Hurricane deaths at nursing home: accident or manslaughter?

By TERRY SPENCER
Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla (AP) — The trial of a Florida nursing home administrator accused of causing the overheating deaths of nine patients after a 2017 hurricane is underway. Prosecutors during Monday’s opening statements accused Jorge Carballo of abandoning his patients, going home after the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills lost power to its air conditioner during Hurricane Irma. They say when the heat rose, he should have ordered patients transferred to the hospital across the street, Carballo’s attorneys said he is a scapegoat, that the real blame belongs to Florida Power & Light, which didn’t restore power for three days. Carballo is charged with manslaughter. He could get 15 years in prison if convicted.