SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah nurse
who was arrested for refusing to let a police officer draw blood from an
unconscious patient settled Tuesday with Salt Lake City and the university that
runs the hospital for $500,000.
Nurse Alex Wubbels and her lawyer,
Karra Porter, announced the move nearly two months after they released police
body-camera video showing Detective Jeff Payne handcuffing Wubbels. The footage
drew widespread attention online amid the national debate about police use of
force.
The settlement covers all possible
defendants in a lawsuit, including individual police officers, university
police and hospital security guards. The payout will be divided among the city
and the University of Utah.
Wubbels plans to use part of the
money to fund legal help for others trying to get similar body-camera video.
She said that in cases like hers, video is essential to being heard and
believed.
"We all deserve to know the
truth, and the truth comes when you see the actual raw footage, and that's what
happened in my case," she said. "No matter how truthful I was in
telling my story, it was nothing compared to what people saw and the visceral
reaction people experienced when watching the footage of the experience I went
through."
She said she also plans to give a
portion of the $500,000 to a nurse's union and help lead a campaign to stop
physical and verbal abuse of nurses on the job.
University of Utah hospital
officials said in a statement they support Wubbels and have changed their
procedures and training on how police and health care workers interact to
ensure nothing similar happens again.
A spokesman for Salt Lake City
didn't immediately return messages seeking comment.
Wubbel was following hospital policy
when she told Payne he needed a warrant or the consent of the patient to draw
blood after a July 26 car crash. The patient was not under arrest or suspected
of wrongdoing.
Payne had neither. He eventually
dragged Wubbels outside and handcuffed her as she screamed that she had done
nothing wrong.
She was released without being
charged but has said the incident left her feeling terrified and bullied. In a
call for changes, Wubbel and her lawyer released the video they had obtained
through a public records request.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike
Brown has since apologized and fired Payne after an internal investigation
found he violated department policies.
Brown said in a disciplinary letter
that he was "deeply troubled" by Payne's conduct, which he said
brought "significant disrepute" on the department.
Payne is appealing that decision,
saying the firing was an unfair reaction to the negative publicity.
The patient was an off-duty Idaho
reserve police officer driving a semitrailer when he was hit by a man fleeing
police in a pickup truck. He later died of his injuries.
Lt. James Tracy, a police supervisor
who ordered the arrest of the nurse, was demoted to officer and also is
appealing. He said he suggested Payne consider handcuffing the nurse and that
his superiors had never informed him of the hospital's blood-draw policy,
according to appeal documents.
Wubbels said she was relieved at the
discipline and would be disappointed if it's overturned, though she stressed
that decision is out of her control.
"The police have to police
themselves," she said. "This is something I never would have expected
to happen, but I'm also honored by the weight of it."
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