Click here to view Winona Area Weather
Home > News > Story
 Advertisement 

SECTION SPONSORS


Published - Friday, May 16, 2008
POST COMMENT | READ COMMENTS (4 comment(s))

Nurse gets probation for role in failed Golfview robbery

.
A nurse accused of treating a wounded liquor store robber in 2007 was sentenced to 10 years of probation Thursday for lying to investigators about the incident.

Susan Anne Leathes, 37, was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and pay a $77 court surcharge. Judge Mary Leahy did not impose a fine on Leathes, who has lost her job as a registered nurse because of the felony conviction.
Leathes said nothing during her sentencing hearing in Winona County District Court, but Leahy summed up the woman’s situation as a series of “very bad decisions.”

Leathes admitted in February that she lied to investigators about the gunshot wound her boyfriend, Andre Dion Jones, suffered during the botched robbery. She also admitted lying to police when she told them no crime had been committed.

Convicted by a plea agreement on one felony count of aiding an offender, prosecutors dropped three remaining felony charges filed against her.

According to testimony from Jones and his accomplice, Randy Lee Strong, Jones hatched a plan to rob the Golfview Liquor Store on Feb. 9, 2007, after failing to score “big money” while collecting debts from acquaintances. Jones threatened the store owner with a gun, but the owner refused to hand over any cash. As Jones left the store, he grabbed two bottles of wine, and the owner shot him in the back with a revolver.

Jones dropped the wine and fled.

Strong, 38, then drove Jones to Leathes’ house, where she patched up the wound, according to the criminal complaint.

Leathes is the last of the defendants in the case to be sentenced. Jones was sentenced in March to seven years and four months in prison. He is currently in prison in St. Cloud, Minn., with an expected release date of Jan. 2, 2012, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Strong has since served his sentence of a year and a day in jail.

Contact Kevin Behr at kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
.
Advertisement
 Tell us what you think...

 Comments »

Me wrote on May 18, 2008 6:32 PM:

" Mike- You don't know what the heck you are talking about. It has been a law for many years that hospitals have to report gun shot victims. There is also a law they have to report animal bites too. "

returntosanity wrote on May 16, 2008 10:38 AM:

" Mike,
If she were just a nurse in a hospital doing her job then I would agree with you. That is not the case here though. This woman was the girlfriend of Mr. Jones and she treated him at her home. To further exacerbate the problem she then lied to police investigators about the incident. To my mind she is lucky all she got was probation. If I had been the judge she would have went to prison for the maximum time allowable. "

Sonny wrote on May 16, 2008 8:15 AM:

" I see this a little differently. I think Congress saw that protecting a patients identity, when that person is a gunshot victim, could prevent the police from solving a crime.
So in the case of gunshot victims, Congress saw that it was more important for the police to be alerted to that person's identity than to allow the hospital or Dr or nurse to keep that information confidential.
Unless a person has done something wrong they would have no reason to not want the cops to know they have been shot or stabbed. "

Mike wrote on May 16, 2008 7:08 AM:

" There was a time in recent memory when hospitals were barred from revealing information about their patients. A while back congress changed the law so patients' privacy was no longer protected, instead hospitals are required to report all gun shot wounds. Congress reasoned that anyone with a gunshot wound would go to the hospital regardless of the law. This case clearly illustrates that congress' reasoning was flawed.

As you may have guessed I don't think Ms. Leathes should have been charged. The law is wrong on this matter. Ms. Leathes did the right thing protecting her patient's privacy. It is a shame Ms. Leathes' career as a nurse has to end for doing something that an older generation would have required of her, and ethics still requires of her. "


The comments above are from readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Winona Daily News.

 Post a comment (150 word limit) »

Click here to report offensive or inappropriate comments. Please identify the comment you're concerned about, the story to which the comment was attached, the date of the comment and the person who made the post. Send comments to jerome.christenson@lee.net

We reserve the right not to post reader comments containing racial, religious or personal attacks, slander, profanity, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers or Web site addresses that are for personal or promotional gain.
Log In - If you have already signed up with winonadailynews.com, please sign in now!
*Member ID:
*Password:
  Forgot Your Password?
 
Sign Up - To encourage intelligent and meaningful conversation, winonadailynews.com requires all commenters to register before posting comments. It's quick, it's easy, and it's free! Just fill in the information below to get started!

**Your Member ID and password will be required to log in. Your comments will appear under your user name.

Do not use usernames or passwords from your financial accounts!

Note: Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required!

*Create a Member ID:
*Choose a password:
*Re-enter password:
*E-mail Address:
*Year of Birth:
 

(children under 13 cannot register)

*First Name:
*Last Name:
Company:
Home Phone:
Business Phone:
*Address:
*City:
*State:
*Zip Code:
 

WINONA JOBS

TOP HOMES

 
 
Dailies
La Crosse Tribune
Winona Daily News

Weeklies
Coulee News
The Chronicle
Holmen Courier
Houston County News
Onalaska Life
Tomah Journal
Vernon Broadcaster
Westby Times

Regional
Inside Preps
My LIVE! Entertainment
Best of River Valley
Business Report
Healthy Living Today
Strictly Golf
River Valley Bike Trails
River Valley Blogs
River Valley Outdoors

Shoppers
Tri-County Foxxy

Marketplace
Newspaper Ads
Local Website Directory
7 Rivers Rentals
HomeSeller
Wheels Website
Work For You

Portals
La Crosse NET
Winona NET

Classifieds
River Valley Classifieds

Links
Lee Enterprises
Minnesota Farm Guide

About Us | Classifieds | Contact Us | Terms of Use | F.A.Q. | Privacy Policy | Requests | Search | RSS | Videos | Advertiser Directory | Add to My Yahoo!
Copyright © 1997 - 2008 The Winona Daily News. All rights reserved.
Material from this site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed. A Lee Enterprises subsidiary.