Published: July 30, 2008 10:07 am            

The twist and turns of jail house probe

Some of the questions raised by Dallas television reports after the death of Debra Lee Newton have already been answered.

Others are being addressed in an outside investigation of the woman’s death by Texas Ranger Trace McDonald.

The investigation will hopefully determine whether statements made by two former inmates at the facility have any validity.

The report said about 20 inmates witnessed the alleged neglect, though only two of those inmates (both now out of jail) were quoted in the story.

Sheriff’s Department officials vehemently deny any wrong doing.

Reporter Brett Shipp of WFAA (Channel 8) in Dallas, presented the eyebrow-raising scenario on what the former inmates claimed.

Such as:

• allowing Ms. Newton to suffer for at least 24 hours before receiving medical attention despite being “deathly ill” and moaning in pain.

• guards having inmates drag the woman from her cell to a holding cell when her cries persisted.

• releasing her from custody with a personal recognizance bond that was unsigned by the inmate, though two deputies did sign a P.R. bond form because the woman was incapacitated and couldn’t sign.

• having the woman’s body cremated quickly instead of having it autopsied.

The TV report also seemed to imply that Sheriff Ronny Brownlow, “suddenly” retired amidst the alleged controversy, and left town.

When the Pilot and the Athens Review spoke with Brownlow earlier this week, he had answers while strongly denying his early retirement was a last-minute decision, or that he left town for any other reason than to go on vacation in Colorado.

More about that later.

The more serious allegations resulted in the Sheriff’s Department contacting the District Attorney’s office, which in turn asked Texas Ranger Trace McDonald to launch an independent investigation.

Sheriff’s Department officials vehemently deny they did anything wrong and say they welcome the investigation.

Brownlow said WFAA reporter Brett Shipp was incensed with him when he told him he doesn’t do on-camera interviews.

“I can’t believe you won’t do an on-camera interview,” Brownlow quotes Shipp as saying.

If so, it wasn’t the first time, the Henderson County Sheriff has angered television reporters for that reason.

He remembered a Tyler reporter a few years ago who also grew irate with his “no on camera interview” stance.

“When the guy said he was coming over to interview me, I told him I could save him a trip because I didn’t do on-camera interviews,” Brownlow said.

At that time Brownlow was a Chief Deputy under former Sheriff Slick Alford. He described the reporter as growing angry, finally to the point of telling him he was going to complain to his Sheriff that Brownlow “was a poor excuse for a county representative.”

Brownlow said he told the reporter, “He already knows I’m a poor excuse for a representative of the county.”

Brownlow and Alford have been close personal friends for years and both had been Texas Rangers at the same time.

They’ve been known to needle each other.

Brownlow has had good working relationships with the media on the whole, but his television stance is in stark contrast to most county county sheriffs. He has remained steadfast, nevertheless in his decision not to appear on camera for interviews — with one notable exception.

When two of his deputies, Paul Habelt and Tony Ogburn were gunned down by Payne Spring resident Randall Mayes in 2006, a Tyler reporter asked him to go on camera.

“She was very kind and simply asked me to express the department’s grief on that day. So I made an exception.”Brownlow explained.

“So he probably thinks I lied to him.”

Shipp’s report relied heavily on two former inmates as sources, along with critical comments in a second report from relatives emerged and appeared on camera after the first report, which had reported that she had no relatives.

A Dallas County Judge was also called on for his opinion on what Henderson County Jail officials may, or may not have been doing, and his response was supportive of the scenario built by the reporter.

Brownlow said he referred Shipp to Lt. Pat McWilliams, the department’s Public Information Officer.

“He said she died in our custody, whether you’ll admit it or not,” McWilliams said. “He was adamant she died in our custody.”

The woman actually died 10 days after being released on the personal recognizance bond.

McWilliams, when asked about Sheriff’s Department responses, said Shipp offered him a camera and a microphone to make disclaimers.

“He already had his mind made up and there wasn’t any use to talk to him anymore.,” McWilliams said.

McWilliams was also asked about reports that neither the District Attorney’s office, nor Ms. Newton’s attorney knew of her release from county jail.

McWilliams indicated the department doesn’t call attorneys when it releases an inmate except in cases involving violence, and then only, to inform family members, usually a spouse.

“Once they’re released from our custody, we don’t keep up with them anymore,” McWilliams said.

The D.A.’s office subsequently took Newton’s case to a grand jury where she was indicted a month after her death.

Once the D.A’s office realized the embarrassing error, which was reported on the WFAA report, the case was dropped the same day.

County Judge David Holstein, who signed the papers for a pauper’s funeral when no known family members could be located by the hospital, by Cooper Funeral Home, or by Holstein’s office, signed the cremation papers.

“If there had been any indication of foul play, there’s no way I would have had the body cremated,” Holstein said. “It would have been much better for the county if we could have found a family member to handle the funeral arrangements..”

As it was, after Shipp’s initial report, several family members emerged in the Dallas area to speak on camera in a follow up report.

As to the quickness of the cremation, Holstein said his office was contacted a few days before Ms. Newton died.

A spokesperson from the hospital advised them there was nothing they could do for the woman and that she would die in the next few days.

The spokesperson wanted to know if the process for the pauper’s funeral could get under way because a previous pauper’s funeral had resulted in a delay of several days.

While a search for that family went on, the body had to remain in the hospital.

They hoped to avoid a similar situation in Newton’s case.

The accusations that guards stood by and did nothing for 24 hours before jail physician Jim Lemon was summoned to examine her, are the most troubling aspect of the investigation.

Nevertheless, it’ll be difficult to prove or disprove for either side because of the he-said, he said, nature of the claims and denials.

What may prove critical in the investigation, are possible statements from the other inmates. Will they corroborate the stories told by the two former inmates?

Or will they tell a different version?

“Some of them will tell the truth,” Brownlow predicted. “Some of those people back there still have some dignity about them.”

McDonald’s investigation may, or may not cover what happened at the hospital, where a friend and third former inmate who was at the hospital when Newton arrived, said she saw the woman strapped to a gurney making noises and in obvious pain.

Were the straps for the woman’s own protection, or some other reason? That may be difficult to obtain, since medical records are private.

Newton was in the hospital for two months, but she didn’t become ill until April 23rd, two days before her release.

P.R. bonds are issued routinely when it is determined a patient is suffering from a major illness.

Holstein said there is a compassionate factor involved in deciding when it’s time to release an inmate from custody.

“When there’s a health issue going on, and a doctor says the inmate should be in a hospital, the only right thing to do is get that person the healthcare they need.”

Brownlow says that’s exactly what jail officials did, acting on the recommendation of the doctor and nurses.

There are some advantages for the county and for the inmate and her family members when that person is released from custody.

The woman was not a flight risk, but if she had remained an inmate under the department’s scrutiny, state law requires that she be treated the same at the hospital as she would if she was in jail.

Guards would have to be pulled out of the jail and assigned to 24-hour security at the hospital.

If an inmate has family, they are not be allowed to visit her if she is still in custody.

When Brownlow returned from his vacation in Colorado last week, the Pilot asked him to respond to the reports of his “sudden” retirement.

The 12-year-twice-elected Sheriff, showed a reporter the efforts he had made as far back as last September about his desire to retire after his 64th birthday in July, to indicate his decision was anything but last minute.

Brownlow’s annual vacations in the 12-years he’s been in office, have all taken place in July during the time of his birthday, and he followed the same tradition again this summer.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.