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Pain from shocking like being 'beaten with rose bushes,' victim testifies North Medford student's vandalism trial starts By VICKI GUARINO A routine call to turn on lights in a boys' restroom at North Medford High School turned the life of a campus monitor inside out. Sometime before Pat McLinn grabbed her security key to lock on the room lights last April 7, the keyed switch had been vandalized. So instead of fitting her key into a lock, McLinn fumbled around in the dark, pushed her key through a hole and jammed bare wires. In a flash, McLinn was struck down by 277 volts of electricity. "It exploded," McLinn testified Wednesday, the opening day of the trial of a North Medford High School student accused of doing the damage. "It was like being turned inside out and beaten with rose bushes," she recalled of the pain. McLinn spoke haltingly from the witness chair, sounding at times like someone who stutters and at other times like someone who doesn't know English very well. "I don't know the words," she said at one point. McLinn's speech problem is one of several mental and physical injuries -- perhaps permanent -- caused by the jolt, her doctors say. The boy accused of vandalizing the switch is charged in Jackson County juvenile court with felony and misdemeanor assault charges for McLinn's injuries. The trial before Judge Mark Schiveley is expected to conclude today. The youngster, who still goes to North -- where McLinn continues to work -- has admitted numerous incidents of vandalism last April. A long list of acts was read aloud in court as he admitted to an unrelated criminal mischief charge: flooding a boys' restroom, tearing off light plates and switches to leave bare electrical contacts exposed, pulling latches off doors and a thermostat off a wall. But he denies tearing apart the switch that caused the injury to McLinn. His attorney, Dave Orf, suggested to Schiveley that the young man has been mistaken for another vandal. "Vandalism at North Medford High School has been an ongoing problem," Orf said, adding that several incidents not linked to his client have involved damage to light switches. Much of today's testimony likely will center on the reports and statements that led school investigators to single out one student for McLinn's injury. Police were not called into the case until about a month later, Deputy District Attorney Michelle Pauly told the court. Pauly said school officials offered a reward, and some students came forward with recollections of incriminating statements made by the student ultimately charged. When the young man was questioned by school deans, he admitted some light switch tampering and even showed baffled school officials exactly how he damaged a switch. Despite those admissions, Orf said the young man lacked knowledge and skill with wiring. "He had no knowledge that any of the light switches would carry any substantial risk of injury if they were tampered with," Orf said. After the explosion, McLinn's memory of crawling out the door, locking it and calling for help was hazy. She was hospitalized for a few hours and has been under the care of medical specialists since. Central Point physician John Shonerd read through McLinn's 2-inch-thick medical file in court. Burns on her chest, hip, arm and hand have healed, but McLinn remains unable to perform tasks such as balancing a checkbook, following a recipe, even reading stories to her grandchildren. On her security rounds at North, McLinn said, she's sometimes embarrassed that someone will ridicule her rough speech. "It's hard not knowing," she said. "People sometimes are mean." Other times she's fearful someone will hurt her again. "I used to just barge in and take control," McLinn told Schiveley. "I call for help now." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA