Wife, attorney await word on inmate's condition after fall at Allegheny County Jail

A week ago, Antoinette Yates got word that her husband, who is awaiting sentencing at the Allegheny County Jail, fell off the second tier on pod 2C.

Witnesses who were conducting video visits with their loved ones on the pod saw Robert Yates fall on Dec. 28.

Since then, Antoinette Yates said she has repeatedly contacted jail administration to find out about his condition.

“I even went down there and cried,” she said on Monday.

The correctional officer she encountered told her to call Chief Deputy Laura Williams.

Williams never called back, she said. The nurse’s station, Antoinette Yates said, told her they can’t tell her anything because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

“ ‘You all can’t tell me nothing? Is he up? Is he breathing? I’m his wife,’ ” she recalled asking them.

“In the meantime, this is killing me. This is my husband.”

Defense attorney Casey White, who represents Robert Yates, said he was told on Monday through court staff that his client has been out of the jail on “outside medical” since Dec. 28. White said he believes that means Robert Yates has been hospitalized.

White has not gotten any other information — including what condition Yates, 42, is in.

He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Randal B. Todd on Thursday after pleading guilty in October to gun and drug charges.

“I think Mrs. Yates should be able to learn the welfare of her husband,” White said. “She is right now completely in the dark.

“She doesn’t know if it was a serious, stable or life-threatening situation.”

Late Monday, a county spokesman said that Allegheny County Jail Warden Orlando Harper spoke with Robert Yates’ mother earlier in the day to update her on her son’s status.

“She is the only individual listed by Mr. Yates for release of information,” spokesman Garrett Conti said in an email.

He said that jail officials take their obligations to protect inmate medical information under HIPAA seriously.

“The facility is limited as to what information it can share and relies upon the individuals in its care and custody to identify those individuals to whom they wish information to be provided,” Conti wrote. “If an inmate is hospitalized, influenced by HIPAA protocols, a representative from the jail shall only reach out to the emergency contact to make notification. Minus a signed release of information on file, no other information is provided in accordance with HIPAA.”

According to jail policy, in the event of serious illness, injury or hospitalization, the health care services duty officer “shall contact the next of kin or emergency contact to make notification with the following information: a. Nature of the injury and status of stability (i.e. critical, stable) b. Family visiting procedures c. Without a signed release of information, no other information shall be provided in accordance with HIPAA.”

Even if Antoinette Yates does not have permission to receive her husband’s medical information, according to that policy, she should at least be notified that he’s been hospitalized and what his condition is, said Jaclyn Kurin, an attorney with the Abolitionist Law Center who is working with Mrs. Yates.

“I don’t think there’s any two ways about it,” Kurin said. “ACJ was required to notify Mrs. Yates as next of kin of her husband suffering a serious injury in accordance with ACJ’s own policy.”

Between Tuesday and Thursday, Kurin sent seven different emails to attorneys for the jail, she said, and sometimes copied Williams.

Aside from acknowledging receipt of her messages, the attorneys have failed to provide any answers.

“First and foremost, it should not have to take a lawyer’s intervention to find out a family member’s condition and well-being,” Kurin said.

In case there was any question about Antoinette Yates being next of kin, in one email, Kurin included a copy of the couple’s marriage certificate, dated June 17, 2019.

Antoinette Yates said that she heard from her husband’s fellow inmates that he had gone to talk with mental health professionals 20 minutes before he fell.

Yates is facing a state sentence on his case. White requested two to four years incarceration with credit for time served. Yates has been in the Allegheny County Jail since Jan. 22.

White understands that the jail can’t tell family members specifics — like what hospital room a person is in — because of security concerns.

But a week after the incident, he said, all he’s been able to learn about his client is that he’s being treated outside of the jail.

Just a little bit of transparency, White said, would alleviate Antoinette Yates from feeling frantic.

White also thinks he ought to be able to find out his client’s condition.

“I would think, as his attorney, I should be able to find out information, as well, without any resistance — to be an advocate for him to be able to look out for his best interests.”

Kurin agrees.

“We’re just asking to find out the condition of her loved one — that’s all Mrs. Yates is asking here,” she said. “I’d like to ask the spokesperson or jail administration: Is this how you would like to be treated?”