MADERA COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT "JAIL" IS SO BIG THAT THEY SHOP FOR PEOPLE TO FILL THE JAIL.  THE COURTS CAN NOT HANDLE THE AMOUNT OF INMATES HOUSED AT JAIL.

MADERA –Officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, Department of Corrections, Probation Department, Board of Supervisors and a host of others were on hand Friday, Feb. 8, for the dedication of the new Madera County Jail expansion.

This was the first project completed in the state using special funds made available by AB900, the Public Safety and Offender Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007.AB900 authorized the CDCR to design, construct, or renovate prison and jail facilities to help reduce overcrowding. Madera County was first in line to apply for the funding, and was awarded $30 million for the project.

The expansion adds two new units to the jail, increasing inmate housing by 144 beds, and bringing the capacity of the facility to some 563 inmates.

“Over the last 16 months, California has made a historic change in correctional policy. Under Public Safety Realignment, we have created a stronger partnership between counties and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” said CDCR Deputy Secretary for External Affairs, Nolice Edwards. “As a result, more low-level offenders are now being housed and rehabilitated in their own communities instead of state prison.”

With the passage of AB109 in 2011, Public Safety Realignment allows non-violent, non-serious, and non-sexual offenders to serve their sentence in county jails instead of state prisons. This means that county jails have taken on the burden of many inmates who, before realignment, would have gone to state prison.

District Attorney Michael Keitz addressed the crowd, saying that the expansion of the jail is noon too soon.

“The advent of Realignment under AB109 has significantly impacted law enforcement, and decreased their ability to house persons newly arrested,” said Keitz. “Many defendants who would normally be sent to state prison, such as probation and parole violators, are now mandated to be held in our county jail. We have had to house inmates beyond the jail’s design capacity, and release inmates who would have not been released were it not for overcrowding.”

Keitz welcomed the additional capacity, noting the greater flexibility afforded to jail officials, and the ability of law enforcement to better protect the public and seek justice for the people of Madera County.

Manuel Perez, director of the Madera County Department of Corrections, is happy to be able to keep prisoners in custody who need to be there, rather than releasing them because there is no more room in the jail.

After the dedication ceremony, officials conducted a tour of the jail expansion, which has been designed to give jail officers more flexibility and provide greater security for both inmates and staff.

One feature of the new facility allows for inmates to communicate with their attorneys through video from private rooms, and plans are underway to offer Skype capabilities. This will allow family and friends to visit with inmates through video, saving them the time and expense of traveling to the jail in person.

While Madera County’s jail expansion is the first in the state to be completed with AB900 funds, it won’t be the last. The bill provides $1.2 billion for counties to build projects like the one in Madera to reduce overcrowding in local jails. Currently, 21 counties are expanding jails with state funds from AB 900

Stories from inmates

Constitutional rights taken from those who's voices are shushed

 Inmate states that in 2019 when he came into Madera County Jail, He became PROPer (self represented) on or about December 28, 2019. At that time Sargent Mendoza and corrpral Alverez were in charge of C.S.U and in charge of PROPer defendants and all things related, they controlled incoming and outgoing mail, inmates diets, classification in the jail, every aspect of the jail, there isn't one department within the jail that C.S.U (classification department) doesn't control. There is not one officer in the history of Madera county jail that is trained whatsoever in law (where the staff may be officers, they are not trained or  knowledgeable in the legal adjudication process within the courts). There is no litigation coordinator, these people have full control over what "they feel" PROPer defendants are able to have in order to fight there case. They're thoughts of what access to the courts is far from reality. They told the inmate who was simply trying to have a fair fight for his case that "Access through the courts is available through the mailing". Actual access to the courts is a constitutional right of the fourteenth amendment, such rights are for the jail  to provide law library for legal assistance, provided and private postage, provided and private phone calls, separate program time for proper individuals to make there legal calls, so many aspects. The Madera County Jail provided me a letter telling me that I have access for my legal runner to bring me only (yellow) highlighters, mailing envelopes, postage stamps, and blue pen. And that if I'm not indigent then that is the only way I can receive said items. If I'm not indigent then I cant get this stuff, it is only available for me if I have my legal runner bring it to the jail for me. And that they will not provide it for me if I'm not indigent. Indigent services will be provided only in the same manner that non PROPer inmates get. Which consist of two stamped envelopes per week and four pages of lined paper, ect if I cant afford it. I filled a Habious Corpus on this place and this facilities attorney Lizono Smith from Fresno supplied the court with an informal response stating that I am entitled to indigent serviced and I receive indigent services, including copy services, and attach that I'm lying about everything, that I do receive such material and services, and Sargent Mendoza wrote a declaration stating that I am entitled to indigent services. And then attaches the department procedure policy manual with there response that says I am not entitled to indigent services along with copy service but then it contradicted there statement that the proper  inmates are supposed to get indigent services if there proper...The proper letter showed to be fraudulent making our families pay for the things proper defendant inmates are entitled to receive. The true DPPM (Department policy & procedure manual) states that PROPer inmates are entitled to highlighters, postage stamped envelopes, ect. free from the counties inmate welfare fund, however we cant see the policy procedure manual, however the proper letter that the inmates get the legal runner to sign show that the only way we can receive these materials is if legal runner supplies it for us because they don't give it for free, so the question remains of 'what are they really spending this money on from the inmates welfare fund". Whenever I grieve the issue they say I'm wrong about it. I've come back this time to the jail and since then they've changed there PROPer letter so its different now, but there still acting the same. Like they're covering it up. The Madera County Department of corrections is lying about giving indigent PROPer defendants copies for legal work as my mother has had to donate plasma( blood) to be able to provide the money so that I could receive copy services. They recently in December of 2024 I was having copies made but didn't have quite enough for them so Sargent Behe out of spite threw what copies he had already made into the trash. Inmate states that he wrote down the dates and times so that the cameras within the facility can be looked at to show the cops huddling him, talking shit, stopping the copy services, getting them, acting like there about to shred them. Im watching officer Behe kneeling down, reading the copies of what I'm having copied (this a violation of PROPer rights as this inmate is representing himself in his legal case) Stopping the shredder and then keeps the documents and takes me out of there and back to my cell. The officers kept the documents as they contained information supporting my legal suit against the facility.

I was literally sitting in the office when Mendoza and Alverez where working as C.S.U. I have these times recorded as well, Im sitting in the chair, mind you I've already caught them keeping my artwork that was taken from my outgoing mail which they then put on there wall. I wrote the civil division of the F.B.I who came to the jail and talked to me about it. Then started there investigation within the jail, getting recorded testimony from the staff, caught them lying and took my artwork off there wall. That's already been in fact from 2020. So now I'm sitting inside the office and I'm probably about 15 feet away from this basket  on Sargent Mendozas desk that I catch a glimpse of corner of a document that I can see is my  name with handwriting in blue ink, it was kinda far away so I take the  chance since I felt strongly it was my paperwork and walk over there, one of the guards tried to persuade me and said "hey" to get my attention then "hey! hey stop walking!" so I get over there and I look at it and its copies of all the paperwork that they've been coping of mine, making copies for themselves and storing them to go over my cases. I told them I want my copies there mine. Instead of respectfully giving me the stolen copies back they charged me for them giving me the receipt which I still have, then I try grieve the issue, and on the grievance  they try to tell me that I'm lying, and that was a basket of "waste paper" (If it were truly waste paper it would be shredded and not on their desk) Then they restrict my grievances for there liability civilly. Furthermore when I was proper in 2019-2020 I was entitled to proper phone calls to my legal runner of which they never gave me them, my mom who was my legal runner at that time, has receipts from credit card statements and also the phone bills showing the phone calls costed $15 a piece, tallying to thousands of dollars because they denied me getting these, and then they denied me from accessing the phones. So then I had get myself in trouble while in jail so that they would move me into E module which is a max lock-down module meaning I never come out of the cell for security reasons, so the cells are equipped with phones. But it gave me the opportunity to conduct my case. I then filed another Habeas corpus regarding phone issues since proper individuals are to receive free legal calls. Mendoza decided to stop my outgoing mail from responding to there informal response to the courts, the court then ruled in the jails favor since my response was not filled in time. Furthermore the fabrication of documents and evidence is thick here. The inmate states that anyone can be sentenced for 30 days and become rich off a lawsuit, that's how bad it is."

   Tell us the truth about             Emmanuel Julius Burton

The case of 2 year old Emmanuel Julius Burton is a questionable story that leaves me wondering how could Madera county frame Cornel Jackson, a father who has four healthy happy children, the third one being adopted and loved as his own. Cornel's children all of whom are active in the community playing sports throughout schooling with the oldest playing football at the school, the next playing pee wee football then football through high school as well, then his adopted son did cross country and football, and his youngest ran track, played soccer, football, and is all American athlete at Sierra Vista school. Cornel was active in all of his children's lives attending practices, games, school award ceremonies, participated in jog-a-thons and also donated to events and school functions, on top of his busy work schedule he made time for his children. This doesn't show a man capable of abusing a child to death then dumping him along with 2 of his own children alone at a gas station..so after intensive investigating I've found many errors and falsification within the police reports, autopsy, the firm that conducted the autopsy, public child care agencies, and public press reports.

2 year old Emmanuel was brought into Cornel and his families care three days prior to Emmanuel's passing, When Emmanuel's father asked Monica (Cornel's ex) if the child could stay with them due to homelessness as they had been sleeping in dumpsters, the child looked to be in a horrible way, covered in bruises and cigarette burns. When Cornel returned home from work, being a father of four sons himself..Cornel couldn't turn the child away to continue living on the streets in such appalling conditions as Emmanuels father was suffering from an unknown underlining medical issues as well as drug addiction and in no way capable to care for the child. Cornel and his ex girlfriend Monica had begun the necessary legal steps in order to provide for the child including a home visit from the county child services which was scheduled for the day before Emmanuels passing. The social worker failed to arrive as scheduled, where if she had, she would have seen the abuse poor two year of Emmanuel had to survive before finding care at Cornells residence, If the county worker would have showed to the home visit, checking the residence and make sure it was where Emmanuel needed to be she would have provided a professional opinion about Emmanuels current state suggesting medical care. Even if she had showed up and declared Emmanuel's health was in need of professional medical care beyond what she felt the family could provide at least the child could have received it and Cornel and his family would have accepted that for the sake of the child. For the reason for taking in Emmanuel was to provide a safe nurturing environment. It was later found that Madera County Child Support Services had a backlog of 1,000 cases of child abuse cases, some being sexual that were ignored. The Fresno Bee Editorial board had printed the article after an investigation took place, dated March,16,2020 (see pg.5 of the Fresno Bee) The article states that "more than 300 reports were not investigated because a worker kept them in special locked waste baskets".   

On day three of Emmanuels stay with Cornel Jackson and family, Cornel was preparing Emmanuel for bed by bathing him with warm water and a washcloth. While bathing Emmanuel, Cornel panicked to call emergency personnel for the child as, Emmanuel had became unconscious and had difficulty breathing. Cornel had remained on the phone with 911 and was on his way to the hospital with emmanuel and two other children. The dispatcher on the other line instructed Cornel to pull over and wait for the paramedics who were to meet him at the BP gas station to take Emmanuel into to hospital by ambulance. When emergency personnel arrived Cornel then alerted the officer on the scene that he was going to get Emmanuels biological father before he left Emmanuel, and his two other children with the paramedics and other emergency personnel on scene.

Perhaps this act sparked from pure panic to get the childs biological father, leaving the older children with not only there soon to be younger sibling but also emergency responder's can be looked at by some as something more than it was such as neglect, but certainly not murder as the child in question was breathing and in the care of the EMT's.

Now we are going to get into the aspect of this case that leaves me disgruntled. Two year old Emmanuel Burton was alive and breathing for 55 minutes after arriving to the hospital. Unfortunately the babies prior injuries and drug exposure were beyond the efforts of saving, and he tragically did not make it. After his passing Emmanuels body was victim of to Dr. Mark A. Super of Forensic Medical Group a company hired by Madera County to preform the autopsy. Yes Emmanuals body had previous cuts and bruises from before Jacksons family welcomed the 2 year old into there home, but nothing of the mutilation described in the autopsy report. The toddlers face was peeled back, skin opened and peeled from his extremities. But hold on looking closer at the autopsy report and death certificate states that the boy that was examined was caucasian? Emmanuel was black, now I could excuse a little typo but this an autopsy report and death certificate were talking about, every detail should be accurate, Did they even autopsy the correct body or did they use report from another unrelated case? The details of the child's body who was autopsied described horrific FRESH events happening while the child was alive as if that was the the immediate cause of death. Emmanuel had gone through a lot of trauma prior to occupying Cornel Jacksons residence, in Which he had only stayed for three days and certainly the wounds had not had time to heal. Some of the photos of the child postmortem show a  hole in his lip, as if he had bit threw it while seizing..in my experience from loved ones with brain injuries and knowledge concludes the the child had a brain injury for several days causing this response from his body, why would Dr. Mark Super conclude and point the finger at Cornel Jackson when the evidence Shows the biological father throwing the child at a wall as just one example. Dr. Mark A. Super is part owner and full time employee at Forensic medical group, which is where he began working after he was fired in 2010 from his position as chief forensic pathologist for unspecified reasons. Apparently were supposed to trust this mans competence and trust his work, I for one certainly do not. Forensic Medical Group is a Private firm that practices more than a dozen counties as customers, with little overhead. In 2009 records show there billing had revenue of more than $3 million, 30% more than its records in 2006. In 2010 Forensic medical Groups pathologist handled more than 1,000 cases a year. Dr.Arnold Josselson, the firms vice president said "the firm has little overhead aside from its doctors" each of which make more than $100,000, but declined to provide more exact numbers. The clients of forensic Medical Group provide examination facilities and tools also pay for death scene investigators, toxicology testing and technicians to assist with physical labor. Forensic Medical Group head quarters in Fairfield is little more than an invoice processing center. The firm currently has five doctors, each of whom handle 300 or more cases a year, well above the annual workload the National Association of medical examiners recommends for forensic pathologist.

The firm lost Marin County's business when Ken Holmes, the county's elected coroner, saw the firms work was slipping after receiving a call from a grieving husband who was reading over his wife's autopsy report. The husband reported to Holmes that the autopsy report described her overies as "unremarkable" in fact, the husband said, his wife's overies had been removed 30 years prior. Forensic Medical Group in a written response, said Holmes never informed the company about there alleged mistake.The firm added that it believed Marin County served ties over autopsy scheduling complaints, not quality concerns. Marin County has since merged its coroner and sheriffs office , and now contracts with a certified forensic pathologist.

Records also show forensic Medical Group has over doubled its its rates, which is still cheaper than some smaller private firms. However Alameda County, which has a full-time chief pathologist and two contractors pay about $650 per death investigation, which  is still almost half as much as what Forensic Medical Group charges..and without error as the practice is smaller and doesn't cover such a vast amount of county clients.

Why hasn't anyone looked at Emmanuel Julius Burton's death certificate and coroners report and questioned the mistakes within it, and why hasn't Madera County questioned their hired coroner, Forensic Medical group about the competence of the report. Why is Madera County so adamant to convict Cornel Jackson? Is it because of his skin color which helps keep there statistics in line through there justice system? Or is it because Cornel is an easy target rather than convict there own county workers? Or is it because shedding the light on this case alone will bring forward years and years of falsified documents and corruption that the county simply doesn't want to be seen, for they are accountable and  indeed the problem.

Cornel Jackson has been pleading his innocence against the death of Emmanuel Burton for 8 years. For 8 years this man could have been home with his family, raising his children, being a part of his community again. Madera counties corruption has taken more than enough from this family, and taken the justice away from Emmanuel Julius Burtons tragic death.