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Appeals Court Upholds Gargus Verdict

Appeals Court Upholds Gargus Verdict

 

gargus court

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, has affirmed the conviction and sentencing of Linda Gargus, who was convicted of Elder Abuse, First Degree, and sentenced to 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

On November 26, 2013, the Court of Appeals handed down their ruling.

The victim, Lorraine Gargus, died on March 11, 2010.  According to court documents, Lorraine Gargus suffered from Diabetes, and after a 2005 fall, was unable to walk and became bedbound.  In 2008, Linda Gargus, a Certified Nursing Assistant at The Clark County Nursing Home, began helping take care of her mother, Lorraine.  By 2010, she quit her job to take care of her parents full time.  Lorraine Gargus developed bedsores in January 2010, and her husband died later that month. Family members were discouraged from visiting Lorraine.

Court documents report that a granddaughter visiting described the mobile home as dirty and smelly, with “hundreds” of mice.

On February 22, 2010, after Gargus called an ambulance to transport her mother, Lorraine to the hospital, after discovering a wound on her foot.  As she was moved to the stretcher, a large mouse or small rat ran out of the bedclothes.

On February 23, 2010 the Clark County Sheriff’s Office received a call for a elderly abuse hotline investigation at the residence at RR 3 Box 26A Kahoka, MO. Agencies Assisting with the call included The Division of Family Services and the Children’s Division.

Court documents report the Dr. Neville Crenshaw testified Lorraine Gargus was “acutely and critically ill” when she was admitted to the hospital.  She had severe bedsores and suffered from a staph infection, and injuries consistent with rodent bites.

Lorraine Gargus died from her wounds on Thursday March 11, 2010.

On Friday March 12, 2010 Linda Gargus was a

rrested for 1st degree Elder Abuse, and convicted of the charge on November 6, 2012.

She appealed that conviction.

In her appeal, Linda Gargus’s lawyers argued that the State failed to prove she knowing caused serious physical injury, and that she had no duty to act to prevent injuries.  The court disagreed.

Gargus’s lawyers also argued that the trial court erred in it’s instructions to the jury, and that the court should have over

turned the verdict.  The appeals court also disagreed, and upheld the judgment of the trial court.

The entire ruling can be seen by clicking the link below

 

 

Gargus Appeal