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Texas State Capitol/Michelle Palmer
Albert 'Leslie' Cochran was found unresponsive near the intersection of I-35 and Oltorf around 1am Saturday morning on October 3rd.
This reporter's first question is: Why did it take 9 days for the Statesman to report on this? And witnesses to suspicious or violent activity are essentially lost at this point. Anyone who saw anything might have responded to an earlier report - but nine days later? Unlikely.
One might also ask why a Civil Rights reporter is even bothering with what appears to be a simple assault. It's not that simple. Leslie, as he was known to locals, was a homeless man with a gimmick - a gimmick that might well incite violence to his person in some locales. Let's just say a bearded man in a tutu tends to attract attention - and can afford to charge for photographs with locals and tourists.
However, the most interesting part of this story is not simply that Leslie's injuries went unreported, thus costing the APD valuable information. It's the fact that Leslie was found injured during the second day of Austin City Limits - a venue that brings a great deal of money to this city, second only to SxSW in March.
As a former Austin cab driver, I can confirm that the APD's presence is somewhat slack during these two events. Granted, they are concentrated on 6th Street and the surrounding area - including S. Congress - during New Year's, Halloween, and other local events. But during ACL and SxSW there is an observable absence of the usual squad cars pulling over drunk drivers, as well as general patrol.
The question is, was the delay in reporting Leslie Cochran's alleged assault a result of the City of Austin protecting it's image during a high profile event that draws thousands of out-of-town visitors? How was it that an iconic individual such as Leslie - and make no mistake, almost everyone in Austin knows who Leslie is - was left for dead on the side of the road, and the Statesman took nine days to report it?
Beyond the city's usage of the CYA principle, there is the fact that Leslie is both homeless, and a cross dresser. He had dual citizenship in groups that are routinely harassed under what would by a reasonable human being be considered a hate crime, if not by the State of Texas. While not technically transgendered, I would bet Leslie's habits would fall under the umbrella of The Matthew Shepard Act, should it be passed. Leslie is genderqueer - that is, he messes with gender. He plays with it - only he knows his reasons for that, but I think a man in a cheerleader outfit fits in the transgendered umbrella - even with the beard.
So what was the APD, and the local press, thinking when it failed to report this story in a timely manner? Did they think no one would notice? There's a reason Austin's slogan is "Keep Austin Weird" - we like it that way. But it's the job of both law enforcement and the press to keep Austin safe, as well. It would appear in this instance that they failed to follow up when one of our denizens was not kept safe. They need to be held accountable for obstructing justice in this case. Leslie's assault should have been front page news the day it occurred. The question now is, why wasn't it?
Update: My use of the term assault in this article should have been qualified with the possibility that it was an accidental injury. I admit that. However, despite the comments stating that HIPPA laws prevented the incident from being timely reported, I respectively disagree. The police can report on something that occurs, whether it's an accident or assault. The police are not bound by HIPAA policies - only the hospitals.
My concern, and anger, in this article is concern for the safety of the homeless population in Austin that continues to grow - and the tendency I have observed to downplay incidents involving the homeless, especially during events that draw a large amount of publicity to our city.
In better news, Leslie has been reported to be in Fair condition now, and conscious:
And one further update on 10/23/09: Leslie reported that he was jumped by two fellows who were discussing obtaining crack, after he suggested that it was a bad idea. And yet, there was no police report filed. Imagine that. See the most recent Statesman article, if you don't believe me.
Comments
This worried me too when I learned about it, and I'm very glad you're asking why it took so long to hit the news. However, if Leslie himself is unconscious, and like most homeless people doesn't have documents on file specifying next of kin, power of attorney, and health care proxies in the case of such an event, I believe the police and hospital are supposed to keep the info confidential. Maybe it's just that the leak took 9 days to happen?
I 100% disagree with your conspiracy theories. I'm sure the police (and any Austinite aware of the situation)would have loved to go public with this to help get some answers. If anything, I would imagine that they would have loved to have the extra help from all the people in for ACL. The type of people in town for ACL are also the type that love Leslie and his character and how it represents Austin, so why would that stop the police or whoever you feel is responsible from reporting it? As Will pointed out, there are laws in place to protect people's privacy. Same reason you wouldn't want to find out from the news that your parents were killed. But i'm sure you'd have a conspiracy theory for it no matter which way it went.
And what does your "observation" of a lack of APD presence pulling over drunk drivers have to do with Leslie? I also disagree with that, but you do have a soapbox, so shout it out.
KXAN News reported it in their Twitter feed 10/8/09 KXAN_News and then later in their news 10/9/09, but it was still 6 days after Leslie's fall on 10/3 when KXAN found out.
They said that they were having a hard time getting anything from the hospital.
This worried me too when I learned about it, and I'm very glad you're asking why it took so long to hit the news. However, if Leslie himself is unconscious, and like most homeless people doesn't have documents on file specifying next of kin, power of attorney, and health care proxies in the case of such an event, I believe the police and hospital are supposed to keep the info confidential. Maybe it's just that the leak took 9 days to happen?
Hm, if he was assaulted, the hospital would have notified police of their concerns and it would have been investigated. I'd hate to think that an entire OR staff would be in on such a conspiracy.
Also, his trip to the hospital was reported first the day after it happened (before ACL day 2 even started). Granted not by the statesman, but the information was out there.
I'm pretty sure he wasn't attacked... rumor is it was a stroke
atxbs.com/?q=node/2246
KXAN was reporting this on the air and on it's website last week. It was extremely difficult to confirm bec the hospital won't give out official info. Had to confirm through other sources. But the story has already been reported for almost a week now.
They were responding to a tip from an anonymous viewer when they called around to confirm it - officials didn't tell anyone anything. Someone leaked it to kxan for the first time about five days later, and it was on the web site within an hour.
Just as a clarification, ENDA is the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, so this would actually be covered by the Matthew Shepard Act, which just passed the House.
For those of you defending APD on the grounds of privacy - tell me this: why is it that any crime - or John/Jane Doe - is reported immediately, yet Leslie's circumstance was not?
Why would APD OR AAS withhold this information?
I've requested the police report. Regardless of what it says, I cannot understand why this information was withheld from mainstream media (which it was) for a week and a half. I don't buy that they didn't have "permission" - there was no permission stated in the Police Blotter I took this from. No next of kin.
I've worked ACL and SxSW. As a Cab Driver. I know the police presence is reduced in the general population during these festivals. And I find it extremely hard to believe that a car wreck in Hays county with an unnamed person who dies makes AAS - yet Leslie being found essentially comatose doesn't. Even unnamed, he would have made the papers in some way, if it weren't for ACL. There's a discrepancy here, folks.
To Austin Transguy - ENDA hasn't been signed by Obama yet - therefore it is not yet law.
Gryph223: the information was available to those of you in forum online - it was not public. That's a big difference.
@Will Warner - many accidents and assaults occur in Austin that do NOT take 9 days to report. My question is: why did this take 9 days to reach the public?
Why are we looking to the news (or the police) to report this? Would you want the news to report when you have a stroke or some other medical condition?
Why are some blaming APD? This is crazy.
atxbs.com (Austin Texas Bike Stuff) reported word of his hospitalization within 24 hours...
@Ed - Ed, I loathe conspiracy theories - probably more than anyone you have met in your life, and for very personal reasons. But I follow the Police Blotter - and I know damn well this would have been reported if this had been anyone else, at any other time. Trust me on this. If you don't, email me privately, and I will explain in graphic detail why I *hate* conspiracy theories.
@hallie h h - atxbs.com is not mainstream media. I still maintain this incident - whether accidental or criminal - should have been reported when it occurred - not 9 days later. And we do not know yet whether it was accidental or criminal.
@Debbie Cerda - and that's my point - A police report was filed by the cabbie. That, alone, should have been available during ACL. Regardless of the hospital policies. And it isn't like the cops didn't know who they were picking up. He isn't dead. There is no reason for this not to be reported. Even if they hadn't named him - they could have reported the call. My fear, is that they didn't report it because he wasn't bleeding to death, and he was a homeless bum. So it just wasn't important. Like so many homeless who have died in this city in the past year alone.
@Gryph223 - that's why I am requesting the police report. If it *was* accidental, then they couldn't do a damn thing. But don't you think it odd that his injuries weren't reported at all? I mean, this isn't some nameless homeless person they can sweep under the rug. This is Leslie - who 90% of Austin knows on sight. Jennifer - the MtF transgender woman who ran for office - the former marine, remember? The one who died in front of the church on Whitis? Her death was reported the very next day. Why the difference?
@Seriously - because he hasn't died yet - so they don't know for certain yet *what* caused the injury. The injury as described on the Police Blotter does not jibe with stroke. It jibes with external trauma. Maybe he fell off a bike two states away - but they can't actually determine that until he dies and they split his skull open. In the meantime, I think it was well worth reporting in the mainstream media. Where most people would read it.
As for the rest of you, I have kids to get to school in 4.5 hours. I'll get to you later.
I don't agree with your 'autopsy' comments, but that's ok. We don't have to agree. If this turns out to be a natural medical condition I can understand the lack of press following the story.
Make no mistake, I was as surprised as anyone about this incident. I heard about this today and I saw Leslie on Friday (during ACL). I am hoping for the best.
This is very sad, but please, let's not implicate people or organizations before we know what happened. It discredits a lot of hard working people.
First of all, HIPAA privacy laws, which are overseen by the Office for Civil Rights (ironic that a "civil rights reporter" penned this article), state that patients' medical conditions can only be released to the public in general, one-word terms, like good/stable/critical, etc. The same goes for celebrities and public cases. The fact that police or EMT were involved is what makes it a "public" case; patient privacy rights do not change. Leslie's family or legal representative, if he even has that, must authorize the release of information.
Second, there is no proof that he was assaulted. He could have had a stroke, or been drunk before hitting his head.
Third, it's not the APD's job to just announce something like this, that duty belongs to the press, which as evidenced by this knee-jerk flurry of misdirected and unsubstantiated accusations, needs to start doing a better job.
That said, my prayers and thoughts are with Leslie, I hope he pulls throug
@ michelle: now you're just grasping to find things to prop up what is, realistically, an opinion piece under the guise of news. You chose to ignore the obvious facts of the situation, and pander to the baser elements instead of making a more integrable choice...like the statesman, whom you're attempting to overly vilify here, did. They chose to confirm what they knew instead of splashing a salacious opinion out there.
"Leslie's assault should have been front page news the day it occurred." "The question now is, why wasn't it?" --If thats the kind of news you want on the front page you are an idiot! Go sit on your hand and watch Jerry Springer!
You're being ridiculous jumping to these extreme conclusions. First of all, the Statesman's story said there were no signs of external trauma, which is an indication he was not attacked. Chances are he fell and hit his head. Anyone who has spent anytime in the vicinity of Leslie knows he has a serious alcohol problem. Combine that with (probably) teetering on high heels and there's a good chance of falling down. Also, as was stated above there are laws protecting patient privacy. If police suspected a crime had been committed this would have been reported immediately.
VERY well said in this article.
You are an idiot. This was not violence or assault. The reason the Statesman didn't report for 9 days is that due to HIPPA laws, they CAN'T! Hospitals are not allowed to release information w/o family nofication.
Dumb ass.
Many assaults in Austin are never reported to the news or the general public. Why are you so concerned about this one?
Correction. Many REAL assaults in Austin are never reported to the news or the general public. Why are you so concerned about this IMAGINARY one?
@NosyNancy I'm concerned because no one knows if it *is* imaginary or not, and because of the 9 day delay in reporting by the only major newspaper in Austin. If anyone else had been found unresponsive on a sidewalk in Austin, at any other time than ACL or SxSW - it would be reported, especially if the injury were serious enough for hospitalization. The Statesman has reported on traffic injuries, sexual assaults, the folks who were attacking people on 6th street, and pretty much anything you can think of that goes wrong in this town. Leslie is essentially a local celebrity, whether some folks like that or not. So why wasn't it reported? If it had been a politician or a sports coach at UT, it would have been. If it had been a musician, even, it would have been. So why wasn't this circumstance with Leslie reported? Today, the AAS claims that a police report was not filed - yet the earlier police blotter notice claimed both police AND EMS were called. Which is true?
News8Austin is reporting that it was a brain aneurysm, not an assault <won't let me post link>
@watson - thank you for the update. Hopefully Leslie will get the help he needs in the future, and hopefully the City Council and State can be convinced that something more needs to be done to help the homeless.
Sounds fishy. I only heard about it, thanks to Jason and Deb at 101x. APD is often too busy getting speeders and other un-important things.
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