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West Virginians will share U.S. Magistrate Judge Omar J. Aboulhosn's sentiment when he "couldn't wrap his head around" testimony that multiple current and former state corrections officials failed to preserve evidence because it didn't cross their minds. According to WCHS, an evidentiary hearing Monday regarding alleged unconstitutional and inhumane conditions for thousands of inmates at the Southern Regional Jail in Raleigh County resulted in the revelation that evidence was trashed ahead of a lawsuit.
Brad Douglas, executive officer for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said despite the department having received more than a dozen evidence preservation letters in summer 2022, emails, cell phones and other pieces of evidence were not preserved. According to WCHS, Douglas testified he was aware of the upcoming litigation but "didn't think" about saving the evidence.
Betsy Jividen, the former DCR commission; Michael Francis, the former superintendent for SRJ; and Larry Warden, the former chief correctional officer at SRJ all left their posts before the lawsuit was filed. Their emails and Google drives were then "deprovisioned" (deleted and not able to be retrieved after 30 days), WCHS reports.
"There was a lot going on," Douglas said of his appointment after Jividen resigned in August 2022. "Our heads were spinning. I should have known and just didn't think of it."
It is generous to call that an understatement. It is worth noting, though, that when Douglas said he thought Francis's and Warden's cell phones might have been found in an office -- but could not be accessed without the security codes -- Francis said he could not remember his code.
Meanwhile, attorney Stephen New says his office also has not been given inmate grievances and internal investigations required by DCR policy to be kept for five years, according to WCHS.
"My head is about to explode trying to understand how in the world this happened. I'm stunned we're even having this conversation," Aboulhosn said, according to WCHS.
Once Douglas' testimony was over, Aboulhosn reportedly said "What the court just heard is damning. … I don't know how you rise above this."
Aboulhosn was similar flabbergasted by others who testified.
To Phil Sword, the general counsel for the state Department of Homeland Security, Aboulhosn said "I don't buy that, sir. I can't believe that's really your testimony."
Aboulhosn repeatedly said he was "stunned" by testimony that at the very least is an extraordinarily bad look for the state; and those who fled the department in the months before the lawsuit was filed all turned into Captain Renault and claimed to be "shocked! Shocked …" their emails and other information were destroyed.
What a mess. West Virginians --ALL of them -- deserve better.