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Nurse's mistakes may mean child abusers were wrongly convicted
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/042...cal_nurse.html
By Laura Whitley ABC13 Eyewitness News (4/20/04 - HOUSTON) - Wrongly convicted -- that may be the case for dozens of child abuse defendants. Potential problems were found in nearly 200 cases, and human error may be to blame. Prosecutors rely on evidence as gathered at the Children's Assessment Center to make strong cases. But now some of that evidence is being questioned. It's known as a safe haven for sexually abused children. But Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal wants medical assessments of potential victims made by a nurse at the center's clinic reviewed. "About 170 or so resulted in criminal charges being filed," said Rosenthal. "So we then asked for a peer review in all of those cases." Robin Howard of the Children's Assessment Center said, "We are very concerned about what is going on here. And we're certainly here to provide any information we can." The problem was discovered when the DA's office asked a doctor to review the nurse's findings while preparing a case for trial back in January. Rosenthal said, "The doctor came back and said, 'I can't testify to those facts. I think she made a mistake.' So that caused them to then go ahead and check some more of her findings to see if there were, in fact, potential errors that were spotted." According to internal Assessment Center emails, more problems were found. A memo from a clinic doctor in February said, "I have come across another of _______'s charts that contains flaws that could potentially have repercussions." Howard explained, "She is not an employee of the Children's Assessment Center. She was an employee of the University of Texas, who we contract with to provide medical services." The nurse worked in the clinic at the Children's Assessment Center for about two years. In that time she handled hundreds of examinations. Even though the nurse worked for UT, the spokesperson would only say the university is still gathering information. Meanwhile, defense attorneys are scrambling to figure out if any of their clients could be affected. The nurse stopped working at the clinic in November. And that's when administration officials at CAC say they first became aware of the problem. (Copyright © 2004, KTRK-TV) |
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