Following are the facts of the case.
Josephina Brito-Fernandez, 49, is a home health aide.
This is a versatile job that combines qualified nursing with cooking and
cleaning. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she is a legal permanent
resident of the USA, living in New Jersey with her husband and five children.
She speaks only Spanish, her knowledge of English is less than basic.
She had been working for a family of five that
included an 80-year old lady. Josephina bathed, fed, cooked and cleaned for the
family. For the services, she earned $11 an hour from a staffing agency.
On 16 April 2020, Josephina was tested for covid-19. At
the beginning of the pandemic, everyone who was tested was given brochures in
English and Spanish. Later when detectives interrogated her, Josephina admitted
not reading them, although she can read Spanish. Between the test and the result,
the brochure required her to go into isolation. She didn’t.
On 17 April, she came back to the house. The in-house
video recording shows she cared for her elderly patient by feeding her, giving
her a sponge bath, and taking her vital signs. The same video confirms she was wearing
neither PPE nor mask inside the house. Her staffing agency said they expected
the staff to wear PPE.
After a few days, the 80-year old lady contracted the
covid-19 virus, and was hospitalized. The other four members of the house
tested positive as well. The old lady died in the hospital.
*****
On a complaint filed by the sister of the old lady, police
detectives investigated the matter. When probed by them, Josephina acknowledged
she understood covid-19 was a serious illness, and that elderly patients were
at an increased risk.
On 14 May 2020, Josephina was charged with five criminal
counts. The first accusation was that she had knowingly engaged in conduct
which created a substantial risk of death. The other four counts related to the
other four members of the family, who tested positive, and recovered without hospitalization.
Here she was accused of serious bodily injury to four people by visiting
victims in their own residence one day after being tested for covid-19.
Her acts were considered felonies, not misdemeanors. In
the USA, felony is a serious offence that is punishable by death or
imprisonment longer than a year.
*****
At around the same time when Josephina was charged,
the co-owners of a nearby New Jersey gym staged a protest live on Fox News. All
the protesters were unmasked. In the live telecast, police told the unmasked
crowd they were violating the law, and then said “good day” to them. Later, the
gym owners received a misdemeanor ticket.
In the same month, President Trump refused to wear a
mask, and encouraged his admirers to follow suit. Months later, in a
superspreader event organized in the White House Rose Garden, most attendees were
sat without masks very close to one another. The video recording of that event
is available.
*****
There is no mention of whether Josephina had tested
positive. Her crime was to visit the family between the test and the result. Felony
charges allow the State to deport legal residents. Josephina spent nine months in
a terrified state, with the prospect of imprisonment followed by deportation.
Though her lawyer felt the prosecution case was weak; the risk was too high for
a non-white, non-citizen woman. Juries are unpredictable, or rather predictable
when the defendant is poor and black or Hispanic.
A compromise was reached with the prosecution, whereby
Josephina would permanently lose her licence to work. Had she been convicted,
she would have lost it anyway. She is put on probation in lieu of imprisonment.
As an offender, she is ordered to follow a set of conditions set by the court,
under the supervision of a probation officer. If she breaks any rules, she will
be sent to prison.
*****
This is the only known case in the civilized world
where suspicion of virus transmission became a serious criminal offence.
Ravi
गरीब सगळीकडेच भरडले जातात
ReplyDeleteA dreadfully sad story on so many counts
ReplyDelete