FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The manslaughter trial for a former Hollywood nursing home administrator continued on Thursday in the deaths of 12 patients in 2017 following Hurricane Irma.
The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills lost power to its chiller, disabling the air conditioning.
Administrator Jorge Carballo is facing nine counts of aggravated manslaughter for not properly caring for his residents, not moving them out of the facility, and then going home.
On Thursday, jurors heard from certified nursing assistants who described the hot conditions, despite spot coolers and fans placed throughout the building.
“As soon as we went into the building, we could feel that it was hot,” said CNA Tatiana Garcia.
Jurors also heard from a woman who went to visit her mother, and while they were all concerned, an evacuation never crossed their mind.
That said, a geriatrics specialist took the stand and said as soon as the air conditioning went out, the patients should’ve been moved out of the building.
Text messages sent to Carballo that were shown to jurors revealed the concern board members were having for the residents.
In his defense, Carballo’s attorney’s argued the environment patients were exposed to in the days leading up to the evacuation were bearable and that moving them could prove to be a risk for the elderly and frail residents.
Stephanie Hollinshead arrived to the facility to check on her mother in the days after the storm, but prior to police ordering everyone out.
She was asked by defense attorney David Frankel if she thought her mother needed to be moved.
“I don’t remember if that’s what came to my mind, but of course I was concerned,” she said.
Expert witness for the state and geriatric medicine specialist Dr. Nannette Hoffman disagreed, saying those patients should have been evacuated quickly, as soon as the air went out.
“There was no telling when or if they were going to get power back or restored, and so these frail residents were going to develop heat related illness, heat stroke, and that’s what happened,” said Hoffman.
Ultimately 12 people would lose their lives.
As for Carballo, the state will have to prove he was grossly negligent in order to convict him on the nine counts of aggravated manslaughter.