A southern Oregon nurse accused of repeatedly replacing patients鈥� fentanyl with tap water at a Medford hospital has successfully disqualified two judges overseeing her trial and is asking a court to delay a related civil lawsuit against her.
The developments come a month Dani Marie Schofield on suspicion of causing serious infections for 44 patients at Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center after allegedly administering tap water to them instead of the opioid painkiller.
Schofield in January denied wrongdoing in an interview with The Lund Report. Recent legal filings indicate that Schofield, who was released on a $4 million bail, is continuing to challenge the criminal and civil cases against her and neither will be resolved soon.
The Jackson County District Attorney鈥檚 Office has charged Schoefield with 44 counts of second-degree assault based on alleged injuries to patients caused by infections. Since reports of the infections and patient deaths emerged late last year, the situation has drawn national headlines and Schofield was sued for $11.5 million by the estate of a man who died after allegedly being administered tap water. Other lawyers have signaled that more lawsuits are on the way.
In February, attorney Justin Idiart filed an $11.5 million civil lawsuit against both Schofield and Asante on behalf of the estate of Horace Earl Wilson, a 65-year-old who died from an infection after receiving care at the hospital. Sheryl Odems, an attorney for Schofield in the civil case, last week asked the judge to delay the proceedings until the criminal trial is resolved.
鈥淭o require Nurse Schofield to continue defending this case during the pendency of the criminal case against her raises significant Fifth Amendment concerns,鈥� Odems wrote in her brief.
Odems argued that because Schofield is also facing related criminal charges, and to preserve her Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination, she will be unable to respond during the discovery process in which parties exchange documents鈥渆ffectively stripping her of any meaningful ability to defend herself in this matter.鈥�
Additionally, Odems wrote that 鈥渢here is a very real possibility that a number of civil proceedings mirroring this one will soon be filed.鈥� She cited published by The Lund Report that in June quoted attorney David DeVilleneuve saying that he expected to begin filing lawsuits on behalf of as many as 20 patients or their families in the coming months.
Idiart has not filed a response to Odem鈥檚 motion to pause proceedings, which is set for a hearing on Sept. 9.
To date, Schofield is only facing the civil lawsuit from Wilson鈥檚 estate, which also names Asante as a defendant.
Lawyers for Asante filed a brief last month denying that the hospital system was at fault for Wilson鈥檚 death. They pointed out in the brief that Wilson was not among the 44 affected patients identified in the police investigation.
Additionally, Asante鈥檚 lawyers wrote that while Wilson was treated by Schofield, the bacterium blamed for causing his fatal infection 鈥渋s not uniquely associated with waterborne transmission and was no longer detected in the bloodstream in the weeks before his death.鈥�
Change of judges
The nurse鈥檚 civil lawyer, Odems, wrote in her brief that Schofield, 36, is facing high stakes in her criminal trial. She wrote that during Schofield鈥檚 arraignment, Jackson County Senior Deputy District Attorney said that if convicted she would serve her prison sentences consecutively, meaning that she would effectively face a life sentence.
Late last month, two Jackson County Circuit Court judges, Laura Cromwell and Kelly Ravassipour, granted motions by Schofield鈥檚 criminal defense attorney, Kristen Winemiller, that they step down from overseeing the case.
Winemiller had filed motions asking the judges to remove themselves from the case after Schofield raised concerns with her attorney that she would be unable to receive a fair trial, filings show.
The reasons for Schofield鈥檚 concerns are unclear and Winemiller did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Lund Report.
Under state law, attorneys can only apply twice to remove a judge in a trial. Judge Jeremy Markiewicz, a former chief deputy in the Jackson County District Attorney鈥檚 office has since been assigned to the case.
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