Colorado
Women sexually abused by ICU nurse sue hospital
DENVER (AP) — Two women who say a nurse sexually assaulted them while they were unconscious in intensive care filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Colorado hospital where they were being treated, alleging the hospital’s management didn’t do enough to prevent the abuse.
The lawsuit — which is proposed as a class action suit — alleges St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction and SCL Health and Intermountain Healthcare, the companies that ran the hospital, knew or should have known about the actions of the nurse, Christopher Lambros, who has been arrested and charged with sexual assault. Police say Lambros would record himself sexually abusing female patients while they were unconscious or incapacitated.
According to his arrest affidavit, on a day in June when Lambros made five videos of himself abusing a patient, he whispered to the camera saying “don’t ever get rid of these videos” and “you need to keep them forever ... this is your Dexter collection.”
The lawsuit claims he was referencing the television show “Dexter,” in which the main character is a serial killer, and says the comment shows he maintained a collection of photos or videos of his victims.
According to court documents, prosecutors have identified three people who they believe were assaulted by Lambros and think a fourth person who has not been identified yet was assaulted in 2016. Lambros began working at St. Mary’s in 2012, according to the lawsuit.
Lambros’ lawyer, Scott Burrill, did not return a call or email seeking comment.
In a statement, St. Mary’s said it is fully cooperating in the investigation into Lambros but declined comment on the lawsuit.
“We cannot offer further details about this matter out of respect for patient privacy,” it said.
Siddhartha Rathod, one of the lawyers for the women who filed the lawsuit, said they are the same women Lambros is charged with assaulting. He said the third victim who has been identified has since died.
As part of the criminal case, prosecutors have told his clients that investigators recovered four terabytes of data as evidence and are still investigating how many people were assaulted, Rathod said. He said part of the reason the suit is being filed is to encourage any other potential victims to come forward.
“This is about public safety and about hospitals ensuring that their patients are not only safe but treated with dignity and respect,” he said.
In statement, District Attorney Dan Rubenstein declined to comment on the evidence and what it may reveal. He noted that both the women’s lawyers and hospital representatives have been communicating with prosecutors as they try to navigate the “complicated situation” of protecting patient privacy laws and getting information needed to prosecute the criminal case.
“We cannot comment on what evidence we have, and also cannot speculate on what we may find,” he said.
One of the women in the lawsuit said she was sexually abused as a child and that she is angry, anxious and depressed after being victimized again. She said she has not received even an apology from the hospital but she’s still charged $905 each month from her bank account under a payment plan to pay the bill for her hospital stay. She also gets regular email and a text reminders of the debit.
“It’s a slap in the face,” she said.
The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted.
Mississippi
NAACP sues state over legislative redistricting plan
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is perpetuating a legacy of racial discrimination because lawmakers failed to draw enough majority-Black districts for the state House and Senate, civil rights advocates say in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The Mississippi NAACP and five Black residents of Mississippi filed the suit in federal court in Jackson, challenging districts that are scheduled to be used in the 2023 election. The suit comes six weeks before candidates’ qualifying deadline of Feb. 1.
The suit says redistricting plans for the 122-member House and the 52-member Senate will dilute the voting power of Black people in a state with the largest percentage of Black residents.
“Mississippi’s newest maps are a continuation of the state’s long history of disenfranchising Black voters,” Janette McCarthy Wallace, general counsel for the NAACP, said in a news release. “Black voices were not heard in the redistricting process and these districts, which break up Black communities and limit their electoral voice, are the result. If our elections are to be just, equitable and fair, it is imperative that all Mississippians have a fair opportunity to elect candidates that reflect their communities and are responsive to their needs.”
Political districts are redrawn after each census to account for population changes during the previous decade. Mississippi’s Republican-led House and Senate unveiled redistricting plans in late March and approved them days later, at the end of the legislative session.
Senate President Pro Tempore Dean Kirby, a Republican from Pearl, led the Senate redistricting effort and is a defendant in the lawsuit. Kirby told The Associated Press on Tuesday that maintaining majority-Black districts was challenging because the Delta lost 65,000 residents.
“I can’t imagine a more fair redistricting resolution than the one that we passed,” Kirby said. He said the Black lawmakers he talked to about the plan “were very, very pleased” with it.
Historical voting patterns in Mississippi show districts with higher populations of white residents tend to lean toward Republicans and districts with higher populations of Black residents tend to lean toward Democrats.
Mississippi’s population is about 59% white and 38% Black, according to the Census Bureau.
In the redistricting plan adopted this year, 15 of the 52 Senate districts and 42 of the 122 House districts are majority-Black. Those make up 29% of the Senate districts and 34% of the House districts.
The lawsuit says legislators could have drawn at least four more majority-Black districts in the Senate and at least three more in the House.
The other defendants in the lawsuit are Republican Rep. Dan Eubanks of Walls, who helped lead redistricting efforts in the House; and the three members of the state Board of Election Commissioners, all Republicans — Gov. Tate Reeves, Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Secretary of State Michael Watson.
Because legislative redistricting is done through a resolution rather than a bill, the governor did not have the power to sign or veto the plans.
