The Whistle-Blower: Anne Mitchell, 52, a nurse at Winkler County Memorial Hospital in Kermit, Texas for 25 years, sent a complaint to the state medical board that a doctor at her hospital was practicing unsafe medicine. She was joined in the complaint against Dr .Rolando G. Arafiles Jr. by another nurse and co-worker, Vickilyn Galle, who helped her write the letter. Both women were fired by the hospital in June 2009, shortly before Mrs. Mitchell was indicted on a third-degree felony charge of “misuse of official information.” Conviction could have brought a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000. Charges against Mrs. Galle, 54, were dismissed in late January, 2010. at the “prosecutor’s discretion.

What happened among the people in the town of Kermit? Did the story draw national attention? What were the cases of the prosecution and defense at her trial? Who were the law enforcement officers? And what was the verdict of the jury?

In the seven months from the time of the indictment until the fourday trial in early February, 2010, the local population in Kermit became so polarized that the judge moved the trial to a neighboring county. Nationally, the “Whistle-blower” case drew attention from the media, health care workers concerned with reporting malpractice, and nurses’ organizations lining up in support of Mrs. Mitchell. The case was investigated by Sheriff Robert L Roberts Jr., a friend and admiring patient of Dr. Arafiles, and tried by the county attorney, Scott M. Tidwell, a political ally of the sheriff and according to testimony, Dr. Arafiles’ personal lawyer. Mrs. Mitchell was represented by a team headed by John H. Cook IV. The jury was composed of six women and six men; the foreman, Harley D. Tyler, works as a high school custodian.

The prosecution claimed that Mrs. Mitchell had used her position at the hospital to obtain and disseminate confidential information - patient file numbers - in her letter to the state medical board with the intent of harming Dr. Arafiles. They argued that Texas state law required that reports of misconduct “be made in good faith” and that Mrs. Mitchell had been waging a “vendetta” against Dr. Arafiles since he joined the hospital staff in April 2008. Witnesses for the prosecution testified that they had heard Mrs. Mitchell refer to Dr. Arafiles, who favored herbal remedies and alternative medicine, as a “witch doctor.” But other nurses testified that her concerns were legitimate and that internal complaints were not handled properly by the hospital administrators.

Mr. Cook, the defense attorney, presented evidence that the nurses’ concerns about Dr. Arafiles were valid, and that Mrs. Mitchell had not violated state laws in alerting the medical board that licenses and regulates physicians. He also described several unusual cases to the jury – step by step – including one in which the doctor sutured a rubber tip to a patient’s crushed finger for protection. He did not ask Mrs. Mitchell to take the stand in her defense.

It took the jury only one hour on February 11 to acquit Anne Mitchell. The foreman said after the verdict was announced that the panel voted unanimously on the first ballot, and questioned why Mrs. Mitchell had ever been arrested. “We just didn’t see the wrong doing of sending the file numbers in, since she’s a nurse.” Anne Mitchell cried when she heard the verdict and said, “It’s a duty of every nurse to take care of her patients.” Her lawyers immediately filed a lawsuit in federal court against the county, the hospital and various officials, charging that the firings and indictments were a violation of due process and First Amendment rights. Rebecca Patton, president of the American Nurses Association, called the verdict, “a resounding win on behalf of patient safety. The message the jury sent is clear: the freedom for nurses to report a physician’s unsafe medical practices is nonnegotiable.”

The National Guardsman: Lieutenant. Dan Choi, 28 is a West Point graduate and Arab linguist who served with the 10th Mountain Division as an Army infantry officer in Iraq in 2006 and 2007. He was a member of the New York Guard when he revealed last March during an interview with Rachel Madow on MSNBC that he was gay. Because of the current Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, Lt. Choi was recommended for discharge at a hearing in June. The decision is now awaiting final approval by the Pentagon.

However, Lt. Choi may be on a different path from over 13,000 gay men and lesbians who have been discharged from the service since Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was passed in l994. In an interview in early February, Lt. Choi said that his commanding officer had asked him to participate in a weekend drill with his unit, the First Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment, in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg. The unit is slated to be deployed to Afghanistan in 2012. Lt. Choi described his commander, Lt. Colonel John Andonie, as “totally supportive” of him. Aspokesman for the unit, Lt. Colonel Paul Fanning, spoke of Lt. Choi’s announcement that he is gay: “We do not have an issue with it. It’s a deeply personal thing. To us a soldier is a soldier is a soldier.”

Since April, Lt. Choi had not been participating in drills with his unit; taking part instead in administrative work at the 69th Regiment’s armory in Manhattan. He was also very active in making public appearances on television news shows to present an articulate case for repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. In January, Lt. Choi received an e-mail message from his commander that the deployment was possible and it would be helpful if he trained with his unit. He said that he was nervous about returning to drills with the unit since his case had become so public. “I’m more out, I think, than anybody.” He added that Colonel Andonie, “just wanted to remind me that there were people in the unit waiting for me to come back.”

Although President Obama has called for a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, it’s up to Congress to make that happen. Meanwhile, Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, is planning to introduce an amendment to this year’s defense authorization bill that would call for a moratorium on discharges under the current law.

Joyce S. Anderson is the author of “Courage in High Heels,” “Flaw in the Tapestry,” “If Winter Comes” and “The Mermaids Singing.” She can be reached at JSAWrite@aol.com.