On October 6, 2012, Brandon Johnson died at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex. The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is currently conducting an open-court John Doe investigation into Mr. Johnson’s death.
On Wednesday, March 6, 2013, nurses at the Complex provided testimony that contradicted the statements they provided to Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department detectives immediately following Mr. Johnson’s death. For example, registered nurse Laruthiea Jones told Detective Mark Gaudynski that Mr. Johnson had told her that his legs were paralyzed and his back hurt. At the John Doe, Ms. Jones denied having any conversation with Mr. Johnson. Another nurse, Stephen Pauloski, testified that he did not remember Mr. Johnson telling him that he was paralyzed. This testimony contradicts Mr. Pauloski’s earlier statement to Detective Rachel Cieslik, where Mr. Pauloski said that Mr. Johnson did say that he was paralyzed.
Read more about the third day of John Doe testimony in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Brandon Johnson died at the Complex after being a patient there for only three days. While Mr. Johnson was physically healthy when he entered the Complex, he at some point suffered a broken neck, which resulted in the blood clots that caused his death. The purpose of the John Doe investigation is to determine whether any of the staff at the Complex are criminally responsible for Mr. Johnson’s death. The John Doe investigation will continue today.
The Milwaukee civil rights lawyers of Samster, Konkel & Safran represent the parents of Brandon Johnson. We will provide daily updates on the John Doe investigation on this website and here on our blog.
