others resigned.
"We are aggressively investigating the situation at Reynolds," said Gary Larson, a spokesman for the Corrections Department. "The results will be turned over to local law enforcement for whatever action they think is appropriate."
All of the drug screenings came back negative, he added.
An internal Corrections Department report is pending -- and could come out just as Gov. Chris Gregoire receives results from an inquiry into circumstances that allowed three felons under state supervision to be involved in clashes last year that killed two Seattle police officers and a King County deputy.
Sitting across Fourth Avenue from the King County Courthouse, the 100-bed Reynolds work-release program houses men serving their final six months of prison time. It is a joint operation, where state corrections employees do inmate case management while workers from Pioneer Human Services handle security, food service and administrative duties -- including urinalysis drug tests, commonly known as UAs.
All of the fired Reynolds workers, as well as those who resigned, were contract staff employed by Pioneer, a private non-profit. Most were entry-level program managers and for months, one former Reynolds resident said, they let offenders bend the rules.
"Guys were bringing alcohol and drugs in, driving cars when they're not supposed to, having cell phones -- whatever they could do, they were doing," said Daryn Hayner, who lived at Reynolds until January when he was arrested at his Jiffy Lube job in Ballard and transferred back to the McNeil Island Corrections Center to complete a robbery sentence.
Reynolds officials said Hayner had "threatened the safety and security of the facility" and that his transfer was unrelated to the current investigation.
No prisoner at Reynolds -- or any other work release site -- is allowed to have a cell phone. But that regulation was among many that were ignored, Hayner said.
"There was a bunch of stuff going down," the 22-year-old said in a telephone interview from prison. "If you paid them $50, they would lose your UA papers, and then you'd get a few extra days to clear your system. The whole time I was there, there were people coming in with alcohol on their breath. Further, he said, staffers would warn inmates of secretly scheduled drug searches -- perhaps contributing to the unusual dearth of resident infractions that corrections officers were beginning to notice.

It had grown too quiet, said Xandis Phillips, supervisor at Reynolds for the last 10 years. "It just raised a red flag."
In late December, someone describing himself as an inmate mailed an anonymous tip to Phillips, suggesting that she check into drug testing at the facility.
"We received a letter stating that there was favoritism going on and we should be checking UAs," Phillips said. "That started the investigation, and we kind of cleaned house a little bit, got rid of staffs that were allegedly trying to make money off the residents or be friends with them -- whatever they were trying to do."
Her suspicions dovetailed with worries that Pioneer officials were beginning to have about employees at their nationally accredited work-release site. A female worker, they discovered, had given fraudulent reasons for requesting a leave of absence. Though Larry Fehr, senior vice president for corrections and re-entry services for Pioneer, declined to elaborate, he said that further questioning of the woman "led to the most comprehensive search of any work-release facility that I'm aware of."
Department of Corrections investigators are still evaluating the extent of employee-inmate relations at Reynolds and, if warranted, will pass their findings on to Seattle police.
"The department has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual misconduct," Larson said.
It is not unusual to have women working in a corrections facility for men, but Washington state law and federal passage of a national Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003 has made guard-inmate relations a felony.
Fehr said there were no plans to change employment practices at Reynolds as a result of the current situation. The problem, he insisted, was with individuals, not the system itself.
"If there are rotten apples in the barrel, they've got to be taken out," he said. "It doesn't necessarily mean the apple barrel is dysfunctional. It means people need to be held accountable for their actions, which is what we've done. It is individuals who have failed and once it was uncovered, decisive action was taken."
Last Wednesday afternoon at Reynolds, there was no sign of the recent upheaval. Inmates played pool or dominoes before dinner. A few dozed on bunk beds, their mini televisions droning in the background. The only working computer, intended to help residents write resumes or employment letters, sat vacant.
During the day, most offenders at Reynolds work at menial jobs -- dishwashing at Hooters, helping with oil changes at Jiffy Lube -- returning to the century-old dorm-style building at night. Rules mandate a breath test for alcohol detection every time a resident enters, as well as random drug tests.
But the program's location, across the street from a park known as a drug-dealing hot spot, creates undeniable challenges, corrections officers acknowledged.
Nor is this the first time Seattle-based Pioneer -- which gets about $1 million annually to operate Reynolds for the state -- has come under scrutiny.
Several years ago, three of its contract staffers were fired for improperly allowing inmates to leave Reynolds without signed passes. And in 2005, federal authorities investigated another Pioneer-run halfway house on First Hill after allegations that Seattle Seahawks safety Ken Hamlin was severely injured by a resident who had bribed an employee to let him out at night.
"When you're dealing with people you're not going to have 100 percent perfection," Fehr said, "not with police officers or prosecutors or judges or journalists."

McNeil Island counselor investigated

ROB TUCKER; The News Tribune
Nora Cutshaw had a job for nearly three years watching some of the state’s most violent sex predators during community visits in the Puget Sound area.
She recently resigned as a residential rehabilitation counselor for the state’s Special Commitment Center at McNeil Island.

Now state officials say they would have fired her if she hadn’t resigned first.

They say Cutshaw, 38, didn’t follow established driving routes while supervising a child rapist, brought a revealing photo of herself into a secure male sex offender facility, and violated other policies.

Henry Richards, SCC superintendent, described Cutshaw’s actions in a notification letter he wrote to her a few days after she resigned.

“They were not only completely contrary to your obligation to maintain a therapeutic environment,” Richards wrote, “but also placed yourself and the community at risk.”

Hundreds of pages of investigative records obtained by The News Tribune reveal details from the Cutshaw case and show the potential for rehab staff to cross professional boundaries.

They also shed light on the little-known role McNeil Island’s 25 unarmed counselors play in protecting the public from sex offenders who are preparing to return to society. Five offenders are currently in the escort program.

Cutshaw sometimes took sex offender Casper Ross on his approved visits off the island to see family and to work at concrete and masonry job sites, among other places.

Ross was convicted in 1987 of raping a 12-year-old girl while armed with a knife. He was sent to the Special Commitment Center in 1998. He was in a transitional facility early this year, making plans for release, and was considered by some a low risk to reoffend.

But suspicions were raised April 1 when Cutshaw took Ross to visit his relatives in Lakewood. A city police officer reported that things appeared amiss between Cutshaw and Ross during a routine check of the house.

Lakewood Police Chief Larry Saunders later said there was an “appearance of sexual activity” involving “a very dangerous person.” The state investigation was launched.

Spokesman Steve Williams of the Department of Social and Health Services called this the first serious incident involving escort staff and a resident sex offender from the transition facility, which opened in 2001.

Cutshaw was placed on paid administrative leave and resigned Oct. 22.

Cutshaw’s attorney, Douglas Wyckoff of Olympia, said the accusations of sexual impropriety are unfounded. And in fact, the state investigation didn’t substantiate them.

“It’s been real traumatic for her,” Wyckoff said last week.


ESCORTING SEX OFFENDERS


The Special Commitment Center holds 268 of the state’s most dangerous sex offenders.

Williams said no felony crimes have occurred at the center since it opened 17 years ago; problems have been limited to minor infractions, personality conflicts and small skirmishes. And none of the handful of sex offenders who are allowed to visit the community have reoffended, he said.

There are 25 residential rehabilitation counselors who work at the center to cover all shifts, 24 hours a day. They are trained in escorting resident sex offenders, in their behavior patterns, in self-defense, hostage survival, crisis intervention, record keeping and other job requirements.

All receive FBI background checks. All are unarmed. They can earn up to $40,692 a year.

Some of them help escort sex offenders who have progressed enough to earn permission go off the island daily to jobs, to visit relatives, for treatment or for other reasons.

The trips are spread throughout the region, including Pierce, King, Snohomish, Mason, Thurston, Kitsap and Lewis counties.

Ross was in this transition program and was authorized to visit relatives in Lakewood on April 1.

Cutshaw, his escort that day, didn’t immediately answer the door when a city police officer knocked repeatedly that afternoon. The officer said she and Ross appeared disheveled when he entered the house.

Cutshaw said later that her hair was mussed because she habitually plays with it and that she was fixing her shirt because she was sitting on the couch watching TV while Ross was repairing his cousin’s computer in another room. She said Ross came out of the bathroom after the officer entered the home.

Based on the police report, Chief Saunders asked state authorities to investigate possible violations of state protocol for overseeing sex offenders on community visits.

Cutshaw’s attorney says the accusations were never substantiated, and he points out that she wasn’t charged with anything.

Lakewood police say they stand by the officer’s report.


BREAKING PROTOCOL


Investigators never determined exactly what happened during the Lakewood visit last spring.

What they did find, said Williams of the DSHS, would have been enough to justify Cutshaw’s dismissal.

• Records show that Cutshaw deviated 22 times from planned routes while driving Ross on 10 of his approved community visits in March and April.

Authorities said she didn’t get official approval to make trip changes. They used global positioning technology based on Ross’s ankle bracelet to determine that he made unapproved visits to Federal Way shopping areas, a park, gas stations and fast-food restaurants.

Cutshaw’s union representative told authorities at an October meeting that Cutshaw believed other counselors also deviated from approved trip plans when escorting Ross. Williams said investigators didn’t find evidence of that.

Cutshaw didn’t attend the pre-disciplinary meeting.

• Officials found that Cutshaw brought a color photo of herself wearing a two-piece bathing suit or lingerie into the secure transition facility, records show. Staff members found the photo hidden in Ross’ room.

Cutshaw said later that she didn’t know how Ross got the photo.

“I was shocked,” she said in a deposition. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Cutshaw said she had brought a photo album of wedding cakes to work to show a fellow employee who was planning a wedding. She said the personal photo of her must have been stuck in the back of the album.

Ross told a corrections officer that he took it without Cutshaw’s knowledge after an unnamed staff member let him look at the photo album.

• Authorities said Cutshaw lied on her 2004 state employment application when she stated she had a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Western Carolina University. Officials learned that she had attended the university but had no degree.

Cutshaw said she had to drop out of an online program due to the press of work.

Wyckoff, her attorney, said Cutshaw suffers from a disability and couldn’t comment on the investigation at this time. He wouldn’t say if the disability is related to the investigation.

Richards, the commitment center superintendent, said Cutshaw had received instruction in the center’s policies, in maintaining proper boundaries in escorting sex offender residents, and in understanding the risks of overseeing violent sex offenders. He said she “displayed a severe lack of judgment.”

Williams said authorities will use the Cutshaw-Ross findings as a negative example when training counselors to maintain proper boundaries.


THE POLYGRAPH TEST


Meanwhile, Ross has been restricted to McNeil Island, pending a Jan. 17 court hearing.

Ross, now 44, was convicted in Pierce County two decades ago and spent 11 years in prison. He then was ordered to undergo treatment at the Special Commitment Center, where he admitted “having a total of six victims of rape behavior,” records show.

Ross had been in the less-restrictive transitional facility on McNeil Island for four years and had submitted plans to move to Tacoma. He held a steady job for six months.

Cutshaw said in a deposition that Ross never acted inappropriately when she was with him. She said she escorted him more than 10 but fewer than 100 times.

A state community corrections officer said Ross underwent a polygraph test about the April 1 Lakewood visit and gave deceptive responses when asked if he and Cutshaw had sexual contact.

But Ross maintained that he “did not touch that woman,” said the officer, Tela Wilson.

Ross’ attorney, Ann Stenberg, said polygraph technology is suspect, so the findings aren’t definitive.

As for the trip deviations, Stenberg said Ross isn’t responsible for his escort’s driving patterns. But, the attorney said, trip changes to go to the bathroom, have lunch or get gas for the car shouldn’t require reporting.

As for the revealing photograph, Stenberg said such issues are normally dealt with in therapy and aren’t a valid reason to take Ross out of the transitional facility.

But Wilson, the community corrections officer, reported to Pierce County Superior Court that Ross failed to comply with his treatment plan and rules because he had an unapproved photo of Cutshaw found hidden in his room behind a framed photograph of his daughter.

Ross also failed to disclose that he had a second photo of Cutshaw standing outside an amusement park.

Stenberg said the state’s investigation originally focused on the Lakewood visit, but because nothing improper occurred there, officials looked elsewhere and ultimately changed the theory of the case.

“It’s a very shaky state theory,” she said.

Rob Tucker: 253-597-8374

rob.tucker@thenewstribune.com


A residential rehabilitation counselor escort:

• Should have a high school diploma or general education degree.

• Should have two years of experience in caring for mental patients, or equivalent experience and education.

• Helps carry out planned programs for sex offender residents.

• Performs searches and inspections of residents and visitors.

• Assists residents and visitors in understanding regulations.

• Assists in controlling, directing and monitoring residents.