State prosecutors have decided to drop a charge of criminally negligent homicide made against a Chattanooga nursing home worker in 2008. However, prosecutors are still planning to try the man on three counts of making a false statement to police.
The nursing home worker, a certified nursing assistant, was charged with criminally negligent homicide after a 33-year-old man in his care was found dead. The CNA had indicated that the patient had slipped from his shower chair and hit his head as he fell. However, other workers at the nursing home stated that no one had reported the shower chair tipping over.
After reviewing the case, a medical examiner stated that he believed the patient had been killed, since he had very little ability to control his own muscle movements and the medical examiner did not believe that the man had in fact slipped or fallen out of his shower chair and banged his head on the shower wall or nozzle, leading to his death.
Attorneys for the family have filed suit on behalf of the deceased patient’s sister, who is seeking $35 million in damages. To add insult to injury, the man’s sister had no idea about the homicide investigation until long after her brother’s funeral and burial.
A criminal case tries to answer the question whether someone has committed a crime and therefore owes a debt to society. A civil case for negligence or wrongful death, however, seeks to hold negligent people responsible for their actions by seeking money damages to pay the costs of the injuries they caused. If you or a loved one has been injured in a Tennessee nursing home accident, the experienced Chattanooga nursing home abuse attorneys at Massey & Associates, P.C. may be able to help. Call us at (423) 396-0720 for a free consultation
Gary Massey, Jr., is a well-known courtroom advocate practicing law in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Gary is a native of Tennessee who began practicing law in 1998. He graduated from Cumberland School of Law where he was ranked in the top 3% of his class and was an editor of the Cumberland Law Review.
