A time to heal : Torres-Flores trying to recover from effects of her detainment
Posted on Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Springdale woman who was confined for four days without food or water is trying to leave the nightmare behind, her husband said through a translator.
Adriana Torres-Flores, 38, was left in a secure holding cell Thursday after a court bailiff apparently forgot to have her transported to the Washington County Detention Center. She was found Monday morning.
Torres-Flores appeared in court Thursday morning for a scheduled plea on charges of illegal copying of recordings. She decided not to enter a guilty plea in the case and her bail was revoked, which landed her in the holding cell near the courtroom.
She has been treated and released from Washington Regional Medical Center and is at home trying to recuperate physically and mentally.
“ She feels the impact of what happened, ” said Cruz Torres, her husband.
At the beginning of her confinement, she was very hungry. Then, after a couple of days, the hunger passed and she became very thirsty, he said.
She told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Monday that she was forced to drink her own urine to survive.
“ She’s getting better now, ” Torres said. “ She began eating a little bit of soup (Tuesday ). ” She tried to eat ice cream Monday, but it made her feel nauseous, he said. She could not sleep Monday evening because of a feeling of fear, he said. Torres said his wife is still very weak, but when she gets her strength back later she plans to seeks psychological therapy to deal with the emotional trauma she suffered.
Considering lawsuit Torres said his wife is not sure whether she will file a lawsuit. He referred all questions relating to potential litigation to her attorney, Nathan Lewis. Lewis said a lawsuit over her detention is definitely a possibility, but he had been too busy Tuesday fielding calls from local and national media outlets to spend much time on that issue. “ She’s interested in some compensation, ” Lewis said. He said the cr iminal charges facing his client need to be dismissed outright. Marshall Dale Evans, a Fayetteville attorney, said Torres-Flores appears to have a good case for a lawsuit. Evans has successfully sued governmental entities, including the city of Fayetteville over its incinerator and Washington, Benton and other counties over Amendment 59 property tax increases.
“ There’s no question they violated her constitutional rights, ” Evans said.
Evans said it does not matter if the detainment was accidental.
“ Oops is not a very good excuse. That’s not going to get you very far, ” he said.
He said it is fortunate that Torres-Flores survived the incident.
“ You can go into a coma after three days, ” Evans said. “ She was getting pretty close to really getting in trouble. ” Legal issues explained
Washington County Attorney George Butler said he is not sure if the county has exposure to a lawsuit in this case, but it has insurance through the Arkansas Association of Counties in case of a suit.
The county paid a premium of $ 141, 944 into the risk management fund this year. The fund pays up to $ 500, 000 annually and $ 250, 000 per occurrence, Butler said, if a claim is paid.
“ Anything over that, we have to pay out of our own pocket, ” he said.
A lawsuit can be filed in state or federal court because both have similar civil rights violation laws, which require proving recklessness, Butler said. “ There are a lot of intricacies in terms of county liability, ” he said. “ We’re immune from negligence. We’re even immune from gross negligence. We’re not immune from reckless conduct. ” The question becomes whether the county’s conduct in this case was gross negligence, negligence or recklessness, he said. Butler said he supposes one might argue that this case involved recklessness. “ To me it’s gross negligence, not to say that’s OK, ” he said. Cpl. Jarrod Hankins, the bailiff who placed Torres-Flores in the cell, has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending an investigation into the incident. Butler said he spoke with Torres-Flores ’ attorney on Tuesday morning. “ We would want to try to make amends to her if at all possible, ” he said. “ It’s not a case that we want to slam the door on and say, ‘ No, we’re not paying anything. We’re legally not at fault. ’ We’re willing to make some sort of good-faith gesture. “ I’m sure the attorney will be in touch with us before they file a suit. Settlement is always a possibility if a serious lawsuit gets filed. ”
ACLU contacted The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas has been contacted by several people about this case, said Holly Dickson, legal director for the state ACLU. “ A lot of people in the community are concerned about what happened to this woman, ” she said. Some of the callers were concerned that the incident happened because she is a Hispanic immigrant. “ It does seem like they should have had some policy or check in place to make sure this did not happen, ” Dickson said. “ It was unimaginably horrible for this lady. ” She said the constitutional issues of confinement in this case are the type in which the ACLU considers getting involved. The ACLU may decide to sponsor cases for litigation or file amicus curiae briefs, she said. An amicus curiae, or “ friend of the court, ” brief is filed by someone who is not a party to the litigation, but who has an interest in the case. She said the ACLU typically does not get involved unless it is asked in cases where clients are represented by private attorneys. She said the ACLU has not been contacted by the attorney representing Torres-Flores.
Consulate meeting In other developments, Sheriff Tim Helder said he met with delegates from the Mexican Consulate on Monday to discuss their concerns in this incident. He said he told them the incident was unintentional and assured them that steps have been taken to make sure this type of incident does not happen again. Trish Hollenbeck and Francisco Ayala contributed to this report.
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