"In keeping with the concept of service-based learning, I fully intend to use the information at my disposal to help other college students defend themselves in ways I did not know existed before my struggle. Using all available electronic media, I will tell students about my vain attempts to seek justice from campus authorities at Bridgewater State. Using my medical records and other documents as teaching tools, I shall teach them how to stand up to unprincipled doctors, unethical social workers, dishonest campus bureaucrats, and--finally--unscrupulous, college presidents..." - From Alfred Wiggins Jr v. Bridgewater State College.
"According to the Social Security Administration, the onset of my disability came on April 15, 2004." - Alfred Wiggins Jr., a.k.a. Al Wiggins Jr., a.k.a. Mister Al.
The Deposition of Alfred Wiggins Jr.*,
transcribed by
Copley Court Reporting, Inc.
October 27, 2008
This interview features:
Q: Mr. Jim Cox, Esq., Attorney for the defendants.
A: Mister Al: The Plaintiff.
Part Three
Q: Do you remember being admitted into the hospital?
A: Yes.
Q: Can you tell us what happened when you got to the hospital, please?
A: I was released by the police into a room with no windows after I was escorted through triage.
Q: Then what occurred?
A: A nurse, along with six, five or six orderlies attempted to force me to strip. I told her no. I prepared to defend myself because nobody told me why I was there, no one told me why I should take my clothes off, and nobody told me anything. I was just being treated like an animal
Then I realized I had no car, I didn't know where I was, I had no advocate, and I could just disappear. In fact, as far as I was concerned, I had been wiped off the map with the help of the police.
So, at one point, an orderly, a female orderly offered me a cloak and offered to help me undress. And that's when I began to cooperate because I knew I could not escape. And even if I did, I didn't even know where I would go or how to get back home.
Q: And did you then meet with doctors or psychiatrists at Brockton Hospital?
A: No.
Q: No?
A: I was given -- it was just the nurse. She gave me whatever drug was in the pill that she gave. I went to sleep. I woke up on the floor. And that's when I was introduced to whatever doctor I talked to.
Q: Have you obtained your medical records from Brockton Hospital?
A: No.
Q: Have you tried?
A: Yes.
Q: And the hospital has not produced them?
A: No. The process was onerous, at best. At one point because I think they said it had something to do with alcohol or drugs, they said they had, there was a certain process I had to follow. Then after that they said that they no longer stored their records at the hospital; they stored them at an out-of-state facility, and I would have to get my records. The fee was somewhere in the neighborhood of $47, or something like that.
Q: And you declined to pay that fee?
A: I figured if I waited long enough, I'd find out.
Q: You'd find out what?
A: I'd find out what happened.
Q: As a consequence of this litigation, we've requested those records. We've requested that you obtain them. Have you done anything since this litigation was commenced to obtain those records?
A: I'm not sure. Me, personally?
Q: Correct.
A: No. I don't know if we have them or not.
Q: How long were you in Brockton Hospital?
A: As far as I know, six days.
Q: Was any of that stay voluntary?
A: None of it was voluntary. I didn't know my rights, so I didn't know when I could leave. The only way I knew when to leave was by talking to other patients that were being released.
