Forty-six-year-old Deborah Braillard passed away January 25th, 2005, three days after Maricopa County Sheriffs arrested her on a minor drug charge when her car broke down. Her daughter Jennifer is now suing Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and four detention officers because they allegedly denied her diabetic mother insulin.
And as the case unravels in court there are some serious accusations being made against Arpaio’s office.
The former MCSO director of medical services testified for Braillard’s family against his former employer last week and accused the department of falsifying documents.
Dr. Todd Wilcox, a man who ABC15 identified as a "nationally renowned expert on correctional medical care and services," says jail staff failed to properly identify Braillard as a diabetic when she was screened at intake and failed to provide appropriate medical care once she became ill.
ABC15 has more details from Wilcox’s testimony in court:
Dr. Wilcox said, "I remember going to lunch one day and coming back with my sandwich to find somebody controlling my mouse remotely and locating folders and documents."
Wilcox said the medical screening document that should have been created when Braillard was booked into the jail is missing.
But MCSO has produced a document dated three days after Deborah Braillard was actually screened and hours after she had already been rushed to the hospital in an irreversible diabetic coma.
Wilcox acknowledged the form was apparently completed in just 59 seconds–an impossible feat given the number of questions that should have been asked of the detainee and answered.
Wilcox testified he eventually quit after he became so frustrated with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the county’s "unwillingness to improve training, conditions and access to medical care for inmates and detainees."