The sheriff oversees the coroner’s office in a vast majority of California counties. A state senator from the Inland Empire wants that to change in Riverside County.
Democratic State Senator Sabrina Cervantes introduced Senate Bill 1379 this week to split the offices and create an independent medical examiner.
In total, 18 people died in Riverside County jails in 2022, the highest number in nearly two decades. Nearly half those deaths were drug overdoses. Others included suicide and homicide. It led California Attorney General Rob Bonta to announce an investigation into the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, which oversees the coroner’s office.
Critics say autopsies overseen by the Riverside sheriff’s department pose a conflict of interest. They’ve been pushing for the county to separate the offices, but attempts at the county level have failed.
Lisa Matus’s son, Richard, died of a fentanyl overdose at Riverside county’s Cois M Byrd detention center in 2022. Richard was awaiting trial with his brother,Raymond, for attempted murder and attempted robbery when he was found unresponsive in his cell, according to the coroner’s report.
The autopsy performed by the Riverside County Coroner’s office ruled Matus’ death a drug overdose, but also found that his left anterior descending artery, which provides half the heart’s blood, was 80-90% closed. Matus alleges Richard requested care on multiple occasions that he did not receive. Matus also said she called the sheriff’s department multiple times to locate Richard’s body but couldn’t get answers until she got an attorney involved.
“[SB1379] ensures independent medical professional determined causes of the death, increases transparency, and it gives families something we do not have right now, and that's a confidence in the truth,” said Matus, at a senate hearing Wednesday.
Sheriff Chad Bianco — who’s also running for governor as a Republican — opposes Cervantes’ bill and called it “political activism.” In the past, he’s bristled at accusations there’s a conflict of interest within his department.