Hindsight: The Unraveling Effects of Addiction. Denise Williams

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      Matt

      Matt was required to do a weekend in jail for a repeat offense of driving with a suspended license. Prior to his weekend in jail, Matt checked himself into a hospital for detox and mental health treatment. His hospital caseworker arranged for him to enter a forty-five-day rehab immediately after he completed his weekend in jail. The caseworker asked me to call his probation officer to make him aware that Matt was going to rehab (four hours away from the area) and would not be reporting in for his next appointment. If he agreed not to violate Matt, then he would be free to go to rehab. The probation officer wished Matt well and promised not to violate him.

      On Sunday night, I went to pick Matt up from jail. He was further detained at the correction facility, and no one knew why. The only information they could share with me was that a last-minute bench warrant was issued for Matt. The warrant had no explanation. I was told to attend his bail hearing in the morning to find out why it was issued and to get things straightened out.

      The next morning, the judge was also not explaining the warrant. He denied Matt’s release and kept his bail at an extremely high amount. He apologized for not knowing the reason for the warrant but said he had the utmost respect for the judge who issued it. We could not afford to bail Matt out, so he was going to remain in jail.

      The correction facility had no doctor on staff, and because Matt had mental health issues and suffered from epilepsy, he was to be placed in solitary confinement until a doctor could treat him. He stayed in solitary confinement for a little over a week. Matt spent a total of thirty-four days in jail until his court date. Most of that time, we did not know why he was in jail. Matt found out from his public defender that the charge was a violation of his probation. His probation officer had apparently changed his mind and violated Matt.

      The judge at Matt’s hearing found out then that his probation officer had not told the entire truth about Matt when he requested the warrant. He never disclosed to her that Matt was going to rehab. He also lied about Matt violating probation. When the warrant was issued, Matt technically had not violated probation yet. His probation date came during his second week in jail. Matt’s charges were immediately dismissed. The probation officer got into a lot of trouble for what he did. He called the house the next day to apologize to Matt for his poor behavior, for which he had no plausible explanation.

      Matt’s grandmother died while he was wrongfully incarcerated, and the rehab center no longer accepted Matt since he had been drug-free for more than thirty-four days.