Mock Investigative Interview:   Assault on Staff in a Hospital Causing Malicious Criminal Damage

Purpose

The purpose of this mock investigative interview is to provide the results of a hypothetical interview with a witness to an alleged physical assault on a registered nurse, “Martha,” at the Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service, a tertiary medical center, on 30 July 2020 at approximately 0933 hours.  

Background of the case

It has been alleged that the suspect walked into an office at the hospital and became extremely agitated, at which point he struck a registered nurse in her face with his fist and then picked up the computer monitor off of her desk and smashed it against a wall. The estimated cost of the destroyed computer monitor was $200. No other patients or visitors were involved in this incident. 

The registered nurse who was the victim of the assault works in the Community Mental Health Service specializes in the treatment of adults that are suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with a special emphasis on helping disabled Australian combat veterans who served during Operation Slipper (late 2014) and Operation Highroad (early 2015) in Afghanistan as a member of the Australia Defence Force. During his military service, Mr. Johnson rose to the rank of staff sergeant and was ultimately assigned to lead a platoon of Australian Army soldiers prior to his injury and discharge. 

At present, the veteran suspected of the assault is a married, 50-year-old male combat veteran, “Benjamin Johnson,” who served in Afghanistan from January 2014 through February 2015. During his combat tour in Afghanistan, Benjamin suffered a severe traumatic brain injury (STBI) as a direct result of an improvised explosive device explosion that also injured several other troops in his vehicle. Besides the STBI, Mr. Johnson also suffered a broken mandible, a lacerated pancreas, both ankles broken and a fractured right femur. To date, Mr. Johnson has received 17 orthopedic procedures and is currently walking with a normal gait and appears fully recovered physically from his service-connected injuries. 

 Following his initial treatment in Afghanistan, Mr. Johnson was returned to Australia for follow-up medical treatment and rehabilitation. Following a 2-month inpatient stay, Benjamin was discharged from the military and returned to civilian life in his home in Queensland where he remains married and employed as a machinist. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two adult children who live nearby but who do not visit them on a regular basis.

The hypothetical interview that follows was conducted on September 10, 2020 at 1000 hours by this writer, Constable Cindy Langley at an interview office at the Queensland Police Service. This case was assigned to me in order to investigate the alleged assault on Martha. The interviewee, “Jennifer,” is another registered nurse who works with Martha who witnessed the alleged assault, and who agreed to provide a detailed account of the incident. The interview script that follows is based on the above fact scenario. 

Interview script

Cindy: Good morning. Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable. My name is Incremental Senior Constable Cindy M. Langley and I’ve been assigned to this case. I’ve been a law enforcement officer in Queensland in some capacity for more than 15 years now. The gentleman with me to my right is Mr. John Manning, who will record our interview but will not be asking any questions. Thank you very much for agreeing to meet with me this morning. First, let’s take care of the legalities. I must inform you that you do not have to say or do anything but anything you say or do may be given in evidence in a court of law of competent jurisdiction. Do you understand all of that?

Jennifer: Yes.

Cindy: In addition, I must also inform you that you have the following rights. You may communicate with or attempt to communicate with a friend or a relative to inform that person of your whereabouts. Further, you may also communicate with or attempt to communicate with a legal practitioner. Do you understand that?

Jennifer: Yes, I do.

Cindy: Thank you. Do you have any questions about these rights?

Jennifer: No, I understand.

Cindy: We have coffee and doughnuts if you want them and please let me know if you need to take a restroom break or get a drink of water at any time, okay?

Jennifer: Okay, thanks. I’ll pass on the coffee and doughnuts right now. I had a snack on the way over here.

Cindy: Okay, great. Now, please state your full name, occupation and length of time working here at Central Queensland Hospital.

Jennifer: My full name is Jennifer R. Johnson, I’m a registered nurse working as an occupational rehabilitation specialist. I’ve worked here since 2011, almost 10 years now.

Cindy: What is your position title at the hospital?

Jennifer: I’m the project manager in charge of risk management at the hospital, which, I know, makes this incident especially ironic but all the more important to prevent in the future. 

Cindy: We can all agree on that. At any rate, I’ve read the incident report about the altercation with Mr. Johnson and I must say, working with and helping disabled combat veterans suffering from PTSD must be a challenging but highly rewarding profession. Do you and your co-workers enjoy working with veterans?

Jennifer: Yes, we love our veteran patients. We hold them in high esteem and regard them as national heroes, but there are some downsides as well, that’s for sure.

Cindy: Such as?

Jennifer: Well, on one occasion, an intoxicated veteran who had been diagnosed with HIV vomited on my desk during a counseling session and I’ve been assaulted in the past more than once.

Cindy: You were assaulted by patients?

Jennifer: Yes.

Cindy: Were they also combat veterans?

Jennifer: Well, one of them was I know for sure but I’m uncertain about the other individual.

Cindy: Can you tell me what happened?

Jennifer: The first instance involved a patient with PTSD and some other comorbidities that, as it turned out, had stopped taking his medications.  and started hallucinating as a result, imaging that everyone around him was trying to harm him. 

Cindy: What do you mean by comorbidities?

Jennifer: I’m sorry. I should have just said other disorders instead of comorbidities, but I mean many of these patients also have other medical conditions that just exacerbate their PTSD.

Cindy: Thank you. Can you tell me what happened next with this first instance of an assault?

Jennifer: Well, as I was saying, this patient said he thought everyone was trying to hurt him and all of a sudden, he just jumped out of his chair and started running into a wall over and over. When I tried to stop him to keep him from hurting himself, he knocked me over. I’m not sure whether he intended to assault me or not, but that was the end result.

Cindy: Were you injured?

Jennifer: No, not really, I was just scared and shaken more than anything else...…Johnson said to Martha before he struck her and smashed her computer monitor?

Jennifer: Well, there was a lot of cursing that I don’t want to repeat but I recall Mr. Johnson calling his physician an “SOB” and threatening to “PTSD all over him” if he didn’t change his medication back to Prozac.

Cindy: Was this type of change in medication unusual for PTSD patients such as Mr. Johnson?

Jennifer: Well, that’s a little out of my line of expertise, but I can say that it all depends on the patient and the prescribing physician of course, and PTSD is an especially difficult condition to treat but doctors change medication regimens all of the time without this type of violent reaction on the part of patients.

Cindy: Do you know anyone else who can shed some additional light on this incident?

Jennifer: Although physician-patient privilege may prevent his other health care providers from discussing the details of Mr. Johnson’s medical condition with anyone else, including law enforcement authorities, his treating physician and other members of the treatment team may be able to help explain Mr. Johnson’s violent reaction to his change in medication since this may be related to his PTSD condition. While these types of incidents are rare, they are not unheard of by any means and as I stated previously, I’ve been attacked by violent patients on two separate occasions in the past myself.

Cindy: Finally, is there anything else you want to tell me about the incident with Mr. Johnson that I haven’t already asked you?

Jennifer: Not really. Well, I would like to add that generally, Mr. Johnson is ordinarily a fine fellow otherwise based on my empirical observations and past encounters with him. In other words, this incident is not like him at all. Generally, he is a kind and gentle person and that was what made this incident so unusual, at least for him. I’m just glad Martha’s okay and that Mr. Johnson is currently receiving the help he clearly needs to regain some semblance of normalcy in his life. In fact, we have a special place in our hearts for disabled combat veterans, and we try to protect and help them however we can. 

Cindy: Thank you very much for your cooperation. I’d like to send you a copy of the transcript for your review to ensure that everything is accurate. Is that okay with you?

Jennifer: Yes, certainly. In fact, I’d appreciate the chance to review the transcript before it goes any further.

Cindy: Do you have a preferred email address where we can send the transcript copy? 

Jennifer: Yes, please send it to me here at the hospital. My email address is [email protected].

Cindy: Did you get that, John? 

John: Yes, I got it.

Cindy: Good. Okay, Thanks again, Jennifer, and goodbye now.

END OF TRANSCRIPT