A whistleblower tried to raise the alarm about appalling conditions at the Buncombe County jail, the deadliest in the state. This is his story of running into evasion, lies and retaliation from multiple levels of government

“The law, in its majestic equality, prohibits rich and poor alike from sleeping under bridges and begging for bread.”

— Anatole France

Editors’ introduction

On Jan. 25, a little after 6 p.m., Asheville police booked Maria Christina Frisbee on property and drug charges at the Buncombe jail. According to a later press release from the sheriff’s office, a detention officer at approximately 8:30 p.m. made their rounds and “observed [Frisbee] acting erratically in a holding cell in female booking.”

An ambulance arrived at 8:45 pm to transport Frisbee to Mission Hospital, but she would not survive the night. At 11:46 pm, 41-year old Maria Christina Frisbee was pronounced dead, her name then added to the growing list of lives claimed by the Buncombe jail.

Last fall Warren Wilson student Caleb Resnick began work as an intern in the Buncombe County Public Defender’s office. In that position he witnessed, and saw reports of, appalling conditions in the county jail, the deadliest in the state. These conditions were awful enough they even violated state laws on the treatment of prisoners. Resnick repeatedly tried to raise these concerns and get them addressed. At first he did so internally, then by going public with the issues through various channels. At every turn he faced evasion, outright lies and, eventually, retaliation. Those responsible range from sheriff’s office commanders and p.r. flacks all the way up to state senators and representatives looking to cover up the atrocious conditions at the jail during election season.

What follows are excerpts from the extensive accounts he’s written out on a website seeking to alert the public. While not written as a traditional article, after reviewing these the Blade has decided to publish them due to the serious nature of this issue and the damning accounts they contain of extensive attempts at intimidation and cover-up from multiple levels of government.

In some cases the names of specific figures have been added, or formal abbreviations replaced with more common terms, for clarity. We’ve also added headings and quotes for context.

The Blade has independently confirmed many of the details in his account, especially about his meetings with public officials. Others are backed up even by reports from state agencies that monitor the jails. They all align with the grim fact that eight people have died in the Buncombe County Detention Facility in less than 2 years.

Resnick has his own ideas about how to fix this, and we present those in these excerpts to be clear to the public about his thinking on the issue. At some point in the past two years, half of our co-op has spent time in the Buncombe County jail for doing their jobs. The position of the Blade is that the abuses at that jail — and every other — will not truly end until the day they are demolished along with the entire evil system that feeds them.

— David Forbes
— Matilda Bliss

Reality check at the jail

A tour of the [jail] took place on Feb. 18, 2022, and no non-[Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office]-employees (other than myself) were in attendance. [Major Jill Banks, Capt. Jeffrey Littrell, a lieutenant, and p.r, staffer Carolina Siliceo Perez] led the way, and throughout the tour I asked a number of the questions included in the unsubmitted [open records] request.

The captain in attendance directly confirmed the existence of multiple noncompliant conditions.

Among the noncompliant practices directly confirmed by that captain were: the refusal of mattresses, blankets, and sheets to all detainees housed in holding/processing areas overnight (except those with pregnancy or injury), denial of towels to detainees in holding/processing areas, round-the-clock bright artificial lighting in holding/processing areas, and overnight detention within rooms with either just a grate or no grate for using the bathroom.

While confirming the existence of some noncompliant conditions, the Major and Captain in attendance also made statements which contradicted my understanding of various specific conditions within the [jail]. It was quite difficult, at the time, to determine whether those representatives were intentionally presenting misleading conditions, or rather were unaware of many specifics of [jail] operations. In one instance, the Captain in attendance stated that there is no limit on weekly commissary purchases in the [jail], and a [sheriff’s office] employee working in the commissary storage area promptly responded that there is in fact a $25 weekly limit on food items. In addition, the Major claimed that sheets/jumpsuits are consistently cleaned/changed once per week, and the Captain stated that detainees are consistently given hygiene items (despite my knowledge to the contrary).

Upon concluding the tour and preparing to depart, I respectfully informed the Major, Captain, and public affairs specialist in attendance that the [Buncombe sheriff]’s stated policy of denying mattress, sheets, and blankets to detainees housed overnight was a violation of N.C.A.C. 14J. The Captain in attendance responded dismissively, and was then provided with details of the specific Section (14J Section .0702) and some of the language used within.

The dismissive response of the [Buncombe sheriff’s office], accompanied by the representatives’ inaccurate statements, served to reinforce what some individuals impacted by incarceration previously communicated to me. Simply informing the [office] of the existence of noncompliance would not result in the necessary corrections being made.

Meeting with the sheriff’s office

“Hannah Guffey was in despair. Accused of a fatal hit-and-run of a bicyclist while driving under the influence, the 25 year-old Brevard resident was arrested on felony charges and jailed in the Buncombe County Detention Facility in downtown Asheville. Nine days later, on July 28, 2020, she died after hanging herself with a bedsheet, a death certificate said. She left behind her parents, a fiance and their 3 year-old daughter.

A day later, Buncombe jail detainee Jacob Biddix, 26, died after being found on the floor of his cell. He had been in the detention facility two months, arrested during a racial justice protest and charged with property damage. His sister and mother continue to question the adequacy of the medical care he got in the jail.

On April 10, 2021, Tania Shepherd, a 37 year-old massage therapist, died from a drug overdose three hours after being booked into the jail on charges of possessing a stolen motor vehicle.”

– From an Asheville Citizen-Times article reporting on the many deaths at the Buncombe County jail. Jan 10, 2022

[Perez] responded to the Feb. 23 email, and an in-person meeting was arranged for and took place on March 7, 2022. That meeting was between myself, the Chief Deputy [Herbert Blake], and [Major Banks, Capt. Littrell, and Perez]. It occurred in a [sheriff’s office] conference room on the fourth floor of the Buncombe County Courthouse, and went on for about eighty minutes. During that meeting, [I communicated] 10 different noncompliant conditions regularly present within the [jail…] to all [sheriff] representatives in attendance, along with the specific code/statute and language which prohibits the existence of those conditions. [They] were also informed of a number of technically legal, but unnecessarily harmful, practices which are commonplace inside the [jail].

The existence of each of these practices was communicated to all representatives present for the March 7 meeting.

• Regular denial of toilet paper to detainees in holding/processing

• Inconsistent provision of clean clothing

ª Regular release of homeless individuals into below-freezing temperatures after the curfew for local shelters (sometimes as late as 11p.m.)

• Inability of individuals with extended detentions in holding/processing to access the commissary

• Excessively expensive pricing of telecommunications services available to detainees

• Forced medication assisted treatment (MAT) detox ultimately leading to either the administration of a less expensive MAT or the termination of MAT access

For each and every violation described, representatives disagreed and questioned the merit of what they called “allegations.”

It quickly became apparent that some of the representatives present in that meeting were displeased with my decision to advocate for compliance and less harmful procedures within the [jail]. Representatives in attendance noted on multiple occasions that I must be receiving information from people incarcerated within the [jail], and that such individuals cannot be interpreted as reliable sources of information.

[Major Banks] stated that “this is your opinion”, and “the inspector found that we are in compliance, and that means we are in compliance.”

I communicated a strong desire to support the [Buncombe sheriff’s office] in any possible way to improve conditions within the [jail]. The response of the representatives (commonly provided by the Major, but backed up by others) was to reinforce the notion that the conditions within the [jail] greatly exceed those of the average jail in the state of [North Carolina]. Those representatives encouraged me to independently research other jails in NC, as they assured a finding that the [Buncombe County Jail]’s conditions exceed those of the average NC jail.

[Editor’s note: Yes, this is the jail commander asserting that conditions in the deadliest jail in the state are actually better than others. Yes, that’s patently absurd.]

The meeting ended without any representative of the [sheriff’s office] expressing an intention to address the noncompliant and/or harmful conditions communicated to them.

Meeting with state legislators

“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; … who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a ‘more convenient season.’ Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from a Birmingham Jail

In response to my Feb. 23 email, a Zoom meeting was arranged with State Senator [Julie Mayfield] who communicated that she “shared my concerns” about the [Buncombe jail]. The Senator invited [state representatives Caleb Rudow and Brian Turner] to join the call, and I invited a local coordinator deeply engaged in criminal justice focused (and other) advocacy.

In that meeting, which occurred on March 8, 2022 and lasted over an hour, a lengthy verbal description of the various violations (and other harmful conditions) present within the [jail] was provided to the individuals in attendance. [Mayfield] expressed her fear that advocacy/organizing could harm [Sheriff Quentin Miller]’s reelection campaign, and that fear was echoed by a representative.

The elected officials in attendance communicated clearly that they were determined to address the noncompliance described, and [Mayfield] stated that the three officials in attendance would raise concerns with the sheriff.

[She] recommended ceasing efforts to raise awareness about conditions within the [jail], and especially cautioned me against speaking with Republicans.

The officials in the meeting would convince the sheriff to publicly announce the creation of a Community Advisory Committee. That committee would then make recommendations to the sheriff, and the sheriff would decide whether to implement those recommendations.

Upon further questioning, I learned that the proposed committee’s…

• Members would answer to the [sheriff’s office]

• Available funding and resources would be dependent upon the [Buncombe sheriff’s office]

• Existence could be terminated by the […] Sheriff without cause

• Principal focus would not be the [jail], but rather a wide variety of issues

I expressed a genuine disbelief that the committee described could produce sustainable compliance in the [jail], and an exploration of a potential Independent Jail Oversight Board (IJOB) began. [Mayfield] and one Representative present clearly communicated that an [oversight board] was a logistical impossibility. [She] stated that it would not pass through the legislature in North Carolina (as she said would be required), and that the Sheriff’s lobby in North Carolina would “kill” it. The meeting ended with the elected officials deciding that they would meet with the Sheriff “from elected officials to elected official”, and then follow-up afterwards.

‘Stop sending emails to so many people’

On March 10, 2022, I sent an email to a number of [Buncombe sheriff’s office] representatives (including [Quentin Miller]), the Buncombe County’s Commissioners, [Mayor Esther Manheimer] and City Council, and every State Senator and State Representative for North Carolina.

Excerpts from the 3/10/22 email:

“I was very concerned when Major Banks strongly implied that compliance is determined by the inspector, and not by the actual conditions present within the Jail, as a response to my raising these concerns. I am also concerned that her expression of such a perspective constitutes a violation of [the Buncombe sheriff’s office]’s Fairness and Equity Policy.”

“Chief Deputy Blake’s statement that the Jail is not in competition with Ingles may be true, but NCAC Subchapter 14J, Section .0801 clearly states, “The price of these items shall be no higher than local retail prices”, in reference to the pricing of items available through commissaries in jails. Ingles is the largest local retailer of food in the area, so the Jail should be comparing its commissary prices to those of Ingles (as I have volunteered to do at no cost to the [Buncombe sheriff’s office]).”

“I am very concerned that the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office has not made any public statements to notify the public of its inability to maintain compliance in the Jail with currently available resources. “

[Buncombe sheriff’s office] Public Information Officer [Aaron Sarver] responded by email on March 11, 2022.

Excerpts from the BCSO’s 3/11/22 response:

“Captain Littrell and Major Banks have worked in good faith to look into these claims and after review, we believe to be in compliance with state statutes. They have gone above and beyond by asking the jail inspector to come make a special visit to inspect the facility.”

“The jail inspector is the authority regarding compliance, this is not a grey area and we are simply going to have to disagree on that. If the jail inspector informs us that we need to take corrective action, we will absolutely do so, as we are obligated to.”

“Given the time and effort we have put into trying to find consensus and the impasse we have reached, the Sheriff’s Office needs to decline to communicate further with you on this issue.”

On March 16, 2022, [Mayfield] called my cell phone to discuss recent developments. On that call the Senator shared that herself, [Buncombe County Chairman Brownie Newman], and the same two State Representatives [Rudow and Turner] had engaged in a tour of the [jail] and a meeting with [Miller].

[Mayfield] shared that she brought up all of the specific noncompliance I had reported to her, and that the Sheriff disputed the existence of each and every condition described.

Surprisingly, it was communicated that [Captain Littrell] who had confirmed a great deal of noncompliance (on my 2/18 tour) was not present for their tour. The Senator reported that the Sheriff had claimed that my reports resulted from false information provided to me by clients of the [Buncombe Public Defender’s Office].

[Mayfield] was clear that I “need to stop sending emails to so many people,” and strongly discouraged my intent to raise awareness at the sheriff’s upcoming fundraiser. [Mayfield] related that she witnessed detainees sleeping on concrete without any mattress or blanket, but was assured that those individuals were always provided with those items prior to sleeping hours.

[Editor’s note: Yes, absurd as it sounds this means Mayfield seriously believes the transparently false excuse individuals were clearly sleeping on bare concrete were suddenly given bedding at another time.]

[Mayfield] also stated that “lots of people calling will not push them (the BCSO) to change”

The Senator’s statements serve to reinforce the supposition that the [Buncombe jail] will benefit from independent oversight.

The Senator shared that [Quentin Miller] stated, “we don’t hear these concerns from the Public Defender’s Office”. She also noted that the [Chief Public Defender] coming to her or the Sheriff with these concerns would be a “game changer”, and questioned whether this was an “obligation” of [Buncombe’s Public Defenders Office]. Very clearly, [Mayfield] stated that “the assumption is that [the public defender is] not coming forward because it’s not an issue”.

[Mayfield] said that, if presented with greater evidence, she would organize a meeting between State Senators/Representatives and the Buncombe County Commissioners. The Buncombe County Commissioners would likely then withhold funding from the BCSO until the BCSO corrected the noncompliance at issue.

Towards the end of the hour-long call, [Mayfield] said, “the Commissioners aren’t going to be pushy with the Sheriff unless there is more evidence on the other side.”

Denial and retaliation

I attempted to attend the kickoff fundraiser for [Quentin Miller]’s reelection campaign, which occurred on March 17, 2022 at the YMI Cultural Center in downtown Asheville.

I prepared booklets describing the widespread noncompliance at the [jail] (for distribution at that event), but […] was denied entry into the venue by BCSO representatives. Despite this denial, booklets were passed out to a number of attendees who entered/exited the fundraiser. I greeted the Sheriff (who stood outside greeting attendees) and made clear my intention to respectfully discuss the violations with attendees. The Sheriff then directed me to speak with the BCSO’s Public Information Officer [Aaron Sarver], who stood nearby. [Sarver] communicated that the booklets were not permitted in the venue, and that I would be removed if I was a disruption.

[Julie Mayfield] was waiting outside the venue and communicated, harshly and loudly, her belief that my attendance at this event was inappropriate and unwelcome. Throughout much of the event, [Sarver] stood outside the venue and repeatedly made remarks which mischaracterized my findings of noncompliance, seemingly in an attempt to sow doubt in the information contained within the booklets. [Sarver] made a number of statements to various attendees that I attempted to discuss the violations with. Those statements included: “this gentleman is misinformed”, “wouldn’t the public defender’s office be obligated to make a statement if what you’re saying is true”, “he (myself) has only been to the jail once”, and “the jail has passed two inspections in the past month.”

The final statement was a surprise, as I still had heard nothing from [North Carolina Department of Health and Human Service’s Division of Health Service Regulation]. [Sarver] confirmed that, while write-ups of these inspections were not yet completed, the [jail] was found to be in compliance.

A meeting between myself and [Buncombe County Commissioners Chair Brownie Newman] occurred in the chairman’s office on March 21, 2022. At that time, the aforementioned noncompliant/harmful conditions were communicated to him.

The chairman shared that, while he was looking forward to viewing the results of the recent inspections, he was not involved in jail oversight in any way. He communicated that he does not regularly visit the jail or read the inspection reports furnished by the Department of Health and Human Services.

The topic of oversight was discussed, and [Newman] expressed an appreciation of the Sheriff’s suggestion to create a Community Advisory Committee under the BCSO. I expressed, (as I have to a number of individuals who the [Quentin Miller] has proposed this to), a concern that such a Committee, which inherently lacks authority and staying power, could not produce sustained compliance within the [jail].

[Newman] agreed with these concerns, and with my proposition that independent oversight would be more effective than the Sheriff’s proposed Committee. He then communicated that a future oversight board would still likely need “one or two” people appointed by the Sheriff, in order to facilitate the BCSO’s “buy-in”.

‘What are we going to do about Mr. Resnick?’

The [Chief Public Defender Sam Sneed] informed me that the [Buncombe public defender’s office] had received “a lot of attention” as a result my advocacy efforts, and that [Major Banks’] first remark on a recent call between the two of them was, “what are we going to do about Mr. Resnick?”

On March 23, 2022, I was informed that my speaking with clients of the [public defender’s office], who are incarcerated in the [jail], was no longer permitted. On March 28, I was informed by [Sneed] that the decision to restrict my access was made by the BCSO, not the [public defender’s office].

On March 28th, [Sneed] also stated that I was only permitted to visit the [public defender’s] office space once per week, and that I was no longer permitted to engage in [jail]-related advocacy/organizing during working hours. Prior to this decision, I typically came into the office five days per week.

The [chief public defender] also communicated that he would much prefer my ceasing any [jail]-related organizing/advocacy prior to my completing the field placement. He then stated that another meeting would be called, should I continue [Buncombe jail]-related organizing/advocacy outside of work hours, and the [public defender’s office] receive another complaint from the BCSO. The [public defender]’s Social Worker then promptly stated that the calling of such a meeting would indicate the termination of my field placement.

Immediately after this communication, I ceased all organizing/advocacy in relation to conditions within the [Buncombe jail]. In addition, I did not send updates or respond to emails/calls in relation to [the jail’s] noncompliance. This was out of fear that such a notification could be interpreted as organizing/advocacy.

Substantiated grievances

The [DHHS Division of Health Services Regulation] replied with a “response to your grievances” on March 31st, 2022, which noted that some of my “grievances” were “substantiated”, and that the BCSO would (or already had) corrected deficiencies.

[Buncombe jail] Deficiencies Confirmed in [DHHS] Response:

• Detainees housed in the booking area over 24 hours without access to a mattress or blanket

• Detainees housed in rooms with no grate or toilet

Response shortcomings:

• Misinterpreted [NC Administrative Code] by claiming that newer jails are held to less stringent standards than older jails. There is no basis for that interpretation contained within 10A NCAC 14J, and no justification for this interpretation was provided.

• Failed to consult a single detainee, or investigate the specifically reported noncompliant practices of housing detainees in rooms with only grates for using the bathroom, denying detainees access to showers and commissary in holding/processing areas, and maintaining a hazardously unclean facility.

• Identified the deficiencies noted only after the submission of multiple grievances, despite the conditions it found to be noncompliant having been the [Buncombe jail]’s standard operating procedure in recent years, and multiple inspections taking place during that time.

• Potentially narrowed its findings of deficiencies and recommendations for corrections to the booking area, when equivalent noncompliance exists in holding, processing, and classification areas.

Editors’ conclusion

In other excerpts in his extensive account Resnick goes into detail of how the flawed. but still instructive, DHHS report on the jail was handled (in most cases ignored) by local officials and how an oversight board would potentially hold the local jail accountable. We encourage the reader to check out his website if they wish to know more.

He also started a petition in favor of an independent jail oversight board.

On April 6, barely a week after Resnick’s jail and office privileges were all revoked or severely limited for trying to address the dangerous conditions, DeMarcus Antonio Royal died at Mission Hospital while still in the sheriff’s custody. Preexisting conditions or not Royal, a 48-year-old Black man, lost his life after being subjected to the torturous conditions of the jail. His death was the eighth since July of 2020, the twentieth since 2008. Not even three months had past since the death of Maria Christina Frisbee.

It’s worth remembering that the DHHS inspection, in spite of its many flaws in favor of the status quo, still substantiated two major abuses of human rights (lack of available bedding or toilet access) that have disastrous effects on the human body, especially if it is already suffering from various ailments. Asheville is one of the worst places in the country to live due to rampant gentrification, and that has an obvious impact on health.

Given the above it’s no wonder that Buncombe’s jail is killing people at a prolific clip, leaving grieving communities in its wake. The many traumas inflicted on countless individuals and their loved ones at the hands of jail cannot be ignored either, even if they live through the experience. Now we know some, like Resnick, are facing retaliation for speaking out, for daring to ask for the most basic improvements in health and safety. His accounts show officials far more concerned about the truth getting out than addressing conditions that are torturing and killing people.

“A professional and personal value I maintain is that all people have innate dignity and worth that must be upheld. Nobody should stop focusing on this issue, because people are suffering as a result of the noncompliance present within the Buncombe County Jail,” Resnick wrote in his March 10 email to officials, a day before BCSO broke contact concerning conditions at the jail.

And finally, the Blade asks readers to recall that during the mutlti-racial uprisings of 2020, “Defund the Police” wasn’t just a mural painted at the steps of the Asheville police department. The mural spanned the breadth of court plaza, including the courthouse and the jail, just as the flood of hundreds of public comments to the same effect included not only city council, but also county commission meetings.

No amount of additional funding will permanently fix a system that thrives on human suffering. That will only come when communities end these systems, and define health and safety on their own terms.

—

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