BC-NA-GEN--US-Katrina-Nursing Home Deaths, 1st Ld-Writethru,0346

Change of trial location granted in Katrina nursing home deathsCHALMETTE, Louisiana — The trial of two nursing home owners charged with negligent homicide in the deaths of 35 patients following Hurricane Katrina will probably be held outside of St. Bernard Parish, the storm-ravaged coastal parish where the victims died.The Manganos face 35 counts of negligent homicide and 64 counts of cruelty to the infirm.

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti said the Manganos should have taken steps to evacuate St. Rita's patients.

Defense lawyers say St. Rita's had never flooded before the storm hit on August 28, 2005, and that the Manganos' hurricane plan — keeping frail residents in place with food, water and generators rather than risking their lives by moving them — was responsible, and nobody would have died had levees held.

A state judge yesterday granted a defence motion to move the trial of Mabel and Salvador Mangano, the married couple who own St. Rita's Nursing Home. The judge said it would most likely be held in Baton Rouge, or farther north in rural West Feliciana Parish.

Judge Jerome Winsberg left open the possibility that the trial could be held in St. Bernard if defence lawyers ultimately decide to have a bench trial instead of a trial by jury — a decision still pending Thursday.

Defence lawyers for the Manganos had asked for a change in location due to extensive pretrial publicity that could prejudice prospective jurors.

In court, however, state prosecutors, defence lawyers and the judge agreed that assembling a jury for any case would be difficult in St. Bernard, a suburban New Orleans where Katrina's flood damage devastated homes and businesses and drove out much of the population.

"This was anticipated from Day One because of the extraordinary conditions in this parish," Winsberg said.