ALEXANDRIA, La. (AP) — A Department of Veterans Affairs nursing assistant charged with manslaughter in a patient’s death is expected to get a new trial date.
Fredrick Kevin Harris’ trial has been scheduled to start Monday in Alexandria, but defense attorney George Higgins III says he expects it to be postponed.
Harris was arrested in December 2013, several months after he was involved in an altercation with 70-year-old Charles Lee Johnson at the Alexandria VA Health Care System medical center in Pineville.
Hospital officials called it an accident, but prosecutors charged Harris with manslaughter after an autopsy found Johnson died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Harris has remained on the VA payroll since his arrest. The VA agreed last year to pay $215,000 to resolve a wrongful death claim by Johnson’s sister.
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
