Straight from the whipped horse's mouth
Let me see if I have this straight...
1. Has anybody involved in the assault actually seen the picture in question, or have they just heard about it through a third party?
2. The director of the ambulance service asked the paramedic to document the scene of the accident with his camera. What was the purpose of these photos if other government agencies were already documenting the scene? That smells fishy already.
3. He was assaulted on duty at their station. Good security.
4. He wasn't suspended during the investigation because it wasn't economically feasible? They acknowledge he has done something to violate their internal policies, but because they can't afford to pay him they continue to put him in a position to do the same thing again? Well I hope the family realizes they have a lawsuit which will cost the service far more than what they would have had to pay Snow while they waited out the investigation.
5. He was terminated ONE DAY after the alleged incident. That is some indepth investigation, Matlock couldn't have solved it quicker.
6. Do the alleged photos posted show the victim? This is central to the whole argument.
7. Now, the people involved in the assault want the charges dropped? This is the Southern "Sometimes a good ***-kicking is justified defense."
8. They freely admit the assault, it occurred on duty as a direct result of the medics actions at work, they show no remorse about the incident to the point of bragging about it. Where I work that is called felony assault, and it is on a healthcare worker which raises the penalty, or since the attack invoved more than two attackers it could be tried as lynching.
9. The police acknowledge they haven't investigated the family's allegations about said pictures, referring to them as a rumor.
10. The photos in question, if they exist, were posted in a blog describing his work as a paramedic. As long as there are no visible identification issues (i.e. vanity plates, custom paint, victim's face, date/time stamp, etc...) there is no reason for this to have been a problem. It could have been any mvc he had worked.
11. He was already under investigation for posting photos online of wrecks he had worked. Why would he post more? Isn't that just adding fuel to a fire? Surely his attorney told him not to do anything of the sort during the investigation?
12. What is/was the outcome of the state's investigation? Surely that will play a part in whether he wins a really big lawsuit against the ambulance service and local government in question or not.
13. The director of the ambulance service stood in the parking lot and discussed internal personnel matters with the concerned parties? What about their employees rights concerning their human resources department?
Just some points to ponder. I doubt the whole story will ever come to light.
Okay, I am the paramedic accused of posting the pictures. I am the paramedic that had is "***-kicked". Since most of you aren't jumping to conclusions and automatically hanging me, I wanted to answer some of your questions to get the truth out there. Then judge for yourself. Everything I state you should be able to verify from another source, so if you don't take me at my word, then search it out.
Since Oldschoolmedic asked most of the questions everyone was wanting to know, I will just follow his forum.
1. As far as I, the police, and the ambulance service director can best find out, the people involved in the assault had only heard about the pictures. They, and everyone else, have been asked to provide a website address so the pictures could be tracked to a computer. But everyone asked says they heard from someone else.
2. The director of the ambulance service is the county coroner, therefore she had full authority to request pictures to be taken. Her camera was malfunctioning and I only took 2 pics of the full scene from a distance, not up close and none even remotely showed the victim.
3. Yes, good security, I'm checking on filing a lawsuit against the county as they own the building and Homeland Security sent them a report warning against exactly such a thing and instructed how to prevent it.
4. I was never determined to have violated an internal policy, they did not have a policy concerning pictures. The state attorney advised her she could suspend me, with or without pay, but if she did so without pay, then the service would be held responsible to pay me for the backpay when I was found innocent. I begged her to suspend me, but couldn't get her to. The service could not afford it.
5. Yes there was quite an extensive investigation, not. The police is continuing to investigate the alleged photos that related to the assault. However, I can guarantee if any are posted, they did not come from me. Once it was determined that the pics were not needed, they were deleted. I do not even have copies of the pics, they are no longer in existance.
6. Okay, now which alleged photos are you asking about? The state investigation is stemming from some photos of injuries I posted on a different website, NOT Myspace. These photos gave no location, gave no dates, showed no faces, and were only upclose pics of injuries. These pics are mild compared to pics you see in our textbooks. The photos the family are accusing me of, we do not know what they include because we can't find anyone who has actually seen them, but please, if any of you come across them, send me the link.
7. Yes, they want the charges dropped. Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I could not drop the charges as they are felonies. If I had been guilty, I never would have sought out the charges as I would have deserved it. But they beat me over rumors.
8. Yes, they freely admit the assault and brag about it, multiple times. In print and on video. They even threaten me on video, however, the news did not show that. The assault is a felony as I was on duty, assault 3rd, same as assaulting an officer. A fifth should be charged as well. I'm hoping since there will be five charged, the county attorney will consider organized crime charge.
9. No, if you re-read the police chief's quote, he stated nobody asked has seen the pictures, all have only heard about them third-party so it is merely rumors at this time. Last I had spoken with him, he still had not come up with anyone who had actually seen the pictures. But he's still trying to find either the photos or who incited the rumors.
10. I've already addressed this, but will again. All of my pics contained NO identifiers. The website gave no location or identifier. I have worked for three services in 18 yrs, these pics could have been taken at anytime during my career. No faces, no dates, no times, no locations, no vehicles. The only one that gave identifier was a co-worker, he gave full consent, and that pic IS on myspace. Again these pics were only closeups of injuries, no faces. I can share if interested, but will not post for obvious reasons.
11. lol, I didn't need an attorney for that advice. Only one of the patients was from an MVA, the rest were various injuries. All, except one, were fully alert and oriented when I took the pictures in the ER. The one that was not, was deceased on the scene. Again, only up close injuries. The one that was the MVA had facial injuries and part of the face is visible. However, he gave me permission twice to do with the pics as I please. In fact, I gave him copies of the pics upon his request. None of the pictures were taken during my care as I was accused. All were after my care.
12. They keep pushing my case back. They have pushed it back now until June the 15th. At that time they will divulge if they found enough evidence to proceed with investigation and possible disciplinary measures.
13. Yes, I've mentioned that to the director on previous occasions, however, she has to succumb to the board's wishes as they write the checks. However, I'm checking on filing a suit against them as well.
That's the whole story on my side. If there are any further questions I'd be glad to answer them. Thanks for your time.
