FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Fort Worth, Texas, say they won't retry a doctor accused of causing the death of a patient by blocking her breathing tube.
Dr. Lydia Grotti's conviction for criminally negligent homicide was overturned by a Texas appeals court and prosecutors say they have no further evidence to show in a new trial, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported Tuesday.
Grotti, whose 8-year-old case was dismissed Friday, was a former intensive care doctor at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
She was accused of causing the Dec. 26, 2000, death of 64-year-old Lettie McGhee, who had ovarian cancer and went into cardiac arrest at the hospital, the Star-Telegram reported.
During Grotti's trial, prosecutors alleged she removed McGhee's ventilator, declared her dead and then blocked McGhee's breathing tube, suffocating her, the Star-Telegram reported.
In overturning the conviction, the appeals court found insufficient evidence to support claims McGhee was alive when Grotti allegedly blocked the tube with her finger.
