Inmate Has Judge’s Ear and List of Alleged Rights Violations

For nearly six years, Willie Ray Wisely, convicted of murder in the death of his stepfather, has been complaining about conditions at the Orange County Jail.

He has made motions before three different Superior Court judges and two federal judges; he’s written to the American Civil Liberties Union, the state Board of Corrections and numerous prison groups.

Tuesday, Wisely finally got his day in court.

Dressed in a yellow County Jail jump suit and a jail identification wristband, Wisely testified for four hours before U.S. District Court Judge William P. Gray. The judge came to Santa Ana for a two-day, non-jury trial on Wisely’s federal lawsuit against Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates and other jail officials.

Wisely told the judge that since 1981 jail deputies had put him in disciplinary isolation for no reason, opened his mail illegally, harassed him, shackled him unfairly and kept him so isolated that he exercises and eats all his meals alone.

He also complained about the food and the noise and accused jail deputies of stealing his Playboy magazines.

And why? Dick Herman, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, told Gray that “jail officials have retaliated against Mr. Wisely because he’s a jailhouse lawyer who helps other inmates with their cases.”

The county’s attorney, James P. Slack, objected numerous times that many of Wisely’s allegations were based on hearsay. But Judge Gray cut him off with the wave of a hand. “I find these things very interesting,” the judge said.

Seeking Unspecified Damages

Wisely is seeking an unspecified amount of damages against the county for what he considers violation of his civil rights at the jail. He is also asking Gray to issue three specific orders: That he be given warm food, a chance to have contact with other inmates and a chance to give them legal help on their cases.

Wisely, 34, has been in the Orange County Jail for nearly six years. That surpasses the old record of convicted killer William Lee Evins, who had been in the jail more than five years before he pleaded guilty to murder in the death of a Fountain Valley woman.

Wisely was in Los Angeles County Jail on a burglary charge in 1980 when his cell mate told police that Wisely had told him about killing his stepfather, Robert E. Bray, by rigging Bray’s truck cab to fall on him.

Wisely was brought to the Orange County Jail in August, 1981, to stand trial in his stepfather’s death, which until then had been considered an accident.

Wisely served as his own lawyer at his murder trial. Assistant Dist. Atty. Edgar A. Freeman, who prosecuted Wisely, gave him high marks for his skills in the courtroom. But Wisely was not only convicted: the jury also gave him the death verdict.

The late Judge Kenneth Lae threw out the death verdict because of new state Supreme Court rules on jury instructions. Freeman appealed Lae’s decision but lost. After that, the prosecutor decided not to seek a second death verdict against Wisely.

The case has been in the appellate process, and Wisely’s numerous lawsuits and motions against judges and jail officials have helped to keep him at the Orange County Jail for so long.

Many jail officials barely conceal their dislike for Wisely. They consider him a whiner who has conned a judge into making him sole occupant of an eight-man cell, where he is surrounded by lawbooks, his own computer and a television.

But Gray made it clear Tuesday that he was taking Wisely’s complaints seriously.

When Slack asked Wisely what constitutional right had been violated when the deputies took his Playboy magazines, the judge interjected: “Oh, you’ve read Playboy once in a while, haven’t you Mr. Slack? That was his personal property.”

Wisely was a whiz at rattling off specific dates when he believed that his rights had been violated. He spoke calmly, except for a couple of times when Slack’s questions irritated him.

Didn’t Like Medical Care

Slack asked if it wasn’t true that he had been placed in disciplinary isolation because he was considered an escape risk. Not true, Wisely said, adding that he was never classified a jail risk.

Slack held up Wisely’s jail file.

“Why does it have ‘escape risk’ all over it?” Slack asked.

“Because some deputy stamped it there,” Wisely snapped back.

When Wisely complained about losing 15 pounds and being in poor health from an improper diet while in disciplinary isolation, Slack asked him why he didn’t see the jail doctor when he got out.

“No, sir; I was already sick enough,” Wisely said.

Many jail policies have changed since Wisely was first sent to Orange County Jail. Gates has ordered, as a result of an ACLU lawsuit, that inmates no longer be housed in disciplinary isolation for long stretches without relief. He has also eliminated a disciplinary diet that Herman has insisted on calling “dog food.”

Herman said after court Tuesday that he believes Gray is giving Wisely a fair hearing.

“It doesn’t matter that Willie Wisely may be convicted of murder,” Herman said. “The truth is, he has been treated like an animal at that jail. And if you let them treat inmates like that, where does it stop?”

Wisely’s hearing is scheduled to conclude at noon today. But Gray is not expected to make a ruling until after both sides have filed additional documents.