Some details have emerged surrounding allegations that a trio of women ignored an elderly veteran’s cries for help as he died at a nursing home in Atlanta five years ago.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 89-year-old James Dempsey was at Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation when staff members Loyce Pickquet Agyeman, Wanda Nuckles, and Mable Turman allegedly ignored and even laughed at him as he called out to them repeatedly. Agyeman was charged with counts including murder. The latter two suspects faced lesser charges of depriving an elder person of essential services and neglecting an elder person, respectively.
According to 11 Alive, surveillance camera footage allegedly reveals the circumstances surrounding the World War II veteran’s death — but it might never be shown during a trial that is now been delayed.
“We would not be able to prosecute this case without that video,” said DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston. “And those videos, in my mind, leave no doubt to what happened in this case.”
But lawyers defending the two former nurses and former nurse’s aide say the hidden cameras used in the facility were an illegal invasion of privacy. Now, the decision lies in the hands of the Georgia Court of Appeals, which signaled it would take on the case earlier this year.
That court has a deadline of November to issue its decision on the matter.
The appeal was granted after a December ruling by a county superior judge who found multiple reasons that the defendants did not have an expectation of privacy while on the job.
Prosecutors argue the footage is vital to securing a conviction in the case and legal experts point out there are exceptions to state laws restricting the use of hidden video cameras.
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