Brett Kelman

The Desert Sun

A Palm Springs man has been held in the Banning jail for nearly two weeks — released twice and then immediately re-arrested at the jailhouse gate — without ever being charged with a crime.

Loy Ramirez, 61, has asked a judge to order him freed. With the help of a public defender, Ramirez filed an emergency writ in the Riverside County Superior Court on Thursday.

"It is clearly not the intent of the Legislature that a government can play this game," said Tom Cavanaugh, head of the Public Defender's Office in Indio. "By this reasoning, you could incarcerate somebody for the rest of their life in this way."

Palm Springs police defended the repeat arrests, saying they were a "common procedure" when investigators need time to build a case. Department spokesman Sgt. William Hutchinson said the agency was re-arresting Ramirez to give them more time to gather evidence and contact the alleged victim.

“Our victim is homeless and it is often challenging to get in touch with the homeless because they do not always stay in the same place," Hutchinson said in an email. "In this case we have utilized a common procedure to re-arrest the suspect on two occasions in order to give us time to locate the victim and attempt to finalize the investigation for the DA."

District Attorney Mike Hestrin, who was unaware of Ramirez’s repeat arrests until he was contacted by The Desert Sun, said he was concerned by what police had done in the case.

Hestrin said it was not uncommon for suspects to be released while a case is being strengthened and then re-arrested weeks later when prosecutors are ready to file charges. In a few cases, suspects have been re-arrested at the jail gates because a clerical error had made the release unavoidable.

But Hestrin had never heard of a case where this was done twice to the same suspect.

“I don’t want to speculate as to the Palm Springs officers' motivations,” Hestrin said. “But if what you are saying is the facts of the case, then I wish they would have notified us. We could have discussed other options.”

The cops thought he was a gunman. He thought they were robbers. They met at his doorstep, guns drawn.

According to court documents, Palm Springs police first arrested Ramirez on rape allegations July 16. He was transferred to the Banning jail, where he was held until July 21, when he was scheduled to appear at an arraignment hearing via video conference.

An arraignment is a suspect’s first appearance in a court case, generally held within 48 hours, where they are informed of the charges against them and enter an initial plea. If investigators do not have enough evidence to substantiate charges at an arraignment, the suspect must be let go.

In Ramirez's case, the arraignment never came, however. Instead, he was told charges wouldn’t be filed against him and he would be released the following day. He was escorted through the jail gates at about 5 a.m., but was then immediately re-arrested by a Palm Springs police officer who was waiting outside the facility. The officer then took Ramirez back into the jail where he was re-booked and taken back to a jail cell.

Four days later, on Tuesday, the whole cycle repeated itself. Ramirez was once again scheduled for a video arraignment, but was never arraigned. He was told again that he would be released the following day, then was taken to the jailhouse gate before dawn. Another Palm Springs police officer was waiting, and Ramirez was arrested again, then re-booked, then returned to his jail cell for the third time.

Ramirez finally appeared before a judge on Thursday morning. Charges had still not been filed against him, but he was not released either, according to the Public Defender's Office. As of Thursday afternoon, booking records showed he was still in the Banning jail.

Cavanaugh, the public defender, said Ramirez's cycle of arrest was especially alarming because Palm Springs police have been told not to use this tactic before.

The issue arose months ago, Cavanaugh said, during a meeting of the county's Criminal Justice Liaison Committee — a quarterly gathering of prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation officers, cops and judges. During the meeting, an officer from the Palm Springs Police Department mentioned that they sometimes re-arrest suspects as they exit the Banning jail.

The committee was stunned, Cavanaugh said.

“Attorneys are outraged at this,” he said. “It is a shocking abuse, and what makes it more disturbing is this was pointed out as an unacceptable practice then and it has continued anyway.”

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which runs the Banning jail, confirmed that Ramirez was arrested on July 16, July 21 and July 26, but said information about the locations of those arrests were not available. Public jail records confirm the latest occurred at the jail, just as Ramirez claims in court documents.

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Police have not released any details about any of Ramirez's three recent arrests. Because he has never been charged in court it is unclear in what case he is a suspect. County court records show Ramirez has prior drug convictions but has not faced any previous violent or sex crime charges.

Reporter Brett Kelman can be reached by phone at (760) 778-4642, by email at brett.kelman@desertsun.com, or on Twitter @TDSbrettkelman.