California prison guards look to toss inmate death, desecration suit

Attorney Erin Darling, representing Dora Solares, argued before U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal that California prison officials knew inmate Jaime Osuna posed serious risks yet still placed him in a cell with Luis Romero, who was killed and his body desecrated in 2019 at Corcoran State Prison, just two days after Romero's transfer.

State attorneys Jeremy Duggan and David Kuchinsky argued Solares lacks evidence of deliberate indifference, noting Osuna's 28 rule violations mostly involved conflicts with staff rather than predicting violence toward inmates, and that officials found no substantial risk before pairing the two men, who had spoken for 30 minutes and agreed to become cellmates.

Darling countered that a committee member had acknowledged Osuna's danger directly, and pointed to an illegal bedsheet hanging in the cell that night, which may have obstructed officers' required visual checks. Judge Rosenthal took the arguments under advisement after five years of litigation and multiple amended complaints.

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