Nursing home innocent in Katrina deaths

ST. FRANCISVILLE, La., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The owners of a Louisiana nursing home have been found innocent in the deaths of 35 elderly residents who drowned during Hurricane Katrina.

A jury deliberated for four hours Friday before finding Sal and Mabel Mangano innocent of 35 counts of negligent homicide and 24 counts of cruelty for residents who survived the flood by being floated out of the home on mattresses, The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Saturday.

Prosecutors claimed the Manganos, who owned St. Rita's nursing home near Poydras, La., ignored the danger the hurricane posed and decided not to evacuate the home's residents before their deaths on Aug. 29, 2005.

Defense lawyers countered the Manganos didn't want to risk residents' lives in an evacuation and relied on the government to protect them from harm.

Dozens of the victims' relatives attended the trial, which began Aug. 13.