FORT FRANCES — The family of Hermina Fletcher is once again expressing frustration as they are forced to wait another four months to learn whether or not former nurse Lindsey Coyle will be sentenced to time in custody.
Fletcher, 78, died nearly nine years ago in La Verendrye Hospital in Fort Frances the morning of Jan. 4, 2015.
Coyle, 38, pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death for altering Fletcher’s medication administration report by increasing the dosage of morphine in order to steal it for her own personal use while employed as a nurse at La Verendrye Hospital.
It was determined Fletcher died as a result of morphine toxicity after Coyle failed to change the medication report back to the correct dosage.
A sentencing submission hearing was held last month before Justice Pieter Joubert where the Crown argued for a custodial sentence of two years while Coyle’s attorney is calling for a three-year suspended sentence.
Joubert said he would like time to consider his decision on sentence and anticipated he would be prepared to deliver it in late October or early November.
In a hearing held in a Fort Frances courtroom on Tuesday, the sentencing date has been set for Jan. 16, 2024.
Doug Judson, the attorney representing the Fletcher family, issued a statement late Tuesday saying the family is “angry, frustrated, and distressed by the apparent complacency of prosecutors in bringing this matter to a close.”
“Justice Joubert specifically directed at the sentencing hearing last month that he expected counsel to find a date for sentencing as soon as October,” the statement reads. “Despite that very clear direction, today the Crown Attorney’s office consented to another significant delay in any accountability for Ms. Coyle’s heinous and disgusting actions.”
The case has been winding its way through the courts since Coyle was first charged with second-degree murder in August 2019. In August 2022, Coyle pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death and the sentencing submission hearing was scheduled for one year later in August 2023.
During the submissions hearing, numerous family members of Fletcher read victim impact statements before the court, with several expressing frustration that it has taken so long to receive any sense of closure or justice.
“I am so mad that I have to be here today,” said Hermina Fletcher’s granddaughter, Melissa Fletcher. “It is embarrassing that this has carried on for so long.”
The statement on behalf of the family says the delays in prosecution of Coyle, including the charges coming three years after Fletcher’s death, is hurting the community’s confidence in the healthcare and criminal justice systems.
“January 16, 2024 will be nine years to the day since Ms. Coyle was suspended by her employer, Riverside Health Care Facilities Inc., in relation to their investigation of missing drugs at La Verendrye Hospital,” the statement reads.
The Fletcher family has called on the Minister of Health to launch an investigation into Riverside Health Care, believing Coyle may have victimized other patients while working as a nurse at La Verendrye Hospital.
“We now know, from the facts admitted by Ms. Coyle in court, that she likely targeted other vulnerable hospital patients,” the family’s statement reads. “And yet we have received no response or acknowledgement from the Minister of Health concerning the Fletchers’ request for an investigation into these serious and disturbing revelations about patient safety in a public hospital.”
The statement goes on to say that the inaction by the province and institutions is “shocking” and that local families and patients deserve more reassurance.
“At this point the Fletchers are resigned to the fact that no one in the justice system seems to care or appreciate the gravity of this case,” the statement reads.
The Fletcher family has also filed a $3 million lawsuit against Coyle relating to the incidents surrounding Hermina Fletcher’s treatment and death in 2015.
