Healeys plan path to health and justice

WARWICK — Cody Healey, a former student and athlete of Warwick Valley High School, spoke out this week about overcoming the pain of burns he sustained after an attacker left him lying unconscious in a fire on New Year’s Eve.

“I approached this more positive than other people,” the 26-year-old said in a telephone interview with his parents at their home in Warwick. “I don’t feel sorry for myself and I didn’t feel bad for myself in the hospital. The way I look at it, at the end of the day, worse things happen to people throughout the world. So I was just happy to be alive.”

On New Year's Eve, Healey attended a bonfire on the outskirts of Milton, Fla., about 35 miles from Pensacola. While there, Devin Lee Bass,24, of Milton, Fla., attacked Healey and knocked him unconscious, according to a report from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff.

Healey fell, landing in the fire from the waist up, he said.

He was eventually rescued. He stayed in intensive care for more than a week, spending part of that time in a medically induced coma, wrapped in bandages as his body slowly healed.

“He looked like a mummy when I first saw him,” said Craig Healey, Cody’s father. “I punched a wall. They threw me out of the burn unit I was so upset.”

With his girlfriend's help
Though the burns he suffered have disabled him, Healey said that because he is without a job and health insurance, he is working with the help of his girlfriend to rehabilitate himself.

“Everything that is growing back is new. Doctors told me that most of my nerves are going to have to be retaught how to do basic things. It’s kind of like a baby needs to learn how to use their finger,” he said.

Though his face and neck are healing quickly and are cosmetically better than the days following the attack, other areas, especially his right hand, may continue to pain him the rest of his life, he said.

“I threw a tennis ball to my dog this morning and it dropped me to my knees because the pressure of releasing the ball and letting it roll off my fingertips hurt so bad.”

He said he felt sorry for his girlfriend, Miranda, who wraps his wounds, dresses him and helps him with the most basic of tasks. “She and I had been dating for the last couple of months, and she was the first person there when I woke up,” he said.

Medical report: 'near death'
Despite the extent of Healey’s injuries and the details of the police report, Judge Jose “Tony” A. Giraud, assessed bail at $6,000 for Bass, who posted that amount and was later released.

“It may be that the judge did not know the extent (of injury), and I don’t know that we knew the extent at the time, because it had just happened,” said James Parker, supervisor for the Florida State’s Attorney’s Office of Santa Rosa County.

Calls to Giraud’s office for comment were not returned.

”Sometimes you learn more as you go, and you get back medical reports,” Parker said.

Healey said that he has seen that medical report recently. “They put my medical file down on the table. I looked at it, and it said 'near death' on there,” he said.

Although no further charges have been filed against Bass for his attack of Healey, Parker said that the state’s attorney Angela Liles filed a motion to increase his bond.

After police arrested and charged Bass with aggravated battery and evading arrest, they issued a statement claiming that Bass had not only attacked Healey, but had also harmed people attempting to remove Healey's body from the fire.

Prosecutors, however, have disproved that claim, Parker said.

“He did attack someone else but according to the witness statements, it was not while that person was attempting to pull the victim from the fire,” Parker said.

Wayne Logan, an expert on criminal law at the Florida State University College of Law, said that it is somewhat uncommon for a prosecutor to pare down allegations in a criminal case.

“Generally speaking, prosecutors will usually charge to the full brunt of the law if they can, because it will improve their position in a plea bargain. The overwhelming majority of cases are pled out. They don’t go to a jury or trial,” Logan said.

If the state undercharges a defendant, that could limit the flexibility of a prosecutor trying to plea down to a lesser charge, he said.

Patience, persistence
Meanwhile, Craig Healey is eagerly awaiting renewed attempts by police to arrest and bond Bass on new charges.

“My son nearly died,” he said. “He hasn’t seen a bad day yet and I want him to see a bad day.”

Cody Healey’s eyes are set squarely on getting healthy and returning to work.

“So I am trying to rehab myself as fast as I can, which unfortunately is very painful and will take a while,” he said. “But I fully plan on going back to work as soon as I can.”