Eileen Hirst, chief of staff for the sheriff's department, said the hearing officer made the decision despite a recommendation from Sheriff Mike Hennessey that the deputy be given a 60-day suspension.

Inmate Otis Burton reported that sheriff's deputy John Minor slammed his head repeatedly into cell bars and fractured his right hand in the encounter at the San Bruno jail.

Hennessey ``believed that Minor acted improperly in reacting to the situation,'' but hearing officer William Riker held that Minor had acted appropriately, Hirst said.

``The sheriff views any physical conflict between a deputy and an inmate as a very serious matter,'' Hirst said. ``The department investigated the incident carefully, but the hearing officer exonerated Minor of all charges,'' Hirst said.''

Riker wrote, ``The force taken by Deputy Minor appeared to be necessary and reasonable and in accordance with the department's rules and regulations.''

The hearing officer heard the allegations against Minor under a system created by the city charter that calls for an independent hearing in disciplinary matters when the penalty sought is greater than 30 days.

Burton, who was in jail on a burglary charge at the time, stated in his complaint that when he did not immediately get out of a jail doorway at Minor's request, Minor ``grabbed my throat with one hand and my right arm with another hand.'' Then the deputy ``slammed my head into the bars of my cell. . . . This happened several times.''

Following the incident on July 17, 1996, Minor was on disability for an unrelated injury for several months and then returned to duty while his case was pending. He joined the department in 1993.