Denver paramedic gets 12 years for attacking patient
The Denver Post
DENVER — An ambulance paramedic was sentenced to 12 years in prison Friday for severely beating a patient while transporting him to the Denver Health Medical Center emergency room in January.
Alan Miller, 31, was sentenced after being convicted by a Denver jury last month of second-degree assault and false reporting.
On Jan. 3, Miller and other paramedics picked up Tim Smith, 39, who had suffered a seizure and hit his head. Smith's wife, Suzanne Lawrence, drove her own car to Denver Health.
When she arrived, her husband had a fractured skull, a broken eye socket and a broken nose. Miller's partner, Shaunna King, told Lawrence that they had to stop on West Sixth Avenue because her husband had come out of his restraints. The ambulance crew blamed police for Smith's injuries.
In giving Miller 12 years in prison, the judge noted that not only did Miller injure someone he was supposed to be caring for, he also had tried to avoid responsibility by blaming the assault on an innocent law enforcement officer.
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