Detective: Defendant repeatedly changed what she said throughout her interview

Published 4:03 pm Saturday, May 30, 2009

When she first began her interview with local authorities May 6, 2008, regarding the alleged abuse case at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea, Brianna Broitzman was calm and composed, Albert Lea Police Department detective Deb Flatness testified Friday during what turned into nearly four hours of testimony in a hearing in Freeborn County District Court for the young woman.

The interview began just after 4:30 p.m. that day, and Broitzman made no attempt to leave, the detective said. She was the second-to-last interview, of what had turned into two days of longer-than-scheduled interviews.

While Flatness escorted her to a conference room in the Law Enforcement Center, the detective explained that the questioning was voluntary, asked the young woman about her age and asked if a parent was going to come in with her, Flatness said.

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Before Broitzman had been co-defendant Ashton Larson, who like Broitzman now faces at least 10 charges related to alleged abuse at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea, and following her was Stephanie Sipple, the young woman who first alleged the abuse, the detective said.

Sitting in the conference room toward the back of the Law Enforcement Center, Broitzman said she thought the questioning was going to be regarding an incident that happened a few days earlier with Sipple, who had been fired at the nursing home, Flatness testified. But the young woman soon found out otherwise.

Initially she was polite and talkative, said Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office investigator Bob Kindler, who also interviewed Broitzman on May 6. The young woman didn’t display any type of fear or resentment for being there.

Flatness talked about resident after resident, asking Broitzman to share information about each.

At first the young woman denied any involvement whatsoever with the alleged abuse or seeing anything take place, Flatness said, but throughout the interview there were intermitted changes to her story.

“She repeatedly changed what she said throughout the interview,” the detective said on the witness stand. “It was clear she was not being entirely honest because of the changes she had made to her statement.”

Broitzman also exhibited physiological changes that are sometimes indicative of lying, Kindler testified.

Her neck reddened and she coughed at certain times.

After what was described in court Friday as a long “monologue” in the interview, where Kindler said he stressed the importance of being honest, Broitzman’s demeanor slowly began to change.

And during the latter part of the interview, she even got tearful.

“I think she realized we had information and she was being implicated,” Flatness said.

Though the hearing Friday was not to determine whether Broitzman took part in the alleged abuse at the nursing home, there were some new details that emerged as a result of the testimony.

This was the first time to hear of Broitzman’s demeanor during that initial interview and to hear of the emotion that was involved.

Broitzman’s lawyer, Larry Maus, argued that the investigators should have formally told Broitzman while a camera recorded that her questioning was voluntary and of her rights to an attorney.

He also questioned some of the statements made by Kindler to Broitzman during the “monologue,” describing them as “threats, promises or coercion.”

The hearing will be continued to a later date until Jolene Bertelsen with the Minnesota Department of Health is available for questioning as the third witness for the prosecution.

Maus said he is also considering putting Broitzman on the stand as a witness for the defense.

Charges in the case came in December after an investigation into allegations of abuse by the Police Department, the Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Details of the allegations, however, surfaced last August after the release of the Department of Health’s report. It concluded four teenagers were involved in verbal, sexual and emotional abuse of 15 residents at the nursing home in Albert Lea. The residents suffered from mental degradation conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.