Nursing Home Lawyer Says Government To Blame For Hurricane-Related Deaths

Friday, May 18th 2007, 9:15 pm

By: News On 6

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A lawyer defending the owners of a Louisiana nursing home where 35 patients died after Hurricane Katrina says the government is to blame for an "engineering disaster" that led to flooding.

Court papers filed by attorney James Cobb argue for the right to present evidence that the owners could not have anticipated the levees would break, causing flooding in the area around St. Rita's nursing home in St. Bernard Parish. And he contends that state and local officials never ordered the couple to evacuate the nursing home.

Salvador and Mabel Mangano are charged with 35 counts of negligent homicide.

Louisiana's attorney general has said the Manganos should have taken steps to evacuate patients before Katrina hit.