[StBernard] Grand jury in St. Bernard may soon here nursing home deaths case

[Westley Annis]

Grand jury in St. Bernard may soon here nursing home deaths case
9/7/2006, 8:12 a.m. CT
The Associated Press    

CHALMETTE, La. (AP) - A grand jury - the first seated in St. Bernard Parish
since Hurricane Katrina - will meet Sept. 20 and may hear the negligent
homicide case against the owners of a nursing home where 35 residents died
during the storm.

Lena Nunez, chief deputy clerk of court, said the grand jury, which was
chosen Aug. 30, has been subpoenaed for Sept. 20.

Asked if the cases the grand jury will hear include the negligent homicide
arrests of Salvador and Mable Magano, owners of St. Rita's Nursing Home,
Clerk of Court Lena Torres said, "I imagine that's what they're going to
do."

The Manganos were booked on 34 counts of negligent homicide after
floodwaters swamped the nursing home near Poydras. Another body was found in
the weeks after the hurricane, bringing the death toll to 35.

The Manganos, who have not been indicted, last week filed a legal demand
seeking to have a judge name several public officials and agencies as
co-defendants in a lawsuit pending against St. Rita's. During a news
conference Tuesday, their attorney said the facility had never flooded
before and that the Manganos worried that an evacuation would kill some of
their elderly and frail patients.

The district attorney's office in St. Bernard Parish has recused itself in
the case. Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti is handling the case
against the Manganos.

The 12 jurors and two alternates were selected from a pool of 150 people,
Torres said.