Acquittal in nursing home deaths

ST. FRANCISVILLE, La. -- Standing across the street from the St. Francisville courthouse, Mabel Mangano's face was drawn and her eyes were wide, but her hands were finally relaxed.

She had often been seen scribbling notes during the three-week negligent homicide trial in which she and Sal, her husband of 47 years, were acquitted of all charges for not evacuating their nursing home when Hurricane Katrina bore down on the coast in 2005.

"It's been hard," Mabel Mangano said after the verdict Friday night, her voice turning to a whisper: "It's been hell. I never even got a parking ticket before this."

Following four hours of deliberations, jurors found the Manganos not guilty of 35 counts of negligent homicide and 24 counts of cruelty to the infirm -- charges that could have put them in prison for life.

"Really, out of all the things that happened, all the mistakes that were made, how can you punish these two people for doing what they thought was right?" juror Kim Maxwell said.

Katrina is blamed in the deaths of more than 1,400 in Louisiana. Thirty-five patients died at the Manganos' St. Rita's nursing home in St. Bernard Parish, just outside New Orleans.

At least 140 patients died in nursing homes and hospitals during the hurricane and its aftermath, and six hospitals and 13 nursing homes in Louisiana were investigated. Attorney General Charles Foti's office said more arrests were likely.

However, the Manganos -- Mabel 64, and Sal, 67 -- are the only two people prosecuted in Louisiana on charges stemming directly from the storm.

"Why were these two people singled out when so many people made so many mistakes?" asked juror Alfred Tate, 59.

The prosecution said it was because the Manganos willfully ignored warnings to leave, implying that even though the couple earned more than $2 million a year they did not want to bear the cost of an evacuation.

Lead prosecutor Paul Knight, an assistant attorney general, reminded jurors in his closing arguments of witness testimony quoting Mabel Mangano as saying: "Unless a hurricane's coming up my back door, I'm not putting people through an evacuation and wasting money on it."

Defense attorneys called it prosecution by innuendo and said the charges were concocted to cover state government's failure to deal with the hurricane.

"These caregivers stayed in their posts, caring for patients," said defense attorney James Cobb. "But they're second-guessed and railroaded and scapegoated by a state government that clearly did not do its job."

The Manganos had ridden out other hurricanes at St. Rita's, including one the year before, and believed their patients were safer remaining in the sturdy brick building than risking a lengthy evacuation, defense attorneys said.

The morning after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane, the residents ate breakfast -- before a wall of water poured through breaches in the area's levees, defense attorney John Reed said.

The Manganos and their staff were able to rescue 24 people but 35 others died, some in their wheelchairs, some in their beds.

Foti, who is seeking re-election this fall, has been accused of having political reasons for filing charges against the Manganos and against a doctor and two nurses who stayed at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center, where at least 34 people died after the storm. A grand jury refused to indict Dr. Anna Pou, and charges against the two nurses were dropped.

Dane Ciolino, a law professor at Loyola University's College of Law in New Orleans, called the verdict in the Mangano's case a "serious blow" to Foti.

"He was already embarrassed with the result in the Memorial case, and here it is again with a stinging defeat in a case he handled from start to finish," he said.

In a statement Friday, Foti said he feels for "the victims of this tragedy, and my heart goes out to them. I hope they will be able to put this behind them."

More than 30 civil lawsuits have been filed against the Manganos, and families of victims packed the courtroom Friday.

"They are guilty, guilty as hell," said Yolanda Hubert, whose 72-year-old mother, Zerelda Delatte, died at the home.

The Manganos have stayed in Baton Rouge since the storm, afraid to return to still-devastated St. Bernard Parish.

"But I guess we'll just go on one day at a time," Mabel Mangano said Friday night. "Since the hurricane that's all we could do."