Video court planned for Island County inmates

A couple of years ago, the chief at Island County Jail received tips that five inmates hatched an escape plan.

The scheme, he was told, was to overpower corrections deputies on the skyway as the inmates were being escorted to Island County Superior Court.

Each of the inmates in the group was facing a long sentence and felt he had nothing to lose, according to Jail Chief Jose Briones.

Briones said he went to great lengths to increase security to ensure that no escape was even attempted. The fact that the inmates saw a vulnerability in security during the walk from the jail to the county courthouse wasn’t lost on Briones.

That risk will be greatly reduced in the future as the superior court moves to a “video court” system. It’s a system currently used in district court — to avoid bringing inmates all the way to Oak Harbor. It’s also been used in other counties for many years, but it will be new to superior court, where felony-level cases are heard.

Inmates in the jail will no longer be brought to superior court, which is located in Coupeville, for most hearings, though they will still appear in person for trials and hearings with oral testimony.

Instead, each inmate, his or her attorney, the prosecutor and guards will gather in front of a camera and monitor in a room at the jail. The Polycom system will connect them to a courtroom, where they will appear before a judge on a monitor.

The video conferencing system will be used for a pilot program with the state Department of Health and Human Services, Briones said. The program will allow mental-health experts from Western State Hospital to evaluate inmates in order to determine their competency to stand trial. A process that currently can take as long as three weeks or more will be reduced to one to two days.

Jail staff is in the process of moving the video court room from a small multipurpose room to the jail library.

Everyone involved has been very supportive of the video conferencing plans, Briones said.

Superior court Judge Alan Hancock points out that the state supreme court approved the video conferencing of court hearings provided that all participants can simultaneously see, hear and speak with each other. They remain public proceedings and people in the courtroom will also be able to see and hear the participants on the TV.

“This will greatly improve security in the court,” Hancock said in an email, “and be more efficient because in-custody defendants will no longer have to be brought to court by the deputies.”

Briones is very serious about security and safety. He comes from a position in the state prison system and understands the risks inherent in even small-county jails.

Inmates may be unpredictable due to mental-health or substance abuse problems, he said. Some may be desperate because of the long sentence they are facing. And some people are simply dangerous.

Earlier this year, for example, Briones identified an inmate as a respected member of a California prison gang and took extraordinary security precautions, which included surrounding him with a half dozen guards during transports.

Even so, people tried to follow as the suspect was relocated from another county.

“We have had some serious individuals in this jail,” he said. “There is a lot going on behind the scenes that the public has no idea is happening.”

Currently, corrections deputies must escort as many as 20 inmates to court for Monday afternoon hearings, Briones said. Inmates are only escorted in groups of five, so it can take a lot of time and several trips.

The inmates aren’t always cooperative.

Briones said the staff sometimes has to use extraordinary security measures, such as a Hannibal-Lecter-style restraint chair or the Band-It.

The latter is similar to a Taser that is strapped to a defendant; an electrical charge can be triggered remotely if the inmate misbehaves.

“It’s basically a shock collar for humans,” he said.

Inmates are usually brought to court in shackles, which are handcuffs fettered to a belt around the waist. A recent split decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals suggest that the use of shackles in court may be limited in the future, though two other circuit courts have made different decisions.

The possibility that inmates will appear unshackled in court is all the more reason to start a video court system, Briones said.

“If we don’t have to take them out of a secure facility and into the community, it’s a benefit to everyone involved,” he said.

“Our No. 1 goal here is public safety.”

File photo/Whidbey News-Times                                Oak Harbor jailer Dave Faagau guards an inmate in Island County Superior Court earlier this year. Defendants won’t appear in court for most hearings once video court begins.

File photo/Whidbey News-Times Oak Harbor jailer Dave Faagau guards an inmate in Island County Superior Court earlier this year. Defendants won’t appear in court for most hearings once video court begins.