Newly Filed Indictments Connect Deputies to Two Deaths

Indictments accusing two Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies of official misconduct related to the deaths of two county jail inmates provide new insight into their alleged crimes.

The indictments, published Dec. 12, say both James Brauckmiller and Michael Mersereau failed to perform their lawful duties “with intent to obtain a benefit.” The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail.

A grand jury handed down the indictment after hearing evidence from a detective in the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff has previously said the two indictments were “related to two adult-in-custody deaths in 2023.” The indictments point to which ones.

Brauckmiller’s alleged crime occurred June 16, the day 58-year-old Martin Todd Franklin was found dead in his cell. He’d hanged himself with a bed sheet from a grate in the ceiling.

Mersereau’s indictment says his crime occurred Aug. 1, the day another inmate spotted 36-year-old Clemente Pineda overdosing in his cell. Deputies attempted unsuccessfully to resuscitate him.

The two men are scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 20 and will plead not guilty, their attorneys say.