The former employee of a Gillette assisted living center who was accused of manslaughter for losing track of a memory care patient on a frigid night is guilty of negligent homicide, but not the felony of manslaughter he originally faced.
Bernard Hale, 58, is set for sentencing Nov. 21 in District Court Judge Michael McGrady’s court.
The Campbell County Attorney’s office in March charged Hale with involuntary manslaughter.
He was accused of recklessly killing 88-year-old dementia patient Judith Duvall, who was found frozen in an outdoor courtyard of the Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center in January.
Hale, a certified nursing assistant who was later terminated, had failed to search for Duvall after hearing a door alarm at the facility, according to court documents.
But he didn’t recklessly kill Duvall, the jury ruled last Thursday after a trial.
Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Though acquitted of that felony, Hale still faced a lesser included offense.
In this case, that means the jury had the option to convict Hale on the misdemeanor of criminally negligent homicide after acquitting him of manslaughter.
The jury took that option, leaving Hale with a maximum potential penalty of one year in jail and up to $2,000 in fines.
Hale’s court-listed phone number led Wednesday to a defunct voicemail.
His attorney Jonathan Foreman could not be immediately reached.
Killing Is An Active Verb
Foreman on Oct. 21 urged McGrady to acquit Hale early on the legal grounds that the state’s case-in-chief wasn’t strong enough to support the manslaughter charge against him.
McGrady declined to do that, letting the question go to the jury.
The state’s case asserted that Hale failed to investigate a door alarm that sounded in the memory care unit the evening of Jan. 9, resulting in the discovery of Duvall’s body early the next morning.
“None of the evidence presented by the State of Wyoming in its case in chief would show that defendant or anyone else in the facility was aware that the decedent was missing until a few minutes before the discovery of her body,” argued Foreman in a written version of his request. “It is further uncontroverted that the decedent died form exposure, specifically hypothermia, after falling into a snow drift and being unable to rise back to her feet.”
But, Foreman argued, Wyoming’s manslaughter statute relies on the “active verb” of killing — requiring an act, not an omission, for the jury to convict Hale.
The Legislature purged the terms “culpable neglect” and “criminal carelessness” from its manslaughter law in 1982, says Foreman’s motion.
The Campbell County coroner in this case testified he was not able to justify a finding that the manner of death was homicide, noted Foreman.
Coroner’s findings don’t always track perfectly with criminal charges, convictions and acquittals.
Legacy in March told Cowboy State Daily it "cooperated fully" with agencies and investigations.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
