Cop Arrests Nurse For Refusing To Illegally Draw Blood From Patient

[GondwanaLand]

SMH. The cop tried to force the nurse to draw blood for him from an unconscious patient. She checked hospital policy, which in turn is informed by the law - the policy is to only draw blood if the unconscious patient has given consent, if the patient is under arrest, or if there is a blood draw warrant. All of that is based on settled law (including a SCOTUS decision, in fact). The cop demanded she draw blood anyway, and tried citing a state law that has been overturned in the state for ten years, and which would have been overturned anyway by a 2016 SCOTUS decision. When she refused to break the law and refused to violate the policy she is required as an employee to follow, he assaulted the nurse, and then arrested her and dragged her out of the hospital.
Video shows Utah nurse screaming, being handcuffed after refusing to take blood from unconscious victim

A nurse says she was assaulted and illegally arrested by a Salt Lake City police detective for following a hospital policy that does not allow blood draws from unconscious patients.

Footage from University Hospital and officer body cameras shows Detective Jeff Payne and nurse Alex Wubbels in a standoff over whether the policeman should be allowed to get a blood sample from a patient who had been injured in a July 26 collision in northern Utah that left another driver dead.

Wubbels says blood cannot be taken from an unconscious patient unless the patient is under arrest, unless there is a warrant allowing the draw or unless the patient consents. The detective acknowledges in the footage that none of those requirements is in place, but he insists that he has the authority to obtain the draw, according to the footage.

At one point, Payne threatens to take Wubbels to jail if he doesn’t get the sample, and he accuses her of interfering with a criminal case.

“I either go away with blood in vials or body in tow,” Payne says.

After Wubbels consults with several hospital officials and repeats the policy, Payne tells her she is under arrest and grabs her, pulling her arms behind her back and handcuffing her. The footage shows the detective dragging Wubbels out of the hospital and putting her inside a patrol car as she screams, “Help! Help! Somebody help me! Stop! Stop! I did nothing wrong!”

Payne — who says he wanted the blood sample to protect the patient, not punish him — said he was advised by Lt. James Tracy, the watch commander on duty that night, to arrest Wubbels for interfering with a police investigation if she refused to let him get the sample, according to his report.


Tracy said in his report that he spoke on the phone with Wubbels and told her he believed that they had implied consent to get the sample, but she cut him off and said she would not allow the draw without a warrant. He then went to the hospital and tried to tell the nurse why she was in custody, but “she appeared to not want to hear my explanation,” Tracy wrote.

Porter, however, said “implied consent” has not been the law in Utah since 2007, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the Constitution permits warrantless breath tests in drunken-driving arrests, but not warrantless blood tests. She stressed that the patient was always considered the victim in the case and never was suspected of wrongdoing.

 

[HawgWyld]

She needs to get a good attorney...

 

[TLK Valentine]

She needs to get a good attorney...

What for?

 

[HawgWyld]

What for?

Seriously?

How about filing suit against a cop and the department that sent him?

 

[faroukfarouk]

I see the office involved was put on administrative leave:

Officer who arrested Utah nurse placed on administrative leave

 

[WolfGate]

What for?

Probably because this happened in July and it wasn't until her attorney went public now that the police department acknowledged the officer was wrong, refined policies to assure they aligned with Supreme Court's ruling, and apologized.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Now there is a criminal investigation:

Cop who dragged nurse for refusing order under investigation

 

[cow451]

What for?

Unlawful arrest, pain and suffering and the detective using unnecessary force and being stupid. For starters.

Smart cops are very aware that those ER people might have to save their lives some day. Smart cops do not go out of their way to p-o ER nurses.

 

[cow451]

Probably because this happened in July and it wasn't until her attorney went public now that the police department acknowledged the officer was wrong, refined policies to assure they aligned with Supreme Court's ruling, and apologized.

Pow! Right in the kisser! TKO

 

[faroukfarouk]

Unlawful arrest, pain and suffering and the detective using unnecessary force and being stupid. For starters.

Smart cops are very aware that those ER people might have to save their lives some day. Smart cops do not go out of their way to p-o ER nurses.

From the reasoned account, and from the footage, the officer who is flouting the law he is supposed to uphold, comes across as a brutal and unreasonable man.

I would still love to visit Utah, but this is not a good advertisement.

 

[RDKirk]

Seriously?

How about filing suit against a cop and the department that sent him?

She won't need a "good" one.

Anybody with a JD and a pulse can win this one.


Well, it might not take a Juris Doctor.




The pulse may be optional as well.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Seriously?

How about filing suit against a cop and the department that sent him?

Ah. My bad -- I thought you meant a defense attorney.

 

[faroukfarouk]

She won't need a "good" one.

Anybody with a JD and a pulse can win this one.


Well, it might not take a Juris Doctor.




The pulse may be optional as well.

I don't always buy the "police brutality!" complaint that is often raised; but here the officer seems plain brutal and unreasonable in his seeming illegal response to a member of the community who does a respected and valuable job.

 

[LostMarbels]

This is the type of 'policing' we do not need in this country.

 

[HawgWyld]

Ah. My bad -- I thought you meant a defense attorney.

Oh, heck no. I am a lawyer. I would love a case like that one. Cops overstepping their authority? That's money in the bank...

 

[TLK Valentine]

This is the type of 'policing' we do not need in this country.

OTOH, we've heard it from the highest level that the police shouldn't be "too nice."

 

[LostMarbels]

OTOH, we've heard it from the highest level that the police shouldn't be "too nice."

Quit the spin. You should know by now what my stance is, and what I meant by the statement I just made. I hold the Constitution in much higher regard than any President, or their comments.

 

[faroukfarouk]

Oh, heck no. I am a lawyer. I would love a case like that one. Cops overstepping their authority? That's money in the bank...

In the extended footage, the officer who is also an ambulance driver is heard to say that he would take his supposedly good patients to another hospital and bring this hospital where nurse Wubbels works his supposedly bad patients.

I would still love to visit Utah, but all this is a very bad advertisement.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Quit the spin. You should know by now what my stance is, and what I meant by the statement I just made. I hold the Constitution in much higher regard than any President, or their comments.

My point exactly -- some of those officers out there might not share your priorities.

 

[LostMarbels]

My point exactly -- some of those officers out there might not share your priorities.

Ok, so what scab are you picking at? What argument do you want to start?