Minimai you may have find a precedent case for the Murray trial. (A judge made a statement in a case and from that moment other judges follow that statement in similar cases.
Nurse found not guilty in patient death
LA Daily News, 2004-11-05
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer
PASADENA -- A former Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center nurse was acquitted Wednesday of
involuntary manslaughter in the death of a terminally ill Burbank man who was given a powerful drug without doctor's orders.Amy Brunner, 26, was accused of leaving the anesthetic Diprivan in a syringe on June 7, 2003, for fellow nurse Kelly Miyasato, 32, to administer to Pierre Azar, 80, who was suffering from cancer. Azar was pronounced dead 10 minutes after Miyasato administered the drug.
Brunner's attorney, J. Michael Flanagan, said
jurors found that Azar's death resulted from "a mistake in judgment" but not manslaughter on the part of Brunner.
"She's feeling very, very relieved that this nightmare has come to an end," Flanagan said.
The state Board of Registered Nursing has filed administrative charges against both nurses. Hearings on those charges are scheduled for March, but
they still have their licenses. Brunner is working as a nurse in a medical office, Flanagan said.
The jury deliberated all day Wednesday at Pasadena Superior Court and came back Thursday morning and returned its verdict.
"While Ms. Brunner
violated the medical center's policy as well as the scope of her nursing practice by providing a medication without a doctor's prescription, we are aware that she never meant to harm the patient. She was only trying to help another nurse in the care of the patient," Patrick Petre, the hospital's administrator, said in a statement.
The nurses are no longer working at the hospital.
Miyasato pleaded no contest Monday to practicing medicine without certification and had an involuntary manslaughter charge dismissed. She was sentenced to five years' probation and 350 hours of community service.
Diprivan, a fast-acting drug that can stop a patient from breathing, is
only supposed to be administered through a syringe if the patient is breathing with a respirator and if a doctor is present, according to prosecutors. Miyasato gave Azar, who was not on a respirator, the drug in the early morning hours, when no doctor was nearby.
Flanagan said he is in settlement negotiations with the Board of Registered Nursing and that Brunner will not lose her license. An attorney for the agency would not confirm whether those negotiations are under way.
Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office, said "this was a case that needed to be taken to a jury."
"The jury looked at the evidence, we saw it differently than they did but that's what trials are all about," she said. l=8s=8 Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 You are not allowed to view links.
Register or
Login