Although they should have known from their own records that Deborah was a diabetic dependent on insulin, that was no guarantee of treatment, according to Clayton.
"Arpaio brags that he only spends 15 cents a day on inmate food. Well, diabetics are costly because of their special diet and insulin. People are not seen when they are supposed to be treated. Chronic becomes acute. People end up in ICU."
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Jennylee Braillard
Sandra Garfias
Tamela Harper
Stephanie Lieppert
Brenda Tomanini
Dr. Todd Wilcox
Editor’s note: In 2007, New Times executive editor Michael Lacey and CEO Jim Larkin were arrested by Sheriff Joe Arpaio for reporting on a grand jury. A subsequent investigation by the paper revealed that the grand jury subpoenas were issued without a sitting grand jury. In addition to all reporter’s notes relating to articles about the sheriff, prosecutors sought the identity of online readers of New Times. Michael Manning filed a lawsuit on behalf of the paper in the wake of the arrests. That lawsuit is currently on appeal.
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Diabetics left for court at 2 in the morning without insulin.
"By evening, their Accu-Chek readings were 400 and above [normal is 80 to 100]."
"When I addressed this with detention . . . it went nowhere. Nurses working that time frame would simply refuse to perform an Accu-Chek or they wouldn't give insulin."
Clayton was depressed but not surprised by the culture she found in the jail.
"Sheriff Joe's personality permeated the jail. It is a Joe cult. He has the image of being tough. Saw [the] same attitude in [the] nursing staff. It was a magnet for bitter people. Inmates wouldn't be in jail if they hadn't done something wrong. They deserved what they got."
Jennylee Braillard, daughter
(2010 interviews)
"It was just so . . . weird. I talked to my mom on the first of January. Four days later, she's in ICU. She's in coma, and there is all this pressure from the doctors to pull the plug."
Twelve days after arriving at the hospital, on January 17, Deborah Braillard woke up. No one called her daughter, who arrived later that evening to learn the startling news.
"She woke up. She was responsive. She refused water because she wanted soda. She nodded her head to questions."
Lisa Press, Deborah's friend
(2007 deposition)
Press met Deborah in 2000. They were neighbors in west Phoenix and in the same methamphetamine circle. She bought from Deborah and used with Deborah.
"One thing about Debbie: I liked her as a person. I liked being over there with her, as opposed to the people I was living with. But I'd only see her three times a week because Debbie's house was so chaotic. There'd be 20 people in there sometimes. You know, all through the house."
In 2002, Lisa and everyone she was living with got busted. She quit using. Went cold turkey.
But she didn't lose her old friends. One druggy stole a cross that belonged to her son. It had enormous sentimental value. Debbie found the religious symbol and returned it to Lisa.
Then, Debbie needed a favor. She had to do a drug screening as part of her probation and wondered if the now-clean Lisa would do it for her.
"I just walked into the [Department of Motor Vehicles] and said I needed a duplicate because I lost my driver's license. They gave me a sheet of paper to fill out, and I put Deborah's address on it. They asked if I wanted the same photo they had on file, and I said, 'No, I'll take a new one.'"
Armed with phony identification, she went into a Treatment Assessment Screening Center for a urine analysis posing as Deborah Braillard.
"I was very nervous. I was talking myself out of it because I kept thinking . . . if my sister finds out. But I did it for her because she was a friend. I just felt bad for her. Plus, she gave me $50."
Press described a scene the rest of the world has a hard time coming to grips with.
"Meth makes you lose weight. Some people, it really affects their skin, their arms. People pick at their face. It messes with your teeth. You don't want to eat. You don't want to sleep. We just straighten things up. I mean, I don't know if you've ever seen a lot of people that do drugs. They collect a lot of things. They collect junk. We'd just organize it and listen to music."
Straight or stoned, Press remembered Jennylee.
"Jennifer would come by to see if her mother was okay. I know they had a good relationship, Deborah and her daughter. I know they were very close. That I do know. Debbie spoke highly of Jennifer."
Jennylee Braillard, daughter
(2010 interviews)
On the evening of January 17, Deborah's daughter arrived at the hospital only to learn that her mom had been awake earlier that same day. But now she was again unconscious.
"When I first got there, I took her hand, as I always did, and started talking to her. And she squeezed my hand."
The daughter's world was spinning out of control.
"I couldn't believe they didn't call me. The person I needed to talk to was her."
Dr. Todd Wilcox, former director,
County Health Services
(2008 deposition)
One month before Deborah Braillard was arrested, Dr. Todd Wilcox was hired by Maricopa County to revitalize and reform the clinic dispensing medical care inside Sheriff Joe Arpaio's jail.
This was the medical clinic, according to Arpaio's guards, whose nurses and doctors refused to see inmates who were kicking drugs.
Dr. Wilcox found a rat's nest but not rats.
"The people who work on the line level with CHS . . . want to do a good job. Nobody comes to work wanting to hurt anybody . . . They really want to take care of their patients . . . They are heroes for working within the system."
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