Corrections officer says she was unfairly linked to inmate’s death
An Essex County corrections officer says she was targeted as part of a bogus investigation after the death of an inmate, which she said had nothing to do with her.
Idesha Howard filed a lawsuit in Superior Court on Monday against Essex County, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, the Essex County Correctional Facility and several correctional facility employees.
Spokespeople for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the county executive said they do not comment on pending litigation.
Howard said she worked in the auxiliary department, was assigned work based on the correctional facility’s needs and was a union representative.
On Aug. 28, 2018, the night of the death, Howard said, she was directed to report to housing unit 2D3, which was fully staffed and had another correctional officer scheduled to provide meal breaks, the lawsuit said. Howard said the meal break officer was given a different assignment and she was assigned to cover meal break relief.
According to the lawsuit, Howard was required to “tour” the area where inmates were in cells every 30 minutes and there were some inmates under electronic observation by the medical team.
The lawsuit said a large monitor in the desk area allowed Howard to observe the inmates in the cells. She said she monitored the five cells with cameras every 15 minutes except when taking the tour of the cells.
Howard said that between 1 and 2 a.m., she viewed the camera cells and toured them, speaking with inmates who were awake. She said she documented the camera monitoring.
The lawsuit said Howard completed her meal break support, was given another task and left the unit but briefly came back, but there was no specific assignment for her. Howard said she went to the medical office to handle some things there and had some union work she needed to do.
She said she did not return to 2D3 because it was not under her responsibilities and left her shift at 6 a.m. Howard later learned that an inmate on 2D3 had died by suicide.
According to the lawsuit, she continued to work normally and was notified in September 2018 to report to the Prosecutor’s Office’s Professional Responsibility Division. Howard said she went with legal representation and was questioned about her actions on 2D3. She said she didn’t hear anything else after that.
An investigation into the inmate’s death was being performed by correctional officer Vincent Conti and Lt. Carlos Zapata of internal affairs.
Howard said she went to her 2-to-10 p.m. shift on March 3, 2022, and was approached by an assistant prosecutor. She was served with a summons and complaint, accusing her for falsifying a document that put an inmate at risk of being harmed.
After that, the lawsuit said, she was given a preliminary notice of disciplinary action and was suspended without pay because she was facing criminal charges. According to the lawsuit, the disciplinary notice said she had violated the correctional facility policies and that also served as a basis for her suspension. She said she had been on a list for a promotion to sergeant and that because of the criminal charges, she could not be promoted.
The criminal charges were dismissed in July 2022, a fact the lawsuit said was communicated to Lt. Gregory Bartelloni, an officer in the correctional facility’s Internal Affairs Division, yet Howard remained out of work.
The lawsuit said state law required the Essex County Correctional Facility to give Howard another preliminary notice of disciplinary action within 45 days of the charges being dismissed but failed to do so.
The suit said Conti did not perform any interviews when investigating the inmate’s death and did not complete the investigative training needed. Conti said Zapata reviewed the surveillance footage on the 2D3 unit.
Howard said she was given a disciplinary action notice past the Aug. 26, 2022, deadline and should have returned to work.