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Case Notes: 2011-BHS-0263-DHS May 17, 2012  Wherein, I present my testimony about the substandard conditions at The Arizona State Hospital and throughout the Arizona Department of Health Services/Behavioral Health Services in front of judge for the first time.  

              The following are my actual opening and closing statements specific to the above case proceeding, which I read word for word to Judge Kay Abramsohn in a 2.5 hour long court session in the Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings on Thursday, May 17, 2012. 

Opening statement (verbatim, as prepared in advance)

(NOTE: AG'S WITNESS: UNANNOUNCED UNTIL NOW- OBJECT)  

"Good morning, you honor. I want to express my sincere appreciation for your assistance thus far as this hearing has approached, and your tolerance for my relative inexperience in these matters."  

(NOTE: I also object, shooting from the hip, to the state's admission of an announced witness at this time. I obviously have not been granted an opportunity to prepare cross examination of this witness. Is it standard procedure for the state to be able to both bring in announced witnesses as well as present their testimony in advance of my opening statements?) 

"As per my May 08 letter to the court, I am absent several critical evidentiary materials, and feel the need to state my disagreement with this proceeding going forward despite the appellee's blatant refusal to maintain good faith communications specific to this process.  

On the morning of July 07, 2011, I was maliciously assaulted by ET, resulting in grave physical, emotional, and psychological harm to me, including very obvious damage to my rib cage, and clearly expressed mental duress and anguish that I shared with various members of ASH staff throughout the day of the attack. 

I was subsequently denied my lawful right to file a report with public law enforcement, and over a period of five hours, I was coerced by at least three members of ASH admin. (Mitsher, Serda, Ahktrer) into considering whether or not I should exercise my lawful right to file a report w/public law enforcement. 

More than 7 hours after the attack, when I was finally granted contact with public law enforcement, and only after ADHS/ASH staff were granted first access to law enforcement- which constitutes unlawful interference with the public law enforcement investigative process- the PHX police refused to file a formal complaint on my behalf on the basis of this interference.

ASH security intimidated me immediately prior to meeting with PHX police as well as on two subsequent occasions specific to the issue in question. 

Over a period of seven months following the attack itself, my rights to meaningful safety, health, and protection, and related investigative proceedings were repeatedly denied in graphic defiance of applicable law and policy."   

"In Sum:  I WAS IN NO WAY CONFRONTING OR OTHERWISE INTERACTING WITH ET immediately before she approached me from behind and assaulted me. ET did not offer any idea whatsoever as to why she was in my face, and there was a med rom door she could have used, the med window was wide open, I stated every clearly that she had hit me, I requested immediate assistance, and I immediately requested assistance, but no assistance was offered.I immediately requested contact with the police, but my request was denied, thus denying me my constitutionally protected right(s) to due process and equal protection under state and federal law. I was so intimidated by the attack itself and the immediately related events that I experienced grave emotional harm that lasted for several months (deep fear for my safety, anxiety, and related sleep disturbances)  I was so dismayed by the subsequent failures of ADHS/ASH to meaningful consider and investigate the events of July 7-10 that my condition as an SMI was aggravated with specific respect for my diagnosis (increased suicidal ideation, depression, fear and anxiety, etc.) To this day, I harbor deep seated distrust and fear of authority that all three of the therapists (and I) directly attribute to this matter, distrust that I never harbored prior to this event. These issues reflect endemic unlawfulness and related substandard mental health care and medical practice." 

Closing statement (verbatim, as prepared in advance)

       "I am requesting that each and every aspect of my presented concerns as they stand today be investigated by an impartial investigator, and that this entire investigation as it has stood to this date be remanded in order to assure that my full rights in relation to his matter are preserved in 100% accordance with all applicable law and policy, including state and federal statutes specific to abuse in the context of disabled and SMI persons, vulnerable adults and citizens, and any other like provisions of law and policy. Nothing short of rigorous oversight and full accountability under all applicable law and policy will suffice in terms of meaningfully addressing these issues, and I humbly request that the court take my heartfelt and good faith testimony into account for what it is: I am a nonviolent person with no record of violence whatsoever (including during the entirety of my hospitalization between May, 2010-Feb. 2012), and I have never been involved in any nature of frivolous or inaccurate misreporting of crime or misconduct in my entire life. My only desire from the exact moment that the original incident of July 07, 2011, was to be treated with fairness, and to to be protected from physical and emotional and psychological abuse;  subsequently, my only desire was to be served my sue right to investigation of these matter, and to be protected from administrative abuse of authority and related administrative negligence. I am a human being, nothing more nothing less, but given the setting in which these very, very unacceptable events occurred, due consideration should be given to my status as a disabled-SMI person and citizen of AZ and the US, for the things that I experienced though out the entirety of this matter were: 

       A) not something that I exclusively encountered at ASH, and

       B) would never have been allowed go occur anywhere outside of this facility, which as a state HOSPITAL FACILITY is a public entity that all citizens of this state rely upon in terms of providing safe and humane mental health care and related treatment, as applicable to ourselves, our families, and our fellow citizens.
       I again wish to thank the court for granting me this opportunity, and for tolerating my relative unfamiliarity with these sorts of proceedings. Thank you very much, your honor." 

paloreed@gmail.com