I recently published an article titled Miranda v. Arizona and the Nursing Workplace of the Past, Present & Future, which discusses the issue of Miranda warnings as applied to nurses in a variety of settings. The article was published this month in Nurses First, the online journal of the Center for American Nurses. To obtain the article, see www.centerforamericannurses.org.
See the article below published by a Cleveland newspaper. Notice how at the end of the interrogation, the nurse finally realizes and says, I am going to need a lawyer. You would be surprised to know how many times this type of scenario involving nurses actually happens and plays out with different factual allegations.
Here is the cut and paste:
Attorney: Nurse coerced into confession
| 12/24/2008, 2:02 p.m. EST The Associated Press |
SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) — Two detectives grilled a former nightshift nurse and pressed him to take responsibility for allegations that he sexually abused patients at a nursing home, according to a videotaped interrogation that a defense attorney wants kept out of an upcoming trial.
John Riems, who was videotaped telling authorities that he abused about 100 patients since the 1980s, was coerced into the confession by aggressive detectives who used threats of prison and public shame if Riems did not cooperate, defense attorney Troy Wisehart said.
Riems, 50, also suffers from a mental disorder that makes him vulnerable to being coerced, Wisehart said.
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Erie County Common Pleas Judge Tygh Tone, who watched the videotape during a court hearing Tuesday, will decide whether it will be used during Riems' trial, which is set to begin Jan. 20.
Riems, who worked at 12 nursing homes and hospitals in Ohio, is charged with 15 counts of rape, three counts of sexual battery and other charges. He's pleaded not guilty.
Erie County Sheriff's Detective Jared Oliver and former Perkins Township police Detective Al Jenkins interrogated Riems on Jan. 21 after authorities were contacted about an abuse case at Concord Care and Rehabilitation Center, where Riems worked.
At one point on the videotape, which was shown in court, Oliver told Riems he "would kill" him if Riems had done to Oliver's father what he is accused of doing to the patient at Concord Care. Oliver also called Riems a "cold-blooded rapist" during the interview and threatened to plaster Riems' face on billboards to help him find more victims.
Throughout the videotape, Oliver told Riems to admit to his crimes and take responsibility.
"This is your chance to put it out on the table. You need to take the opportunity you are being given," Oliver said.
When Riems began writing out a list of victims, Oliver told him, "This is your way of saying you are sorry."
Authorities have said Riems could remember specific information on only about two dozen victims. The victims included men and women, most were older, and some were physically or mentally unable to tell others what had happened, authorities said.
Oliver and Jenkins were aggressive in their questioning of Riems, but they had to be to get at the truth, Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter said.
"I think they were aggressive, definitely," Baxter said. "You have to put in yourself in their shoes. They sensed from experience and even common sense he wasn't being truthful. They had to ask him some tough questions, and that's what they did."
At the end of the videotape, Riems is shown alone in a windowless concrete office where he was interviewed. He pulled out a cell phone, and the phone beeped as he punched in numbers. A ring tone sounded, and a female voice answered.
"I'm going to need a lawyer," he said.
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See also http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081224/NEWS02/812240395/-1/NEWS
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