Remember that big splash that Ms. Kelli Johnson made when she appeared at a Board of Supervisors meeting on the Coast back in September of 2023 to complain about mistreatment after a Coast deputy arrested her for disorderly conduct-alcohol, and then transported her to jail?
https://theava.com/archives/228379
Clutching figurative pearls, and addressing the dependably credulous supervisors, Ms Johnson told a harrowing tale of sadistic mistreatment, first by deputies, then recreationally pummeled again and her privates exposed at the County Jail, all of this imposed on her for no reason when she was arrested as she was innocently taking some ocean air on the Mendocino Headlands.
The Blue Meanie brigades instantly mobilized to denounce law enforcement. “My gawd, girl. You’re lucky you weren’t killed!” And variations thereof.
Ms. Johnson, an environmental attorney who works in Sacramento but who was visiting her parents on the Coast at the time of her arrest, waved photos of her bruises and woofed at the Supervisors that she’d be filing suit against Mendocino County and the Sheriff’s department.
Sheriff Kendall calmly responded to Ms. Johnson’s fervid allegations that there was much more to the story, and that the interested public should not assume that the imaginative Sacramento attorney was telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The Sheriff explained that there were audio and video recordings of Ms. Johnson’s encounter with deputies and jailers, both from a civilian witness as well as from the patrol cars and jail cameras, which he said he’d be happy to share with the public when the time came.
However, since the incident we’ve learned that Ms. Johnson has appeared at several local law enforcement get-togethers where she was bonhomie itself, including one jovial Halloween event where Ms. Johnson arrived at a law enforcement outdoor meeting in a happy costume, not mentioning her allegedly perilous encounters with Mendo’s forces of law and order with whom she exchanged cordial banter.
For months, Ms. Johnson’s original hyperbolic complaint was the only public version of events.
In January of this year a young female lawyer friend of Ms. Johnson filed suit against the County in a rambling narrative complaint saying that the arresting deputies were rude to her when she was arrested for being drunk in public. But in her complaint Ms. Johnson admitted that some time after her original encounter with the cops she was “no longer intoxicated” in her opinion. During the drive to Ukiah she claimed to have been denied a pee break and a drink of water, had her privates accidentally exposed, and her toe got caught on her shackles causing pain. This and other alleged mistreatment caused Ms. Johnson to have a panic attack which she says she’s prone to.
In her formal legal comlaint Ms. Johnson even added “trespass to chattel” to her list of complaints based on the deputy having (allegedly) broken the glass (i.e., “chattel”) she was drinking from during the arrest.
The Sheriff’s office denied Johnson’s claim of mistreatment and said they had audio and video from a passerby, the patrol car dashcam, and jail surveillance video that would show that the problem was Ms. Johnson, not the Deputies or Corrections officers.
In her lawsuit Ms. Johnson admitted that the deputies were first called on the morning of September 5, 2023 when two Deputies responded to a call from her parents who were renting a house on Little Lake Road in Mendocino. Ms. Johnson’s mother had called 911 because Ms. Johnson was having “a panic attack” and refusing to leave when her mother ordered Ms. Johnson out of the house. Ms. Johnson said she could not leave because she could not drive because she “had been drinking and smoking marijuana that she had legally purchased at the dispensary in town, and that there were no Lyfts or Ubers available,” adding that she “had nowhere else to go and needed to take a nap so that she could safely drive to Napa for a date that evening on her way to Sacramento.” Deputies did not arrest Ms. Johnson at that time.
Later that day, however, Ms. Johnson “was showering and was interrupted by her parents who informed her that the landlord of the Little Lake Road property had insisted that Plaintiff leave. [Ms. Johnson’s] mother threatened to call the police again, causing [Ms. Johnson’s] to have another panic attack. Plaintiff’s mother told her to get out of the house because Sheriff Deputies were on the way. Plaintiff grabbed a glass of water and walked out of the house.” where she was subsequently arrested on the Mendocino headlands for being a major pain in the butt, aka “disorderly conduct-alcohol.”
Making matters worse, according to her lawsuit, Ms. Johnson insulted the responding deputy, saying “that his mustache was hideous and that she didn’t understand how he could look at himself in the mirror every morning and not shave it. Plaintiff offered to give [the deputy] time to go and shave his mustache off.” Ms. Johnson also demanded that “the hot officer” arrest her, not the arresting deputy with whom she was “uncomfortable.” When Ms. Johnson arrived at the jail and was told she should keep quiet, she responded to the Corrections officer, “Actually, I get to say whatever the fuck I want whenever the fuck I want, and there is nothing you can do about it bitch.” (That’s a quote from her own lawsuit.)
Since January last the dubious case slogged its way through the local legal system. During the discovery process the County provided the audio and video recordings to Ms. Johnson’s friend/attorney. Soon after that Ms. Johnson’s attorney started to make settlement offers with successively lower amounts. The County and the Sheriff refused to pay anything, but agreed that if Ms. Johnson would drop the suit the County’s wouldn’t charge her for wasting everybody’s time. (By “everybody” we include several deputies, several corrections officers, the supervisors, miscellaneous county staffers, her parents, her attorney, the public and us.)
Finally, after seeing the videos and listening to the audio recordings last week, Ms. Johnson’s attorney advised the County that Ms. Johnson was dropping the lawsuit with that “no invoice” proviso.
SHERIFF KENDALL:
I’ll get those to the Major. There has to be some redactions to meet current laws.
When all of these allegations were made at the BOS meeting on the coast [in September of 2023], Ms Johnson received a round of applause for her performance. Several folks actually applauded being lied to. I found that to be insulting. The truth doesn’t stand a chance against those wanting to believe a lie.
When contacted by the media, I made the statement that I hoped all of those so quick to condemn my deputies would be equally fast in apologizing to my deputies.
Well the phone hasn’t rung yet. No one has reached out to say, “Hell, I’m Sorry.” I find that a little bit shameful, and I won’t hold my breath waiting for that call.
We pay a lot for our camera systems capturing the audio and video of our contacts, and they are worth every penny.
I sure do miss the world I grew up in.
Its good that Ms. Johnson may have dropped her lawsuit, Hart v. Mendocino County (Case No. 25-CV-04501) has not been dismissed. I am still actively awaiting Sheriff Kendall’s release of the full video footage and documentation—particularly those pertaining to my time in a padded safety cell while experiencing epileptic seizures and post UCSF surgery from July 2024. These records are critical not only to my case but to the broader public understanding of what continues to happen inside Mendocino County custody. While they may want to play the good guy’s with Ms Johnson’s case, lets see what happens when Sheriff Kendall releases ( or decides not to and spoliation of evidence’ sanctions )
While this paper and others may highlight types of complaints, they repeatedly fail to detail the underlying patterns that allow such abuse to persist. These are not isolated or anecdotal incidents. They represent a well-documented pattern of negligence, excessive force, and systemic failure, especially in the jail’s sobering and safety cells, which have proven deadly in multiple cases:
Steven Neuroth (55) — Died on June 11, 2014, following restraint and excessive force in a sobering/safety cell.
Unnamed Ukiah Man (64) — Died on February 7, 2023, while in a sobering/safety cell under allegedly inadequate supervision.
Issa Niambele (40) — Died on October 30, 2024, after being found unresponsive in a sobering/safety cell.
What connects these deaths to my own experience is the lack of medical attention, the punitive use of isolation for vulnerable individuals, and the failure to intervene in preventable medical emergencies. I would like to Sheriff Kendall release those videos, maybe we could play them at the next board meeting.
The failure of oversight is ongoing—and the silence or inaction of local authorities only deepens the crisis. My case remains active because this is not about one man’s suffering. It is about confronting a custodial culture of indifference that has already cost lives- How many deaths do the county have on their hands right now ???
Given the current tenor of the times, it’s not inconceivable that at some point down the road, Ms. Johnson will be running for office. The shot of her clowning around with the LEOs will be useful then.
I always loved bringing out the video recording when people came in to complain. Out the door they went with red faces when their lies were exposed. LOL