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Campos Asphyxiated, Autopsy Confirms:
Lawyers for Two Desert Hills Workers Say There Was No Crime
Friday, 13 March 1998
NEWS 1A
By Enric Volante and Inger Sandal
THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR
An autopsy released yesterday confirms that a
15-year-old girl died of oxygen deprivation from being physically
restrained at Desert Hills treatment center.
But attorneys for the two psychiatric workers
who pinned her to the ground say no crimes were committed.
Prosecutors said yesterday that they will
decide after next week whether to file criminal charges.
Edith Campos of San Ysidro, Calif. stopped
breathing Feb. 2 after a male psychiatric technician ``laid over''
her while a female worker held down her legs and feet during a
10-minute restraint, according to a Child Protective Services
report. A doctor pronounced her dead two days later.
``The cause of death of Edith Campos is
restraint asphyxia. This is a condition where the vital organs are
deprived of oxygen due to a harmful restraint of the body,'' Pima
County Chief Medical Examiner Bruce Parks said.
In a brief statement released yesterday
morning, Parks also noted that toxicology tests showed nothing else,
such as drugs, contributed to her death.
The final autopsy report should be completed
and available late next week.
Desert Hills disputed the finding. ``In our
review of the tragic death of Edith Campos, we have discovered no
facts that would lead to the conclusion reported by the Pima County
Forensic Science Center,'' Desert Hills' CEO Dick Hardin said in a
written statement.
``Without having the benefit of the medical
examiner's report, we don't know what scientific evidence he saw or
reviewed that led to this conclusion,'' he stated.
Deputy County Attorney Kathleen Mayer said
prosecutors still must review hundreds of pages of documents.
Cause of death is only one piece of the puzzle
in any potential criminal case, she said.
``There has to be, obviously, an identified
perpetrator and issues as to the state of mind of an alleged
perpetrator, and we haven't resolved that yet,'' she said.
Attorneys for the two psychiatric workers
involved in Campos' restraint, Daniel Thomas Walsh and Kelly A.
Ault, said the employees did nothing wrong.
``When all the facts come out, no reasonable
person could conclude that he did anything inappropriately, let
alone criminally,'' said Walsh's attorney, Michael L. Piccarreta.
Walsh, 34, was part of the group that worked to
keep her alive by performing CPR, Piccarreta said.
When they failed, Walsh ``felt awful,'' his
attorney said. Piccarreta added that Walsh replayed the restraint of
Campos in his mind, asking what more he could have done to ensure
her safety.
``He's still saddened, but comfortable in the
knowledge that he didn't cause her death,'' Piccarreta said.
The attorney would not detail what happened,
but he said the report that a worker ``laid over'' Campos to
restrain her doesn't mean the worker put his full weight on her. The
girl weighed 110 pounds.
Walsh is a competent, dedicated professional
who over 15 years has had extensive training in how to restrain
youths safely, Piccarreta said.
``He works in a profession that doesn't pay
well, but he does it because he gets gratification from working with
youths and helping others,'' he said.
Walsh, who is 6 feet tall, weighed 250 pounds
in July 1995, according to a court record, and gave his weight as
220 pounds on a driver's license issued in September 1996.
Walsh also works as a recreational supervisor
at the Catalina Mountain School of the Arizona Department of
Juvenile Corrections.
Walsh is on vacation from his Corrections
Department job. When he returns, he will be reassigned to a job
where he does not work with youths ``until this situation has been
resolved,'' said department spokesman Steve Meissner.
``This is a measure we are taking to ensure
safety,'' Meissner said. ``We have no reason to have any less
confidence in him at this point.''
Desert Hills said earlier that employees
involved in Campos' restraint were placed on leave.
Walsh, who has worked at Desert Hills for about
eight years, declined repeated requests to be interviewed.
Ault also has declined to be interviewed,
through requests placed with her attorney, A. Bates Butler III.
``My client can't believe it,'' said Butler.
``She was devastated when I read her the press release from the
medical examiner.''
According to a CPS report, Ault, 34, restrained
Campos' legs.
``I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that
anything that Kelly did contributed to this young lady's death,''
Butler said. ``I think that'll be borne out when the investigation
is concluded.''
The autopsy results came as no surprise to the
Campos family.
``I knew that somebody had to do something to
her for this to happen. It wasn't like I was going to find something
I wouldn't know,'' Raul Campos, the girl's father, said in a
telephone interview yesterday afternoon from his home.
The family still has many unanswered questions.
``From the beginning of this situation until
now I'm still confused,'' Raul Campos said. ``I don't even know how
this thing took place so fast. . . . One minute I'm going over there
(to Tucson) to get help for my daughter - the next minute they're
calling me, telling me there was some kind of accident.
``Who is there to trust?'' he asked.
Campos' family placed her at Desert Hills for
treatment of behavioral and minor drug problems in January.
Her death also is being investigated by CPS and
the Arizona Department of Health Services, which licenses Desert
Hills' two Tucson facilities at 2797 N. Introspect Drive and 5245
North Camino de Oeste.
The first official account of how she was
restrained emerged last week in a CPS report the Arizona Daily Star
obtained by court order.
Two employees restrained the girl after she
began ``acting out,'' the report said. ``Edith was restrained in a
prone position on the floor, face down,'' the report says.
In the midst of the 10-minute restraint the
male employee ``laid over'' Campos to restrain her arms and upper
body, CPS reported.
The girl was turning blue from lack of oxygen
and taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she showed no brain
activity, the report said.
Preliminary autopsy results failed to determine
an obvious cause of death.
Campos' family, which includes a brother and
two sisters, continues to struggle with her death. Her mother,
Elizabeth, remains devastated, Raul Campos said.
``My wife is not taking this very good. . . .
Every day she gets worse and worse,'' he said. ``Even though this
thing is eating me inside, I have to stay strong so I can help her
make it through.''
Juvenile Corrections officials said Walsh has a
good record and no disciplinary write-ups.
However, in two cases last year Walsh's
physical restraint of youths at Catalina Mountain School drew
complaints, according to department records and interviews with
youths.
No one filed a formal grievance or produced
evidence that Walsh did anything wrong, said Juvenile Corrections
officials.
One restraint occurred June 16, when Walsh
grabbed Catalina youth Sergio Olivan, 15, after he saw Olivan strike
another boy as the youths left a medical building.
In an incident report, Walsh wrote that he
restrained the boy by ``grabbing his shirt.'' Then he learned he had
witnessed only horseplay rather than a fight.
Olivan, who has since been released, recalled
the incident differently when reached this month at his California
home.
He said Walsh mistook the horseplay for a fight
and grabbed and squeezed him by the back of the neck, not the shirt.
A co-worker criticized Walsh's handling of the
boy in a one-sentence comment added to the incident report: ``This
incident is very questionable!''
The employee, whose name was removed from the
copy of the report obtained by the Star, did not file a formal
complaint, said Meissner.
Olivan recalled that was the only time Walsh
treated him roughly. Afterward, he said, Walsh befriended him and
made him a recreational aide.
The second incident occurred Sept. 2.
Walsh broke up a fight between youths during a
volleyball exercise. When one boy began threatening and kicking,
Walsh ``placed him in a prone position'' using the youth's ``own
momentum,'' according to an incident report.
In a phone interview earlier this month, the
14-year-old boy complained that Walsh used excessive force.
``He grabbed me and - bam! - I just hit the
concrete face-down on the floor,'' the youth said.
He said he did not file a grievance because the
correction facility's youth rights specialist, Larry Brolowski, told
him later that the incident was under investigation. The youth said
he never heard any more about it.
Brolowski said yesterday that he could not
recall talking to the youth and never referred the matter for
investigation.
``This kind of does take me as a bit of a
surprise because Dan does have a good reputation,'' Brolowski said.
``He seems to be able to react good with the youth.''
Police are still investigating other
allegations of abuse at Desert Hills involving other employees, said
Tucson police Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a department spokesman.
Last Friday, the Arizona Supreme Court
recommended that juvenile county courts remove delinquents from
Desert Hills within 30 days. That same day, Pima County Juvenile
Court - the only juvenile court in the state with youths still in
the facility - announced plans to remove its 15 delinquents and
state wards by early April.
Three state agencies - the departments of
Health Services, Economic Security and Juvenile Corrections -
discussed removing roughly 70 state wards - almost half of the
center's patients at its two Tucson facilities. But the officials
decided to increase monitoring instead.
Since Saturday, the agencies have rotated
sending a monitor to the center every day.
Officials with the agencies also asked Desert
Hills for more information about its draft action plan presented
last week. The plan stated the company will provide restraint
training and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training to all
employees, revise restraint procedures if necessary and form a
medical team to review all restraints weekly.
The company that took over Desert Hills in
November - Youth and Family-Centered Services of Texas - told
officials it has a stronger commitment to care than the previous
owner, Youth Services International.
Rep. Herschella Horton, D-Tucson, yesterday
repeated her call for improved state oversight of Desert Hills and
all state-licensed facilities for children.
Horton said she has been in almost daily
contact with CPS regarding its stepped-up monitoring of Desert
Hills.
``I have no doubt the kids are safe there (at
Desert Hills) right now,'' Horton said. ``I just want to look at
long-term.''
Assistant Senate Minority Leader Ruth Solomon,
D-Tucson, has joined Horton in the call for more oversight. Solomon
and Rep. Winifred ``Freddy'' Hershberger, R-Oro Valley, have
scheduled a meeting for 10 a.m. next Friday in the House of
Representatives with officials from the health department and the
DES.
The agenda is to discuss oversight and other
issues related to Desert Hills.
Arizona Daily Star reporters Jane Erikson and
Rhonda Bodfield contributed to this story.
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