What is the name of your state? MN
The story thus far...
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On Sept. 8th at 2am I was driving home drunk and rolled my car. There were no other passengers.
I was able to get out of the car myself. I do not remember anything from that night except for arriving at the police station and trying to answer questions. According to the police report I had obvious head injuries. I remember apologizing to the officer that I could not answer what year it was, or who was president. I found out later that I told them that I was uninjured, and signed a paper saying that so they did not send me to the hospital. They did tell me to let them know if I became dizzy or nauseous, or if my head started hurting severely.
Later that afternoon (Saturday) after attempting to eat breakfast, my head was hurting very severely. I became nauseous and vomited, and then asked to speak with an officer. I told them what was happening and that I was concerned that something was wrong. They told me there was no nurse on the weekend, there was nothing they could/would do, and that they would have a nurse see me first thing Monday morning. I spent the rest of the day in bed sleeping and trying not to throw up.
The next day, I was still having severe head pain and nausea. I vomited again and proceeded to black out for a few seconds. Also, my eyes began tracking from left to right and would not stop for about 30 minutes. I finally got up the courage and asked to speak to an officer again. Again, I was told that there was nothing they could do, that they would check on me (they never did), and that they would have the nurse see me first thing Monday morning.
On Monday I was never seen by the nurse. Because everyone else was being called for court, I assumed that I would be released by the judge so that I could go to the doctor. Because of this, I did not ask again to see the nurse. I just waited. Unfortunately, I ended up not actually getting called to go to court until around 6:30pm, when I was released.
I debated the next day about going to the hospital to get checked out, but because I don't currently have health insurance, did not go on Tuesday. However, on Wednesday I found out my car insurance would pay for it, so I went in and spoke with a doctor.
He said there was evidence of head trauma, and had me get a CT scan. The CT scan showed that there was a subdural hemmorhage. The doctor told me flat out- "If you had been brought in to the hospital on Saturday morning, you would STILL be here for observation.".
However, since it had been about the same time that they would have kept me for observation, he did not put me in the hospital. He did give me explicit instructions to not lift anything, not lay on the back side of my head, and come in if there was any dizziness or pain whatsoever.
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I have hired a lawyer who tells me that I probably do not have much of a claim against the jail for the fact that they did not get me medical attention. I understand that when you're in jail you lose some rights, but it seems like the fact they would not provide me with basic medical attention... there is something wrong with that.
I have been told that I should also speak with other lawyers... that some lawyers that are local don't like to 'muddy the waters' by trying to fight a case too vigorously.
I did give my lawyer a copy of my medical records and had him serve a 'notice of potential claim' to the Police Department.
My question here is: is my lawyer right? Is there anything I can do? What should I do? I understand that I signed a waiver that said I was not injured, but is that waiver applicable if I have a head injury and don't know what I am doing? Especially if I remember very little from the night of the accident? And even if it is, what about asking for help repeatedly on the following days?
Don't get me wrong- I know I screwed up and don't expect to get out of getting a DWI or deserved punishment, but still, they could have killed me.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
-Kevin
The story thus far...
-----------------------
On Sept. 8th at 2am I was driving home drunk and rolled my car. There were no other passengers.
I was able to get out of the car myself. I do not remember anything from that night except for arriving at the police station and trying to answer questions. According to the police report I had obvious head injuries. I remember apologizing to the officer that I could not answer what year it was, or who was president. I found out later that I told them that I was uninjured, and signed a paper saying that so they did not send me to the hospital. They did tell me to let them know if I became dizzy or nauseous, or if my head started hurting severely.
Later that afternoon (Saturday) after attempting to eat breakfast, my head was hurting very severely. I became nauseous and vomited, and then asked to speak with an officer. I told them what was happening and that I was concerned that something was wrong. They told me there was no nurse on the weekend, there was nothing they could/would do, and that they would have a nurse see me first thing Monday morning. I spent the rest of the day in bed sleeping and trying not to throw up.
The next day, I was still having severe head pain and nausea. I vomited again and proceeded to black out for a few seconds. Also, my eyes began tracking from left to right and would not stop for about 30 minutes. I finally got up the courage and asked to speak to an officer again. Again, I was told that there was nothing they could do, that they would check on me (they never did), and that they would have the nurse see me first thing Monday morning.
On Monday I was never seen by the nurse. Because everyone else was being called for court, I assumed that I would be released by the judge so that I could go to the doctor. Because of this, I did not ask again to see the nurse. I just waited. Unfortunately, I ended up not actually getting called to go to court until around 6:30pm, when I was released.
I debated the next day about going to the hospital to get checked out, but because I don't currently have health insurance, did not go on Tuesday. However, on Wednesday I found out my car insurance would pay for it, so I went in and spoke with a doctor.
He said there was evidence of head trauma, and had me get a CT scan. The CT scan showed that there was a subdural hemmorhage. The doctor told me flat out- "If you had been brought in to the hospital on Saturday morning, you would STILL be here for observation.".
However, since it had been about the same time that they would have kept me for observation, he did not put me in the hospital. He did give me explicit instructions to not lift anything, not lay on the back side of my head, and come in if there was any dizziness or pain whatsoever.
-----------------------
I have hired a lawyer who tells me that I probably do not have much of a claim against the jail for the fact that they did not get me medical attention. I understand that when you're in jail you lose some rights, but it seems like the fact they would not provide me with basic medical attention... there is something wrong with that.
I have been told that I should also speak with other lawyers... that some lawyers that are local don't like to 'muddy the waters' by trying to fight a case too vigorously.
I did give my lawyer a copy of my medical records and had him serve a 'notice of potential claim' to the Police Department.
My question here is: is my lawyer right? Is there anything I can do? What should I do? I understand that I signed a waiver that said I was not injured, but is that waiver applicable if I have a head injury and don't know what I am doing? Especially if I remember very little from the night of the accident? And even if it is, what about asking for help repeatedly on the following days?
Don't get me wrong- I know I screwed up and don't expect to get out of getting a DWI or deserved punishment, but still, they could have killed me.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
-Kevin
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