Retired Prison Litigation Official-Expert Witness

Specialties & Experience of this Expert Witness

Additional Information

I possess over 30 years of professional experience working within the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) in both men's & women's correctional institutions. During my career, I worked in five different prisons representing a full spectrum of custody levels, ranging from minimum to maximum security institutions. This experience provided extensive knowledge of institutional operations, inmate management, security procedures, and correctional policy implementation across diverse correctional environments. More than 20 years of my career were dedicated to the inmate classification system, where I served as both a Correctional Counselor I and later as a Correctional Counselor II Supervisor. In these roles, I was responsible for evaluating inmate case factors, determining classification scores, assessing custody levels, reviewing disciplinary history, and recommending housing assignments and program placements. My work required the interpretation and application of CDCR rules, regulations, and operational policies governing inmate classification, institutional programming, and security procedures. My professional expertise includes corrections litigation, correctional systems, and practices, inmate classification, legal compliance, prison law, public safety, and use-of-force training. I have also provided expert witness testimony in matters involving correctional operations, inmate records, and classification practices for both the State and the defense in criminal resentencing and civil litigation matters. Prior to my retirement from CDCR, I served as the Litigation Coordinator (12 years) at two different institutions. In this capacity, I worked directly with the California Attorney General's Office, which served as legal counsel for the department. My responsibilities included reviewing and producing institutional records for litigation, coordinating legal representation for staff, and providing expert testimony regarding inmate files and institutional records. I also served as the direct liaison between the institutions and outside legal entities, including Federal & State courts, district attorney offices, public defender offices, and private attorneys. My duties required extensive knowledge of prison policies, inmate record systems, legal procedures, and the documentation required for litigation involving correctional institutions. I regularly reviewed inmate central files, disciplinary histories, classification committee actions, housing determinations, and institutional programming records to ensure compliance with the legal and departmental standards. Since retiring from CDCR, I have continued my professional work as an independent consultant and expert witness specializing in jail & prison operations. As the operator of my consulting business, I have primarily worked on the defense side of criminal matters (85%), with an additional 10% involving civil litigation related to correctional operations and use-of-force practices. I am included on numerous qualified expert witness lists in California, including the counties of Contra Costa, Imperial, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, and Solano. My expert testimony has addressed a wide range of correctional topics, including: Inmate classification; jail & prison rules, regulations, and operational policies; disciplinary actions & behavioral records; housing assignments & inmate management practices; inmate files & institutional documentation; institutional programming & case factors; prison culture & politics; and self-help programs. My background combines decades of practical institutional experience with direct involvement in correctional litigation & legal compliance. This experience allows me to provide courts & legal counsel with informed, objective analysis of correctional practices, inmate classification decisions, institutional policies, and operational procedures.