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Two corrections deputies have been indicted on misdemeanor charges related to the deaths of two jail inmates this year, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office announced this morning.
James Brauckmiller and Michael Mersereau are both on administrative leave. The indictments, which include one count each of first-degree official misconduct, have yet to be filed in court. It is not clear whether the two men have been arrested. The head of their union did not respond to a request for comment last night.
An unprecedented seven inmates have died in Multnomah County custody this year. All the deaths are under investigation. In its statement, the sheriff’s office did not say which of the investigations involved Brauckmiller and Mersereau.
“In the course of the respective adult-in-custody death investigations, MCSO detectives learned that Brauckmiller and Mersereau may not have performed their job duties as required,” says the statement.
As WW has previously reported, there are widely held suspicions that Martin Franklin, who was found hanging by a bed sheet the morning of June 16, was not properly supervised the previous night.
These are not the first two deputies to face consequences following the death of an inmate. Kirk Evanoff told WW in August that he was fired following the death of Clemente Pineda on Aug. 1. Evanoff said he was “scapegoated” after recording in his logbook that Pineda was facedown and unresponsive in his cell in the hours prior to his death.
Mersereau has been on administrative leave since Aug. 4, three days after Pineda’s death, according to state records. It is not clear when Brauckmiller was put on leave.
Later that month, Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell showed up at staff meetings warning deputies not to falsify jail logbooks.