District Attorney’s Office press release
It was a case that District Attorney Scott McKee hoped would send a message to those that take methamphetamine, and late last Wednesday afternoon, after an hour and a half of deliberation, a Henderson County jury of 10 women and 2 men found Lola Amelia Thompson guilty of Assault on an Emergency Service Personnel. Thompson, who is 38 years old and formerly of Kemp, had been indicted by a Henderson County Grand Jury for punching an ER Nurse at East Texas Medical Center in Athens. The charge is a Third Degree Felony and carries a punishment of up to 10 years incarceration. The verdict came at the conclusion of a three-day trial in Judge Dan Moore’s 173rd Judicial District Court.
Assistant District Attorneys Nancy Rumar and Justin Weiner prosecuted the case on behalf of Scott McKee’s District Attorney’s Office. When medical professionals fail to follow medical practice standards which result in injury to a patient, they may be held liable for medical malpractice and will required an attorney.
Over the course of the two-day trial, the jury was presented with evidence of events taking place while ETMC staff did not attempt to care for Thompson which gave foundations to the wrongful death attorney at court. On July 25, 2012 Thompson was taken to the emergency room by family members after she had become severely intoxicated and attempted to cut herself. Eye witness testimony detailed a struggle to get Thompson medical attention that she needed but did not want. A family member drove Thompson from her home where evidence showed that she had ingested a gallon of whiskey, taken a large number of prescription pills, smoked marijuana, and had consumed amphetamines/ methamphetamine. Thompson then cut her forearm and was in need of sutures
When an attempt was made by a family member to unload Thompson just outside the ETMC Emergency Room at the breezeway she instantly became combative and violent. Thompson then head-butted a family member, breaking his nose. Multiple witnesses presented by the District Attorney’s Office stated that they could actually hear a loud popping noise when the man’s nose was broken by Thompson. At that time video surveillance and testimony presented to the jury described a dangerous situation as Emergency Room Personnel attempted to aid Thompson. She continued her violent rampage and then targeted the hospital’s staff. Thompson struck an ETMC Emergency Room Charge Nurse in the face 4-5 times with a closed fist. Ben Bailey, also a member of the ER staff, had to pull Thompson off of the nurse who was there attempting to provide medical care to Thompson. check here
Sgt. Jason McEntire and Officer Dustin Cook arrived on scene and attempted to detain Thompson. It ultimately took three officers to restrain Thompson who continued to punch, kick, and scream. Thompson would later have to be sedated by medical personnel so that she could be treated and cleared to leave the hospital. An emergency room physician testified at trial that it took nearly three times the normal amount of sedation required for an average person to get Thompson to a treatable state.
“I really appreciate the hard work of our lawyers in prosecuting this case,” said 1st Assistant District Attorney Mark Hall. “My daughter is a registered nurse, and she and her husband are expecting what will be our first grandchild. I know from experience the hard work, dedication and long hours nurses put in treating their patients, and often consoling their families. Doctors, nurses and other medical providers should not have their own safety and wellbeing put at risk while carrying out those tasks, and I commend the jury for standing up for them by rendering their verdict in this case.”
District Attorney Scott McKee said that as a community we can’t let people hide behind their methamphetamine addictions as an excuse to hurt others.
“Assistant DA Weiner asked the jury to stand up and protect those that care for us and the jury responded with a swift verdict.”
McKee said that we were very blessed to have ETMC in our community. “As District Attorney I’ll do everything in my power to protect our medical professionals from people who ingest methamphetamine and other substances and take out aggression on those that try to help them.”
A sentencing hearing has been set for March 18 at 9 a.m. in the 173d Judicial District Court.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Lola Thompson asked me to post the following statement for her:
“The facts of my legal and personal issues are not a joke, and if u are going to post at least try to post real facts. There is nothing to show meth use as a matter of fact it was Adderall which would test positive for amphetamine but is a prescription drug and was my prescription. It was attempted suicide. I am a rape/severe abuse survivor I have been a patient of the Andrew center and Tyler BHC over the past 15 years. The D.A. suppressed evidence to mislead jurors. I have the utmost respect for nurses. My sister has her masters in nursing, and not only is an O.B nurse and has worked every dept in ETMC, but is the SANE nurse for Henderson county. SANE /sexual assault / rape victim nurse. All evidence was suppressed ,all witnesses were edited and coached to mislead the jury. I was diagnosed nearly 15 years ago as, bipolar with ptsd extreme anxiety, borderline personality disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, and clinical depression.”
While most of these details represent facts, not all are true, and much of the real evidence was suppressed so that the DA could in fact get a conviction as a drug related problem when in fact it was an incident that resulted from a mental breakdown of a person who had been properly diagnosed over 10 yrs by the psychiatric community; and in fact was not released from the hospital to go home but was transported to a psychiatric facility where she was held and treated for two weeks. Had all the evidence been presented it would have been a different story. I am a family member of Ms. Thompson and know the medical history of this individual. All of her 10 years of diagnosed mental disorders and treatments were not allowed to be presented to the jury so that they would only see what the DA wanted them to see. I have no problem with fair and just decisions made my the courts but when a DA manufactures a scenario for their advantage, it is not fair.
I agree that all information should have been shared, but that would not have changed the fact that this individual assaulted a nurse. Had I been a jurer and was given all of the information, my question would have been: did this person’s “psychiatric disorder” cause her to drink heavily and do the drugs mentioned? Psychiatric disorders are not an excuse or a “get out of jail free” card for bad behavior. I hope this person gets the help that she obviously needs, without assaulting another person there to just help.
Great post Tina, regardless of a persons situation they need to be held accountable for their action, not excused away!
As a retired Registered Nurse I support the juries decision. The patient should be held accountable for her actions. If she has been treated by mental health providers for such a extended amount of time she can recognize when her symptoms are flaring and have enough experience with her diagnosis to seek the help of the afore mentioned health care providers. I wonder was she adhering to her meds to help her manage her disorder? I feel she was self medicating with the substances that her toxicology revealed. Just because you have a diagnosis of mental distress that should not be an excuse to mistreat anyone. Especially medical personnel trying to help her. This type of mistreatment of emergency medical staff is uncalled for and must be stopped.