Did an ex-Miami cop abuse his authority to help a niece get healthcare? Jury will decide

A Miami police officer walked into Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital a year ago to help his teenage niece get mental health treatment.

Within seven minutes, prosecutors say he wrongfully manhandled a facility administrator, threw him on the ground and called for backup to have the healthcare worker arrested.

Now the former officer, Lester Bohnenblust, is facing battery and false imprisonment charges.

State prosecutors on Wednesday told jurors that Bohnenblust abused his authority and battered now-retired Jackson Memorial Health nurse manager James Nicholson. Bohnenblust’s defense attorney, Rawsi Williams, argued that the cop acted lawfully to detain Nicholson, who was resisting arrest and cursing at an officer.

Williams also suggested a language barrier may have triggered the whole problem.

Nicholson, 67, and two hospital employees who saw the incident testified Wednesday afternoon. They told parts of the same story.

On May 23, 2018, a father believed his troubled teenage daughter needed help. She had been discharged from the hospital the previous day, but he brought her back to be evaluated after she showed more signs of serious mental health issues.

Hospital staff members who work with children evaluated the daughter and determined she didn’t need to be readmitted into the children’s facility. A nurse gave her father instructions for follow-up plans with the facility, and the two left, according to court documents.

Williams said the girl’s father primarily speaks Spanish, and the instructions he was given to make a follow-up appointment were written in English. During cross examination, Williams asked Nicholson if the nurse who spoke with the father knew Spanish. He said he believed so, but he wasn’t sure.

At the time, the girl did not appear to be in crisis, the witnesses said.

“She was pretty bored,” Nicholson said. “Maybe a little bit angry she was brought back.”

Then, Nicholson recalled to the jury, the father and daughter returned about 10 minutes later with an officer — Bohnenblust, who also happened to be the girl’s uncle.

Bohnenblust, who was in uniform, was waving a legal document to get her admitted into a hospital for treatment. Nicholson said he told the family they could not discuss business in an area where nurses treat patients, so they had to go outside. He tried to call another administrator to help resolve the dispute but the call didn’t go through, he told the jury.

Video cameras in the hallway captured why the officer lost his job.

As Nicholson was walking to open a door, Bohnenblust grabbed him by the back of his jacket. Nicholson said his immediate reaction was to get away from him and yell, “Get your f***ing hands off me!” He knew nursing staff was nearby and continued to yell for help.

At one point, Bohnenblust “slammed” Nicholson on the ground, he said. Nicholson injured his knee.

The officer never told Nicholson to stop walking before he grabbed him, and he didn’t kick or hit him or commit a crime, he said.

Lavonia McCoy, a licensed practical nurse at the hospital, told the jury she was in her office when she heard Nicholson yelling. She found an officer gripping Nicholson’s jacket by the lapels and shaking him. Nicholson told her to get the hospital’s CEO.

Bohnenblust told Nicholson he was under arrest, snatched his employee ID off his jacket and called for backup, Nicholson said. During cross examination, there was a discrepancy in whether Bohnenblust ever asked Nicholson for his ID.

When McCoy and the CEO returned, Bohnenblust had Nicholson pushed up against the wall, McCoy said. Eventually, four MPD officers showed up and put Nicholson in handcuffs. Nicholson gave a statement to an internal affairs officer and was let out of the handcuffs. He was never formally arrested or booked into jail. Bohnenblust did not use a baton, gun or taser, he said.

The scuffle was a shock.

“It was clear out of the sky,” Nicholson said. “It made no sense.”

Bohnenblust was arrested on a warrant December 13, 2018. He was terminated by the city of Miami on April 2.

The girl’s father and two other witnesses will testify Thursday. Bohnenblust may testify if he wants to in a trial that could end later this week.

Williams told the Miami Herald that Bohnenblust was lawfully arresting Nicholson for obstruction of justice. Bohnenblust was trying to make sure the girl received care after her father was not communicated with properly, she said.

“I seek the truth of righteous judgment no matter where that line falls,” Williams said. “Here, it falls on the side of Mr. Bohnenblust.”

This story was originally published June 5, 2019 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Did an ex-Miami cop abuse his authority to help a niece get healthcare? Jury will decide."