Thomas family asks lawmakers to 'do the right thing'

By James Q. Lynch 

The Gazette

DES MOINES – Passage of “a simple solution” family members told lawmakers could have prevented the death of Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas is being delayed by constitutional questions.

Thomas' son, Aaron, called on lawmakers Tuesday to pass Senate File 2352, which would require hospitals to notify them when a psychiatric patient facing criminal charges is about to be released.

“It truly can be that simple,” Aaron Thomas told a three-member subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday before the verdict was announced in the trial of his father's alleged murderer.

Lawmakers haven't found it that simple.

“Lawmakers want to make sure the bill will pass constitutional muster,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Kurt Swain, D-Bloomfield, said after the committee deferred action on the bill until Thursday.

SF 2352, referred to as the Ed Thomas bill, came about after Mark Becker, who was found guilty Tuesday by a Butler County jury of shooting Thomas, was released from a Waterloo hospital despite pending charges. Prosecutors said Becker then drove to Parkersburg and shot his former football coach.

After a closed door meeting with lawmakers, Aaron Thomas called the death of his father June 24, 2009, “more than tragic and more than devastating.”

“What we found preceding that fateful day was almost as tragic. The death of my father could have been prevented,” he said.

He encouraged them not to get hung up on the concerns of interest groups, such as law enforcement and hospitals.

“We ask that you do what is right and allow a simple solution to this simple problem,” Thomas said. “May I remind you while we may not have much to offer you in the future nor are we a lobbying firm, we have paid more with the death of my father than any special interest could ever offer.”

By Tuesday afternoon lawmakers thought they had reached consensus with law enforcement groups and the Iowa Hospital Association on how the notification process would work. They believe a court order ordering notification is not necessary if the patient is held no more than 48 hours. Hospital privacy laws known as HIPAA allow the release to law enforcement of identification and location information, according to the Attorney General's Office.