Failure to address mental health proves costly

Cabral Reflects on Mental Illness
by Leslie Layton | Posted June 9, 2007
photo by Leslie LaytonReny and Torrie at Enloe Rehabilitation Center

photo by Leslie Layton

Reny and Torrie at Enloe Rehabilitation Center

Five months after his arrest in connection with the choking of his girlfriend, an Orland man said that psychosis drove him to ram his head into the wall of a Glenn County Jail cell.

Reynaldo “Reny” Cabral, 23, described himself as disoriented and desperate when he rammed his head in his isolation cell Jan. 8, breaking his neck and becoming paralyzed from the chest down. He is now a quadriplegic, and both Glenn County and MediCal have been billed hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical costs.

In addition, attorney Richard Molin of Chico said he will file a claim against Glenn County next week, a first step toward a lawsuit, that if successful, could help Cabral cover the enormous medical and other costs he will face during his life as a quadriplegic. Molin said jail officials are obliged under both federal law and state “provisions” to provide psychiatric treatment to inmates as needed. read more

Breakdown: How the System Failed Reny Cabral

by ChicoSol staff | Posted April 13, 2007
Reny Cabral
Reny at Enloe Rehabilitation Center

 by Leslie Layton

Reynaldo “Reny” Cabral looked like he wanted to brush away the tears. But it’s easy to forget that he has little use of his arms, and though a shoulder twitched, the tears ran freely on this recent March afternoon in a hospital lobby.

It’s hard for most people to think of Reny as a quadriplegic, and he too is just getting used to the idea. On Jan. 8, Reny broke his neck in the Glenn County Jail, ending up paralyzed from the chest down.

Surrounded by friends and family, Reny quickly composed himself as 30 people posed with him for pictures. Camera shutters were clicking: Reny in his athletic shorts and jersey and plastic neck brace, his legs wrapped in Ace bandages to help circulation. Reny, a former high-school football lineman, now wheelchair-bound, accused of trying to murder his former girlfriend. read more

Joven de Orland sale de la cárcel de Willows paralítico

by Leslie Layton | Posted February 14, 2007

Arturo y Rosa Cabral, residentes de Orland por mucho tiempo, tienen mucho que lamentar, pero poco tiempo para pensar en sus penas.

Al final del año pasado, su segundo hijo Reynaldo “Reny” Cabral llegó a ser prisionero de su mente; su enfermedad mental dejó a su familia con pocas opciones para ayudarle. La familia Cabral se siente traicionada por las instituciones locales que no apoyaron a su hijo cuando lo necesitaba.

Atrapado por su enfermedad mental, Reny llegó a ser también prisionero del sistema de justicia contra criminales del condado de Glenn, encerrado en la cárcel de Willows. Reny fue arrestado el 6 de enero acusado de asaltar a su novia Torrie Gonzales –dos días después de que le había confiado a sus familiares que escuchaba voces en su cabeza y que necesitaba “sacrificar” a alguien en su cumpleaños. read more