La. Homicide Charges Defended

The owners of a Louisiana nursing home where 34 people were found dead in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina deserve to have had criminal charges filed against them, asserts the man who brought them.

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti says the multiple counts of negligent homicide that Salvador and Mable Mangano are facing stem from a deviation from "the standard of care that a reasonable nursing home administrator should have given."

"After we did our investigation and we made application for an arrest warrant with the St. Bernard Parish judge who read the application, (he) agreed that we had probable cause to make that arrest," Foti

"In this case," Foti continued, "they were given the opportunity to move. They also had a contract (with an ambulance service) to move the patients. They did not move the patients. And that resulted in a loss of 34 lives. These are patients who are in wheelchairs, walkers, and (they) cannot take this type of action, and they drowned."

Asked about reports that the Manganos stayed in the facility during Katrina, Foti said, "We've heard it both ways. We are looking into it. That will be part of the case."

Smith mentioned accounts claiming the Manganos actually saved the lives of several dozen people in the nursing home, but Foti was having none of it: 'Actually, the process really is not how many lives they saved, (but) how many lives were lost. They had an evacuation plan. This was a killer hurricane. They are in low land. They had evacuated before. They knew they should have evacuated. They should have used their evacuation plan and moved those patients to safety."