Two jurors dismissed from Hollywood Hills nursing home deaths trial
FORT LAUDERDALE - Two jurors were dismissed Wednesday in the trial of Jorge Caballo, a former administrator at a Hollywood Hills nursing home where 12 residents died in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in 2017.
The jurors' dismissal came after a bailiff reportedly overheard the jurors discussing the case. The bailiff claimed the jurors were talking about how the attorneys on both sides were handling the trial. The jurors also reportedly discussed how long the trial was going to take.
Because of the alleged exchange, Carballo's defense team requested a mistrial.
The judge denied the request but not before he brought both jurors in to question them about their conversation and what was said.
The state requested rather than a mistrial that the two jurors be dismissed. This was ultimately the judge's decision.
After that, the judge called in the remaining jurors and reminded them they cannot discuss the facts of the case until jury deliberations begin.
Prosecutors maintain Caballo 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.
The state 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.
Prosecutors must prove Carballo acted recklessly and showed gross and careless disregard for his patients' safety.
The defense claims Carballo did everything within his power to protect his patients.
