Judge drops all charges in nursing home neglect case

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – All charges have been dismissed against the final four nursing home employees who were being tried for felony neglect in the 2005 death of an 86-year-old resident.\nCheers erupted inside and outside Vanderburgh County Circuit Court Thursday when Magistrate David Kiely announced his decision to drop the neglect charges.\nKiely said he felt prosecutors had failed to prove that the four did anything criminal. The trial had started Monday for Teresa Williams, Ron Gillenwater, Connie Burris and Elizabeth McCabe. The four cried and hugged each other, their supporters and defense attorneys after Kiely gave his decision.\nDozens who awaited the ruling in the lobby outside the courtroom cheered loudly, surrounding each of the former defendants as they emerged.\nThe defendants declined comment after the ruling, but as she hugged a friend McCabe said, “It’s finally over. It’s been more than a year.”\nIn August 2006, a grand jury indicted nine employees of the Brentwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on felony charges of neglect of a dependent in the death of Morline Allen.\nCharges were dropped earlier against the other five employees named in the indictment.\nProsecutors left court without commenting and had not issued a statement.\nThe defense was prepared to begin calling up to 25 witnesses Thursday if Kiely had not dismissed the charges, said attorney Michael Keating.\n“What happened here is that the state failed to show any personal guilt,” he said.\nKeating said there were still actions pending against the licenses of the employees, so it was unlikely they would be able to return to work right away.\n“I assume that with this outcome, those actions will go away, too,” he said.\nThe case began after the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office determined that Allen’s Oct. 1, 2005, death was the result of physical neglect. She died from an infection three hours after being transferred from the nursing home to St. Mary’s Medical Center.\nThe coroner’s office said Allen had developed bronchopneumonia after not being moved for about 10 days. A catheter line had become embedded in her leg and ulcerated bed sores on her feet and ankles had not been treated.\nGolden Living, which runs the facility, said in a statement that the magistrate found that Allen’s skin condition actually improved during her last stay in Brentwood. Golden Living was pleased that the charges were dismissed and said it stood behind its employees.\n“We knew that these vicious allegations were baseless,” the statement said. “When it came time to prove the allegations in a court of law, the claims evaporated in light of the facts.”