The State v. Allen Fenton
August 12th 2009
Eastern Carolina Justice Complex
Eagle Room
Plaintiff – Blair Cartwell, Prosecutor
State of North Carolina
Sofia A. Madigan
Defendant – Laurie Duran, Esq
Allen John Fenton
Witness Examination
BC: Please state your name
Madigan: Sofia Alexander
BC: Um—you are under oath. Please state your legal name.
Madigan: Oh, I—Sofia Anneleigh Madigan.
BC: Thank you. Mrs. Madigan for coming to testify today. Please tell us, when did you become a resident of Petal Brook Regional Hospital?
Madigan: April…2005.
BC: Can you tell the court why were you admitted?
Madigan: I suffered a stroke as a result of a brain injury I’d suffered from the previous year. I’d fallen on a bus.
BC: Which ward were you placed in, Mrs. Madigan
Madigan: Critical Care
BC: Why Critical Care---”
LD: Plaintiff is not an expert in the field of hospital administration.
BC: I’ll rephrase . . . Why did the doctors tell you you were placed in critical care?
Madigan: I’d lost all my motor functions, I was unable to speak, move or control my bodily functions. I required 24/7 care.”
BC: What was your routine at the hospital?
Madigan: I had breakfast in the morning, physical therapy, cognitive therapy, I went for testing and MRIs in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day in my room.
BC: Sounds expensive, how did you afford it?
Madigan: I was placed in foster care to a very wealthy family, they paid for me to have a private donor’s suite and took care of all my expenses.
BC: Who was your nurse on the floor?
Madigan: Nurse Golden. She kept my spirits up and helped me—
BC: What tasks did Nurse Golden do?
Madigan: She monitored my vitals, she washed me, changed my clothes, my catheter, my feeding tube and bed pan. She kept an eye of bed sores and kept a journal of my cognitive abilities.
BC: So she made all of the decision regarding your care?
Madigan: …um…
(30 second silence)
BC: Mrs. Madigan ?
Madigan: Yes. Yes she handled my care.
BC: Tell us about late September.
Madigan: Nurse Golden had decorated the room with pumpkins for the fall. I’d gained the ability to partially control my right eye lid so I could see the decorations. Some doctors thought it was an involuntary spasm, Nurse Golden did not. Every day we worked on my speech but I was starting to see Nurse Golden less and less. Things were hectic in the hospital.
BC: That changed when Nurse Golden was given a nurse’s assistant to help her out.
Madigan: Yes.
BC: Continue.
Madigan: His name was…Allen Fenton. Nurse Golden said he was new. He spent the first few weeks shadowing her. It was a lot to remember and Nurse Golden had to create a checklist for him, when it came to any procedure she or another female nurse were always in the room, but they always did more work.
A few weeks later the hospital lost power, Allen and Nurse Golden were doing my nighttime routine… there was a lot of noise and screaming… they kept shouting about ventilators.
Nurse Golden went to help the other nurses and Allen finished the checklist, he started talking to me but he kept saying….you’re perfect…I thought he was trying to be nice. He sat with me in the dark and he kissed me on my lips. I was stunned, all I could do was flicker my eyelid, and then he kissed me again on the forehead.
He looked over at the checklist and started the routine, but when he took off my hospital gown…he just looked at me and touched my stomach, tracing where the feeding tube went in. He squeezed my breast it was the first time a nurse had done that. I thought it was a new procedure, I didn’t like it but I couldn’t say anything because I was paralyzed.
Then he finished the checklist like normal. Nurse Golden came back and she…told him he did a good job finishing up. After that she…started letting him do more things alone. She was always being called away and sometimes I’d hardly see her at night.
I just blocked Allen’s long stares out, and I though maybe when he touched my breast and nipples that it was a new part of the checklist…
Um . . . a week after that he was left alone in my room again. It was October 8th, I know because Nurse Golden had a countdown until Halloween. He took all the tubes and IVs out from my arm, he took off the hospital gown and diaper. I was concerned… but I felt free for the first time in months not being on all those machine.
He picked me up and put me on the floor, which was odd but I thought maybe he was adjusting the bed----
(30 second silence)
BC: Mrs. Madigan, please continue.
(30 second silence)
BC: Mrs.—Sofia are you okay? Sofia. Sofia! . . . Judge, can I help her up?
Judge Bradshaw: Bailiff.
BC: Can we get her some water? . . . Sofia are you good. Sofia?
(30 second silence)
Madigan: yes
(30 second silence)
BC: Please continue
Madigan: Umm. I was lying on my belly and it hurt because even though he’d extended the feeding tube it wasn’t long enough and it was uncomfortable. He washed me down with a baby wipe instead of soapy water and….then he used a sanitary wipe to clean my vagina, just like the nurses always did but he wasn’t wearing gloves. I heard him open a packet of medical gel, I always hate that smell and I felt really uncomfortable when he applied it to my vagina and vaginal opening with his finger. I thought maybe I was chafing or something and he was trying to make me comfortable.
He stood up and I thought he was going to put me back on the bed, but he didn’t.
(30 second silence)
BC: Can we get some tissues? -----Thank you-----What happened after he turned you over? –come on Mrs. Madigan are you okay? Can we get some more tissues -----Judge…she’s fine. She’s fine--------- Come. Stand up Sofia-----------
Judge Bradshaw: Ms. Cartwell do we need to break?
Madigan: ….I’m fine. I’ll be good. I’m fine please…
BC: Continue Mrs. Madigan.
Madigan: He locked the door and took his pants off--
(Courtroom noise)
BC: Judge, I ask that screaming women be made to leave if she continues.
Judge Bradshaw: I’d like to remind our guest to constrain themselves during this preceding. Please continue Mrs. Madigan.
Madigan: He sort of adjusted the wig I was wearing. Nurse Golden brought them for me because I had to have my head shaved after my stroke--anyway and he got on his knees in front of me. He put my legs on either side of his hips so I was exposed… I felt something wet rubbing the length of my vagina. I was really confused, after all my medical issues sex wasn’t on my mind since I’d never dated and I… I was just really unsure what was happening.
I thought maybe I was misunderstanding something, I could feel his hands on my thighs I was scared and tensed up, and then I remember this sharp pain when he penetrated me. It was just a little bit but it was so unexpected… I thought he was using a needle or something to stab me …I tried to scream but I couldn’t. It hurt so badly and he kept pushing all the way in. I couldn’t even cry because my medication dried out my eyes. I tried to relax and sleep through it but I was so uncomfortable. I just wanted a little break…
The pain got worse the more he moved on top of me. He was breathing heavy, moaning and drooling. I hated those sounds. I hated that he was enjoying this. I suddenly knew what was happening to me and I think I went into shock because the pain became unbearable and then stopped for a few seconds. I was so ashamed and afraid someone would walk in and see me like this. And then he was still …and it was over. It burned when he pulled out, I realized he hadn’t used a condom and he started to clean up with antiseptic wipes …it stung. I felt like …he’d torn me. I was so sore and he didn’t seem to notice.
I didn’t sleep that night. I was still hurting the next morning, there was blood and the nurses thought it was my period even though it didn’t match the calendar. The hospital had felt like a safe place where I could heal and I was terrified every moment I was there.
BC: Thank you Sofia…that’s all.
Madigan: No—I
BC: Thank you for your testimony
Cross Examination
LD: Mrs. Madigan. We will make this quick
Madigan: Okay
LD: You were admitted to PBRH due to a brain injury yes
Madigan: Yes
LD: You had no control over you cognitive ability to perceive the world around you ?
Madigan: No. I could still perceive things.
LD: So, you couldn’t feel or move your arms or legs? But you could feel your vagina?
Madigan: Pain is—
LD : You are not an expert witness, Mrs. Madigan. Now this checklist Nurse Golden made…how could you read the checklist? You said you were learning to read and write again?
Madigan: I heard them talking about it.
LD:Okay. Mrs. Madigan you were in a private suite. How did the door lock?
Madigan: What?
LD: How did the doors lock? How did you know Mr. Fenton locked the doors? Did you see it? You couldn’t lift your head, right
Madigan: I heard it.
LD: So you couldn’t lift your head?
Madigan : No, not yet
LD: So I assume you also heard Mr. Fenton remove his pants or did you see that too ?
Madigan : I just know
LD: Okay, and did you see Mr. Fenton’s penis?
Madigan: (silence)
LD: Mrs. Madigan. Did you see my client’s penis on August 8th ?
Madigan : No
LD: I guess you just heard that too.
Madigan : Stop it.
Judge Bradshaw: Mrs. Madigan, you are to only answer the questions asked.
LD: Ahem. Mrs. Madigan. Do you use tampons?
Madigan : No.
LD: What do you use during your period? We are both women here.
Madigan: A menstrual cup.
LD: Have you ever used a tampon.
Madigan: No.
LD: Do you know how?
Madigan: Yes
LD : Did you know the box says right there to find a comfortable positon, locate the vaginal opening , place the applicator in and toward the spine and push to insert. Did you know that?
Madigan : Yes
LD : Did you know some manufactures also suggest using lubricant tor new users.
Madigan : Yes.
LD : When did you start mensturating…Mrs. Madigan ?
Madigan : …Seventeen. I was a little late.
LD : Did you use a menstrual cup then ?
Madigan : …no.
LD : Tampons ?
Madigan :…no
LD : Pads ?
Madigan : …yes.
LD : Okay. How long did it take you to learn how to use the cup ?
Madigan: …I don’t understand.
LD : I don’t know….did you get it the first try ?
Madigan : ….no.
LD: “So you tried a few times until it was right.
Madigan : …yes.
LD : I bet it wasn’t comfortable the first few times.
Madigan :….n-no.
LD : Mrs. Madigan do you know how many male CNAs covered your floor ?
Madigan: Just Allen.
LD : And…
Madigan :That’s it
LD : Mrs. Madigan there were two male CNAs and two male orderlies covering the floor that day. Let’s try this. Judge if you may. Mrs. Madigan I’m going to play two sounds for you. One is a door opening. One is a door locking. Can you tell me which is which?
Madigan : Okay….
(Exhibit F and G presented)
LD : Which sounnd is the door locking. A or B ?
Madigan: A
LD: Are you sure?
Madigan: Yes.
LD: So B is the door opening?
Madigan : Yes.
LD : For the record…both of these sounds are the door opening. So…and I’m consulting the record. You heard the door lock. Did you hear the door lock or open, Mrs. Madigan?”
Madigan :He locked it...
LD : Or someone else opened it. I mean…you couldn’t even tell the difference. Mrs. Madigan you are a brave women to come out of a stroke like you did. You suffered a traumatic brain injury and you deserve to be recognized for that.
Closing Statements
LD : On June 23th 2005 after a decade of taking care of his Father, who is battling MS—Allen Fenton graduated from the Eastern Carolina Hospital Academy and joined the family business of taking care of others. This job gave Mr. Fenton extreme pride and allowed his overworked mother to spend more time with her family.
Mr. Fenton took a Job at Petal Brooke Regional where he was thrown into an unstructured work environment, with no support, no guidance or training. Mr. Fenton himself has confessed that he was overwhelmed due to his mental capacity, but he was determined to do right by his family and his co-workers.
With barley two months on the job he was placed in Critical Care where senior nurses like Nurse Golden and Nurse Cici were instructing him to do procedures and processes outside of his scope. When he spoke up he was told to “be a team player”…be a team player that’s what he was told when dealing with patents that required critical and nuanced care
Mr. Fenton was a team player when he entered Sofia Madigan’s room on August 8th with every other trained female nurse on that floor busy with other patients he was told it would be fine to attend a patient alone. He followed procedures to the best of his ability.
Mr. Fenton made a mistake that evening. He had no way of knowing Ms. Madigan was awake, he had no way of knowing how was vastly unqualified and unfamiliar with her anatomy until she started bleeding. He did the job though, he cleaned her up and made her comfortable and because Mr. Fenton took pride in his job and wanted to let his colleagues know how damaging their carelessness had been…he told Nurse Cici Remington what had occurred in that room. Nurse Cici, the then head nurse never filed a report with the hospital. She was too busy.
How many of us know that feeling? Of A system that seems uniquely designed to fail us. Except in Mr. Fenton’s case, the failures of his colleagues, the hospital and the administration are going to cost a man, who took on a job many of us could do. A job his alleged ‘victim’ herself now does, I might add. I ask that you don’t let the carelessness of one hospital cost this man his quality of life.
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CB: Mrs. Duran is correct. Mistakes were made that summer at Petal Brooke Regional. After all a young girl with full cognitive ability was misdiagnosed and stowed away in a pretty room to live out the rest of her life.
She was treated like furniture.
Her care was routine, only really important because she was the guest of a big donor. She wasn’t priority to the staff or administration. She was a warm body being kept alive by machines in a room. A warm young body no one really paid attention too, which made her the perfect victim for young upstart man who had never really interacted with young women.
When the opportunity presented itself Allen Fenton used his position and status as her caretaker to victimize her. He had plan and even came up with a cover story because he knew she was young, untouched and inexperienced. He entered the only safe space she had and brutally raped her on the floor. He made his excuses and never thought twice about it because she was furniture.
Mrs. Madigan endured a painful trauma, he didn’t know it that when he left that room after cleaning up the semen and blood that it wasn’t over. That he built a fire in that young woman that motivated her to gain control of her body, a fire that took years to stoke and build until she had the strength to comeback to this town. To this safe place and let him know that it didn’t’ end that day. That he will never able to walk away from the heinous crime he committed because Mrs. Madigan life has been marred by this trauma. I ask that you find Mr. Fenton guilty with the understanding that his punishment will be nothing compared to Mrs. Madigan’s life sentence.
Judge Bradshaw: I will now read the jury instructions and then you may begin deliberating…let’s start with two hours.
1:59:01
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A/N
So, I was really
unsure how to do this formatting wise. I pulled out these sections of the trial
to write out because I wanted to only show the portions Sofia was present for.
Well, she wasn’t present for the closing statements but we will get into that later.