George County nurse blamed ‘detoxing’ for all sick inmates with drug charges, jailers say

A former George County jail nurse said he often set up medical appointments for sickly inmates but the warden and former jail nurse, Carmon Brannan, repeatedly went in behind him and canceled the appointments.

He and other jailers testified Wednesday in Brannan’s second manslaughter trial after the first ended in mistrial earlier this year.

Ulysses Williams was a licensed practical nurse at the jail, and his immediate supervisor was Brannan, the jail’s lone registered nurse.

He also served under the direction of former jail warden Preston Goff and current warden Bobby Fairley.

When Goff was in charge, Williams said, he tried to explain the need for further treatment for certain inmates but Goff scolded him for it, saying the county wasn’t going to be “paying for people’s medical expenses that went to jail” because it would “run up the budget.”

Williams said his repeated attempts to help those inmates that needed it fell on deaf ears with Goff, and nothing changed until Fairley took over.

He said Brannan agreed with Goff, even telling Williams “everyone did not require a doctor’s visit.”

To further validate her point, he said, Brannan said the same inmates in need of a doctor’s visit are the same people who never sought any treatment “in the free world so therefore they did not see the doctor.”

Goff, he said, also felt like Williams wasn’t qualified to decide whether a doctor’s visit was needed. Everything had to go through Brannan, or Goff, to do so.

“I was uncomfortable having to screen people that come up with medical issues that were beyond a nurse’s (skill level),“ Williams said, but Goff refused to budge in order to save money.

When Fairley took over, things changed. After meeting with Fairley and Brannan, Williams said he was finally granted the authority to set up a doctor or dental appointment for inmates who required the additional treatment.

When Fairley made the change, Williams said Brannan sat there shaking her head in disagreement and continued to cancel appointments he set up for inmates.

Williams said nothing changed even after he met privately with Fairley to let him know Brannan was undermining him and continuing to cancel appointments.

Fairley, he said, sent an email confirming Williams could make those calls but Brannan kept canceling doctor visits he set up.

At one point, he said he even talked to Brannan in her office about the issue and Brannan just picked up her phone and starting canceling other appointments.

Brannan, 53, was jail nurse in September 2014, when jailers found William Joel Dixon dead on the floor of his cell after going seven days without the insulin he needed to treat his diabetes.

Williams, other jailers and the medical examiner testified Wednesday in Brannan’s trial.

Brannan is accused of causing Dixon’s death by withholding the insulin his family and an officer brought to the jail to treat him.

If convicted, Brannan could face up to a 20-year prison sentence.

’Don’t try to blame this on me’

Several former jail guards testified Wednesday, including former jailers Tammy Bozeman, Travis Jones and Steven Johnson.

All three recounted how sick Dixon was and how he was unable to keep any food or drink down without vomiting.

Johnson was among the jailers who checked on Dixon before he was found dead.

At one point during questioning from defense attorney Mary Lee Holmes, Johnson got angry because the defense was asking whether anyone had tampered with crime scene because it appeared a food tray had been moved from the floor to the top of the vanity.

Johnson said he didn’t know where the food tray was first placed because he wasn’t there when it was delivered.

Video later showed that Brannan was the only person to enter Dixon’s cell after jailers looked in and saw Dixon dead on the cell floor.

“Eleven people checked on him that morning beside myself and people told her (Brannan) that he needed help,” Johnson fired back. “She refused to go in there and help. We are not allowed to call the ambulance unless we are told by the nurse to call so don’t try to blame this on me.”

Several jailers said the only person with authority to call for help in an emergency was Brannan.

The defense also brought up Johnson’s firing for possession of contraband after Dixon’s death.

District Attorney Tony Lawrence and Assistant District Attorney Cherie Wade had Johnson explain what happened the day he was fired.

Johnson said he had a can of skoal in his pants that he forgot to throw back in his truck after he stepped outside the jail for a dip earlier in the day.

Checking the charges

Over the course of the day Wednesday, former jailers repeatedly testified about how Dixon asked over and over again for help that never came.

Jones said it was routine for Brannan to ignore any ills from inmates who were in jail on drug-related charges.

He said she’d even look up what charges inmates were in jail for, and if it was for drugs, she’d always blame their problems on “detoxing.”

When Dixon was sick and vomiting, Jones said, Brannan said he was detoxing.

Jones said Dixon even tried to explain how he “he had been to rehab before and it wasn’t the same.”

Another jailer, Tammy Bozeman, worked the overnight shift before Dixon’s death that morning.

Bozeman called Brannan after Dixon tried to drink some coffee and started vomiting shortly thereafter.

She said Branann referred to Dixon as a drug addict and again chalked up his condition to drug withdrawals.

The jailers, however, said Dixon never asked for insulin either.

Bozeman said she didn’t know about Dixon’s diabetes until after his death, but defense attorneys pointed out Bozeman had — a couple of months earlier — signed a document accepting insulin for Dixon when he was jailed on other drug charges.

Bozeman confirmed her signature and said she wasn’t surprised because she dealt with a lot of inmates over the year and had forgotten Dixon was diabetic.

Testimony in Brannan’s trial resumes Thursday in Warren County.

Check back with Sunherald.com for updates.

This story was originally published July 26, 2018 at 1:14 AM.