The Pain Relief Network

Nov 29, 2008
By: Ron Sylvester
The Wichita Eagle (kansas.com)

An infection from a possible centipede bite and solitary confinement for having a hair clip are among the abuses lawyers for Linda Atterbury Schneider say she’s experienced in the Butler County Jail.

Schneider’s defense team is now pleading with a federal judge to intervene, as the wife of a Haysville doctor awaits trial on charges stemming from the couple’s prescribing of painkillers at their clinic.

Kevin Byers of Columbus, Ohio, said in a motion filed this week that a nurse examined an infection on the back of Linda Schneider’s neck earlier this month.

“The cause of the infection is not clear, as it was apparently never diagnosed by a physician, but it is suspected that it was either staph, or a centipede bite (as there was a centipede infestation in the dorm in which Ms. Atterbury is housed, with the insects constantly falling from the ceiling onto the inmates),” the motion reads.

Lawyers said a jail nurse told Linda Schneider to tie her hair back while the infection heals. But a guard found the hair-tie and jail officials deemed it contraband, then placed her in solitary confinement.

Although her husband, Stephen Schneider, was released in April to await trial, federal judges have repeatedly denied Linda Schneider’s bond, saying she’s a flight risk.

Earlier this month, her lawyers asked for her release, saying prosecutors would consent as long as they could proceed to trial without her in case she jumped bond. Assistant U.S. attorneys had originally agreed to such a condition, but later withdrew it.

U.S. Senior District Judge Monti Belot was not swayed.

“No judge in his or her right mind would do so,” Belot said, denying the request.

Belot then scolded Schneider’s lawyers in a written order, saying they should concentrate on preparing for trial Feb. 2 “rather than wasting their time (not to mention the court’s) with the type of motion practice which has necessitated this order.”

Linda Schneider, a former licensed practical nurse, managed her husband’s medical clinic before federal authorities charged the Schneiders in a 34-count indictment nearly a year ago, saying they ran a “pill mill” that resulted in the drug overdose deaths of nearly 60 patients.

The Schneiders have maintained their innocence as they await trial.

Reach Ron Sylvester at 316-268-6514 or rsylvester@wichitaeagle.com.

http://www.kansas.com/news/story/614093.html