Kathryn Esquibel wants to learn about events at Salt Lake County Jail on the day her son fashioned a rope from torn bedsheets and hanged himself.
She wants to know why, because of his known mental depression, Eloy Max Esquibel was not under a suicide watch at the jail.But her attempt to get jailhouse records on her dead son were thwarted for the second time Monday.
Esquibel was incarcerated on charges of stabbing, beating and suffocating his 16-year-old girlfriend and raping her 10-year-old sister on Aug. 6, 1992.
He hanged himself Oct. 12, 1992.
Kathryn Esquibel's attorney, John Pace, wants to examine the quality of supervision given her son.
For several months Kathryn Esquibel, as the representative of her son's estate, has fought Salt Lake County Sheriff Aaron Ken-nard for the records.
But the county has refused to release the documents, claiming during several administrative appeals that the mother's request contained technical flaws.
On Monday Kathryn Esquibel's latest attempt failed as 3rd District Judge Anne Stirba sided with the county, holding the application is legally weak and cannot be honored.
Her attorney acknowledges a lawsuit could result if the records were released. Still, he says, his client is getting the runaround.
"We are being forced to play procedural games," he complained to Stirba.
But county officials say Utah law penalizes officials who wrongfully release private records. And Esquibel's records are especially sensitive, said Marty Verhoef, assistant county attorney.
Pace said the latest problem was Kathryn Esquibel's failure to sign a release within a 90-day period after the application. In fact, a release, a carryover from the first administrative appeal, was submitted.
"Now we'll go back with the right documents and apply again," Pace promised.