INMATE'S GRIM ORDEAL REVEALED

Prisoner Sounded Complaint A Day After His Arrest

The morning Charles Guffey forecast his death, crying, "I'm dying!" Tulsa
Jail and medical staffers argued about where to house the man who had
visible sores, was vomiting, and was doubled over in abdominal pain.

But Guffey never saw a doctor on the day he died, and no one suggested
emergency care. No one checked on the man more than two hours before he was
found dead of a ruptured ulcer. Rigor mortis had already taken hold,
according to reports obtained last week by the Tulsa World.

"Medical advises that inmate Guffey is probably `not going to make it.' And
states there's nothing more they can do," wrote detention Sgt. Aungela
Tozzio about seven hours before Guffey was found dead. Tozzio sought to
move the sick prisoner into a cell that was isolated from other inmates,
who she feared would beat him.

"Nurse C. Crawford advised she will not deal with Guffey anymore; there's
nothing she can do. I advised her that inmate would be racked out if put
back in general population; she advised, `Let inmate justice take its
course.' "

Guffey died alone that morning in protective custody at the Adult Detention
Center within 10 days after he first complained of discomfort, medical
records show.

The documents, obtained from the jail inspector's office at the state
Department of Health, include reports and witness statements mostly by
detention officers. There are few reports by staffers from Wexford Health
Sources Inc., which has a $2 million contract for prisoner care.

Additional files were obtained Friday from Tulsa County sheriff's officials
as a result of a civil action by the Tulsa World.

State jail inspectors concluded that medical care for Guffey, 39, was
insufficient and questioned whether his death could have been prevented.

The FBI investigated, and its findings have led to a multicounty grand jury
investigation, overseen by the state Attorney General's Office and the
Osage County district attorney. The grand jury meets again May 4.

Contacted last week, Linda Paine, Wexford's Tulsa administrator, said she
had been advised not to comment.

Wexford's local attorney, Bob Latham, said Saturday that the company and
its staffers could make no statements because of the pending grand jury
probe.

"Obviously, there is another side of the story that hasn't been told, but
it will be told at the appropriate time," Latham said.

Sheriff's officials also have declined to discuss most details of Guffey's
detainment, but they have confirmed that Guffey saw no physician the night
before he died.

Nothing in the files obtained last week suggests that emergency
hospitalization was considered or discussed, despite Guffey's deteriorating
physical condition.

One since-fired Wexford nurse, Toni Wiggins, has told the Tulsa World she
wanted to send Guffey to the hospital the night before he died, believing
he had appendicitis, but was overruled by a nursing superior.

Records obtained last week do not support or contradict Wiggins' claims.

* Guffey first complained of illness on Oct. 4, one day after his arrest,
when the 165-pound man submitted a request for health care, writing:
"Ulcer's bleeding, high blood pressure." He saw a Wexford doctor Oct. 7,
records indicate.

* Guffey was ill again Oct. 13, seeing nurses shortly before 1 a.m. He
complained of constipation and abdominal discomfort.

* At 10 a.m. Oct. 13, inmates called guards to their dorm cell because
Guffey was again throwing up. At 10:20 a.m., a detention sergeant told a
jail officer to check Guffey "every 10 minutes."

* About 12:30 p.m., jail officer James Hampton said he found Guffey sick on
the floor of the dorm. Hampton said he helped Guffey up, moved him to a
holding cell, and then to the nurse's station.

At the station, Hampton wrote that nurse Daisy Mullins said, "I have
already seen him and there is nothing I can do for him."

* At 8:45 p.m., detention officers found Guffey collapsed on his dorm bed
holding his stomach. Records show that Guffey complained of "acute
abdominal pain" after being helped to see nurses.

There, medical records show, he was given a gastrointestinal "cocktail" for
his discomfort and eventually rehoused in a smaller dormitory cell.

* At 11:30 p.m., inmates in Guffey's dorm summoned Tozzio and complained
about Guffey's being sick, including his open sores and bowel movements on
himself. Inmates were told Guffey had nothing contagious.

* Within hours, Guffey was sick twice again. At 1:27 a.m. he was wheeled to
the medical unit on a gurney. He was returned to the nurses at 2:40 a.m.
after he was found collapsed on the cell floor, detention officers reported.

"LPN Crawford had told us that inmate Guffey had been seen by medical
several times and there was nothing she could do for him," wrote Jail
Officer Aaron Latham.

Guffey was placed in a holding cell across from the nursing station for
observation, records show.

Tozzio reported that she telephoned the city arm of the jail, asking about
any room in the city's medical area. She said she also called nurse
Crawford.

"She advised me that inmate Guffey was an IV drug user who was going
through withdrawals. She stated that inmate Guffey was probably HIV
positive, but that she didn't have any proof of that, and that if inmate
Guffey was here for any length of time, he would probably die," Tozzio
wrote.

She said Crawford advised that Guffey be returned to a cell with the
general jail population. Tozzio said she asked if Guffey could be
reclassified based on his medical condition and moved to a medical care
area.

"She stated, `That would never fly, he doesn't have a fever,' " Tozzio wrote.

Tozzio also wrote that Crawford said the director of nursing, Troy Desonia,
had seen Guffey, and that "if the D.O.N. had wanted him moved, he would
have moved him."

* At 4:35 a.m., Guffey was taken from the holding cell to the nurse's
station and given "a clear liquid in a green bottle," Latham wrote.

Shortly afterward, he was moved into a protective custody cell alone.

"Once he got into his room, sat on the toilet complaining of extreme
diarrhea. I then gave him a breakfast tray and continued with my morning
duties," Latham wrote.

* At 6:45 a.m, Guffey was found "screaming and complaining about his
stomach, he was doubled over in pain," jail trusty John Buettner wrote.

Jail staffers were called to Guffey's cell. Officer Deanna Garrett said
that when she arrived, he told her, "I'm dying! I'm dying!"

"I can't breathe," Garrett quoted Guffey as saying.

Garrett said she called for medical help. Nurse Janice Elliot arrived and
sat down near the door of the room, Garrett said.

Garrett said that after 5 to 6 minutes she asked Elliot about what they
were going to do with Guffey.

"As long as he is quiet, we won't worry about it," Garrett quoted Elliot as
saying.

Detention Officer Shane Rhames said that when he arrived for his shift,
about 8:30 a.m., he asked Desonia why Guffey was in protective custody
instead of in a medical cell.

"Mr. Desonia was evidently upset with the fact that I was questioning why
he did not place inmate Guffey into medical when it was evident he needed
it," Rhames wrote.

Desonia, Rhames wrote, said the open sores on Guffey were mosquito bites,
his vomiting was a result of drug withdrawals, and the bowel movements were
from the medication he'd been given.

"At this point I felt there were no open avenues with Mr. Desonia," Rhames
wrote.

Rhames said that he was attempting to overrule Desonia and move Guffey to a
medical cell when the prisoner was found dead about 10:35 a.m.

Guffey apparently had not been checked on in more than two hours, as
records indicate he was last reported alive about 8:15 a.m. by a jail
trusty.

"I knocked on the door and the inmate did not respond," said jail officer
Kristy Peters.

"I notified the tower. . . . We had a code blue in A-pod."