Jorge Carballo: Hollywood Hills nursing home chief acquitted in Hurricane Irma deaths of 9 residents
HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA: A judge has thrown out the case against the Hollywood Hills nursing home administrator accused of manslaughter in 2017 and acquitted him of all charges. Jorge Carballo, 65 was charged with the deaths of nine residents in wake of Hurricane Irma in 2017.
Broward Judge John Murphy, in a ruling issued Friday, found that the Broward State Attorney’s case against Jorge Carballo was weak and lacking in evidence that no jury could properly convict him, NBC 6 reported.
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How did this happen?
Carballo was the former administrator of the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, the 150-bed, two-story facility. The deaths began three days after Hurricane Irma knocked out a transformer that powered the cooling system. Otherwise, the facility never lost power.
As Hurricane Irma struck on September 10, 2017, a fuse on top of an FP&L transformer pole broke loose, cutting off electricity to the center's air conditioning system but not to the remainder of the building, the report mentioned. Residents began displaying signs of distress early on Wednesday, September 13, and several of them died. As a result, nursing supervisors from the nearby Memorial Regional hospital made the decision to order an evacuation.
If convicted, Carballo, 65, could have faced 15 years in prison
The victims, ranging in age from 57 to 99, had body temperatures of up to 108 degrees, paramedics have reported. Earlier in February when the case went to trial Prosecutor Chris Killoran told the six-member jury that Jorge Carballo is guilty of manslaughter because he failed to give adequate direction to his staff at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills after power to the facility's air conditioning system was lost.
He said, Carballo went home even as it became “ridiculously hot” inside the 150-bed, two-story facility and failed to order his patients' evacuation to a fully functioning hospital directly across the street.
“This is a case of a captain who abandoned his slowly sinking ship, and left not only his crew but the passengers to fend for themselves,” Killoran said. As temperatures rose inside the center, Carballo “basically did nothing,” he said as per the outlet.
“This case can be boiled down to one word — scapegoat," defense attorney James Cobb said during the trial in early February. Carballo was originally charged with 12 deaths, but three cases were dropped. Carballo, 65, could have faced 15 years in prison if convicted.