A judge has thrown out the manslaughter case against the Hollywood Hills nursing home administrator charged in the deaths of nine residents in the 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 so weak and so lacking in evidence that no jury could properly convict him, even considering the evidence in a light most favorable to prosecutors.
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Carballo, 65, was the former administrator of the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, a 150-bed, two-story facility.
Electricity to the center's air conditioning system — but not the rest of the facility — went out when a fuse became dislodged atop an FP&L transformer pole when Irma hit on Sept. 10, 2017.
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In the early morning of Wednesday, Sept. 13, residents started showing signs of distress and some died, prompting nursing supervisors from the adjacent Memorial Regional hospital to call for an evacuation.
The victims, ranging in age from 57 to 99, had body temperatures of up to 108 degrees, paramedics have reported.
Carballo was originally charged with 12 deaths, but three cases were dropped.
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Carballo could have faced 15 years in prison if convicted.
