Mrs. Mitchell, who had been an administrative nurse until she was fired without explanation June 1 from her job at Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit, Texas, has argued that she had a professional obligation to protect patients, according to the Times report.
The prosecution has countered that Mrs. Mitchell had a history of making “inflammatory” statements about the physician, Rolando G. Arafiles Jr., MD, and wanted to damage his reputation.
The defendant’s attorneys have filed a civil lawsuit in federal court charging the hospital, county, prosecutor and others involved with vindictive prosecution and denial of the nurses’ First Amendment rights.
Read The New York Times’ story on the whistleblower nurse’s trial.
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