It’s nice to see a small measure of justice occasionally.
Back in 2009, I covered a report about two nurses, subsequently identified as Anne Mitchell, RN and Vickilyn Galle, RN, who were facing jail time for reporting a physician, Dr. Rolando Arafiles, to the Texas Medical Board.
According to investigators with the Attorney General’s Office, after the medical board contacted Dr. Arafiles in 2009 about the complaint, he asked the Winkler County sheriff to investigate who filed the anonymous complaint. Sheriff Roberts, who is Dr. Arafiles’ close friend, patient, and alleged business partner, had the Sheriff’s Department utilize official law enforcement channels to obtain a copy of the confidential complaint. As a result, Dr. Arafiles and other officials were able to determine the identities of the nurses who filed the complaint – identities that would have been protected from disclosure if law enforcement officials had not misused their position to obtain confidential information. The nurses were then indicted for misuse of official information.
The nurses, with the support of professional associations, filed suit against the hospital and parties involved in their termination.
In January 2010, charges against Galle were dropped, but Mitchell’s case actually went to trial. Thankfully, the jury recognized the gross miscarriage of justice and acquitted her within an hour. Stephen Barrett, M.D. of Quackwatch provides some additional background on the case as well as links to court transcripts.
The civil suit against the hospital settled in August 2010, but that’s not the end of this case. Yesterday, Texas Attorney General Abbott issued a press release stating that a former Winkler County Memorial Hospital administrator, Stan Wiley, pleaded guilty to abuse of official capacity in conjunction with his decision to fire the nurses for their anonymous complaint to the Texas Medical Board.
Visiting Judge Robert H. Moore III sentenced Wiley to 30 days in the Winkler County Jail for his improper conduct.
The plea deal was reached after Wiley agreed to cooperate with the State’s prosecution of three remaining defendants in this case. The Texas Attorney General’s Office is handling the case as district attorney pro tem, as the Winkler County District Attorney recused himself from these proceedings.
The three other Winkler County officials investigated in this matter include Sheriff Robert Roberts, County Attorney Scott Tidwell, and former Winkler County Memorial Hospital physician Dr. Rolando Arafiles. Dr. Arafiles, who also faces other charges from the Texas Medical Board, was indicted on January 13 on two counts each of misuse of official information and retaliation for allegedly asking the Winkler County sheriff to investigate the two nurses. The grand jury also indicted Sheriff Roberts and County Attorney Tidwell. Each faces two counts of misuse of official information, two counts of retaliation and two counts of official oppression.
I love the irony that the trumped-up charges they leveled against the nurses are now being used appropriately against them and look forward to seeing what happens to Sheriff Robers and the others involved in this abuse of power.