Mysterious San Quentin death prompts questions from family
SAN QUENTIN, Calif. - Dianna Coleman's brother died at San Quentin more than three months ago, but no one from the prison has told her anything official about how he died, and she fears he was possibly beaten to death by his cellmate.
"We want to understand what happened," Coleman told KTVU on Thursday. "We don't know exactly. As far as I understand, they're still doing the investigation into how he died."
The family's saga of trying to figure out how her 43-year-old brother, James Healy, died on April 25 is spelled out in a petition for writ of mandate in Marin County Superior Court filed Wednesday by her niece's attorney, David Fiol of Brent and Fiol LLP in San Rafael.
Fiol is trying to force the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to produce records of Healy's death.
"This proceeding is made necessary by the disturbing refusal of the CDCR to provide [Maryzella Healy] with even a shred of information about the death of her father," Fiol wrote. "At the time of this filing, the CDCR has posted nothing about Mr. Healy's death on its website; it appears to be intent on suppressing information not only about the circumstances of Mr. Healy's death, but even about the fact of his death in custody."
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To date, there is no official cause of death, though Coleman did say that someone from the coroner's office and prison called the night of his death to tell her mother something to the effect that her brother had "been killed."
Both Fiol and KTVU reached out to the Marin County Coroner, who said the cause of death is still pending "additional information from the California Department Corrections and Rehabilitation." It's not clear what the medical examiner is waiting for.
In his court filing, Fiol said he learned through "independent investigation" that Healy might have been "beaten to death by his cellmate."
Healy had asked correctional officers to reassign him to a different cellmate, Fiol wrote, because he worried that his bunkie might harm him -- but the request was ignored.
Coleman indicated that her brother had left his gang, and she believed his cellmate had stayed.
"And so they basically put two different people from different sides in the same cell," she said.
Both Fiol and KTVU reached out to the Marin County District Attorney to learn if anyone had been charged with Healy's death and prosecutors said they're still investigating.
"The case is under review, filing determination has therefore not been made in the case," a DA spokeswoman wrote in an email.
Fiol has been trying to get any documentation and video of how Healy died, but has been refused despite several attempts and California Public Records requests.
The CDCR did not immediately respond to KTVU's questions.
Fiol said that he had asked the CDCR to reconsider the family's request for information but the request was ignored, so he felt he had no choice but to seek court intervention.
Healy was supposed to be released from prison in November.
James Healy and his family. Photo: Dianna Coleman