Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
The two Florida paramedics who engaged in a “self-war” by posing with patients may be headed to jail.
Kayla Renee Dubois, 25, and Christopher Robert Wimmer, 34, used their personal devices to take selfies of themselves posing with 41 patients who were sedated, unconscious and in some cases intubated. The imagery was then shared in an effort to out-do each other.
The competition began in September of 2015 and continued into the spring of 2016. At the time both worked for Okaloosa County EMS. In August, 2016 they were charged by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office with multiple felony counts of interception and disclosure of oral communications. Wimmer was also charged with misdemeanor battery for having held the eyelids of a sedated 26-year-old female patient open so he could take a selfie with her.
Both pled no contest to multiple charges, with Wimmer pleading to 7 felony counts of interception and disclosure of oral communications and one misdemeanor count of battery, and Dubois pleading to two misdemeanor counts of interception and disclosure of oral communications. Dubois will be sentenced next week, while Wimmer will be sentenced in September.
Nfwdailynews.com is quoting Chief Assistant State Attorney Bill Bishop as saying he is seeking jail time plus probation for both Dubois and Wimmer. More on the story.
