Clovis murder suspect claims jail abuse, but officials say he’s manipulating the system

A British man accused of a grisly double murder in Clovis last year claims the Fresno County Jail has denied him physical and mental health care since his capture. He also said he was attacked recently by other inmates.

The complaints by Dave McCann have caused the British consulate’s San Francisco office to intervene on his behalf.

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said McCann is manipulating the system to remain in a “private suite” in the jail. The county denied the suspect was refused any treatment and pointed to several disciplinary infractions against him.

McCann, 50, was arrested in May 2016 after his estranged wife, Tierney Cooper-McCann, 36, and her 68-year-old mother, Judith Cooper, were found stabbed to death in a home in the 700 block of West Omaha Avenue. McCann fled Clovis, prompting a manhunt across several Central California counties. He was apprehended in Monterey County, denied bail and awaits trial on two murder charges. If convicted, the county could seek the death penalty.

Scott Baly, McCann’s attorney, told The Bee his client has sought therapy but was denied. He called the county’s refusal “endemic of our jail” when it comes to mental health treatment.

“We’re kind of used to it here (in Fresno County), but a guy from Ireland and England is not,” Baly said.

The jail has been criticized for how it provided mental health care in the past. In 2015, the county settled a class-action lawsuit brought by inmates alleging cruel and unusual punishment. As part of the settlement, the jail and Corizon Health, its health care provider, promised to hire more staff and follow a 22-page remedial plan that included providing proper medications to inmates with chronic illnesses and specific rules for handling mental health care.

Baly said McCann also suffers from a foot injury that requires special orthopedic shoes. Friends in England scraped together the money to purchase a pair for McCann, but Baly was not allowed to deliver them to his client. He was told the jail had just amended its shoe policy, and McCann eventually had to reorder the shoes through the jail commissary.

In all, it took a full year for McCann to get the shoes he needs, Baly said.

“Many of the people at the jail are well-meaning and concerned for inmates,” Baly said. “But the system is the system, and this is how it works.”

According to Baly, McCann was also attacked by a group of inmates. His client has no prior criminal history, so he does not know how to interact with other inmates.

“Correctional officers are in charge of the inmates, of course, but the inmates have a way of regulating the behavior of other inmates as well,” Baly said.

Tom Gattie, the assistant sheriff in charge of the jail, denied all of McCann’s accusations.

He said McCann was not denied either mental or physical health care, nor are any other inmates. All requests for care are fielded by a registered nurse, who then decides if services are warranted and sets them up accordingly. The jail remains committed to following the rules set forth in the 2015 settlement, he added.

Gattie did not go into the specifics of McCann’s mental health request, but he said a prison doctor examined the suspect’s foot ailment. He was referred to a specialist, who fitted him with custom orthopedic shoes. The process did not take 12 months, but it did take some time because transporting and securing a prisoner accused of such serious crimes requires extra effort and planning.

The change in the jail’s shoe policy was due to inmates attempting to use shoes brought in for them for illegal purposes, Gattie said.

As for the alleged attack by other inmates, Gattie said McCann has been in three known altercations and is currently housed alone in the jail’s administrative segregation section.

McCann appears to be instigating disciplinary problems in an attempt to remain in solitary housing, Gattie said. “Private suites in the jail are hard to come by.”

Gattie said McCann was recently involved in a fight that involved his housing assignment, but he provided no additional details. He added that McCann had three other disciplinary citations from August 2016: misuse of medication, a verbal altercation and attempting to grab a female inmate during inmate movement.

Meanwhile, McCann’s arrest and incarceration took on international implications when he reached out to the British Consulate General in San Francisco for help.

Andrea Koskey, a spokeswoman for the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., said the government is “providing support to Mr. McCann following his arrest.”

Baly said the British government had also contacted the county to voice opposition to the death penalty. Koskey said the embassy does not comment on specific cases but offered this statement: “The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances, and we make our opposition well-known at the highest levels to all countries which continue to apply it.”

Fresno County district attorney spokesman Steve Wright said his office has not had any contact with the British government concerning McCann’s case.

Gattie said the British Consulate contacted Corizon, the jail’s health care provider, about McCann but did not speak with any jail staff. A spokeswoman for Corizon said she could not comment, citing privacy laws.

As for McCann’s pending case, the district attorney will not decide whether to pursue the death penalty until after a preliminary hearing, Wright said. As with all possible capital cases, the office will weigh a variety of factors including the severity of the crime, the defendant’s criminal history and statements from people who knew the victims and defendant before making that decision.

Baly said it could be some time before the two sides have that hearing, as he must gather evidence – a lot of which is across the Atlantic Ocean – to defend his client from both the charges against him and the possibility of death.

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Clovis murder suspect claims jail abuse, but officials say he’s manipulating the system."