Jury deadlocks in case against lawyer accused of neglect causing his dad's death
A jury has deadlocked in the case of a suburban Philadelphia lawyer accused of causing his father’s death by moving the elderly man to his home, using some of his father’s pension income for his own benefit and withholding needed care.
After nine hours of deliberation ended in an impasse just before midnight Wednesday, the judge declared a mistrial in the case of attorney Edward J. O’Brien III. The 60-year-old was charged with third-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in Edward J. O’Brien Jr.’s death in 2013 death, at age 92, according to the Delaware County Daily Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Prosecutors said the son neglected his father, failing to provide him with needed medical and nursing care before he died with bedsores on his body and feces on the bed and furniture in his room.
However, defense lawyer Joseph Patrick Green said the World War II veteran resisted going to the doctor, didn’t want nursing care and sometimes refused to take his medicine.
“Ed tried to honor his father and his wishes,” reducing his work hours to help care for his father during the two years his dad lived at his home, Green told jurors. “We’re here to honor him, not blame him.”
It is unclear whether the Chester County case will be retried, another Philadelphia Inquirer article says. The judge has barred lawyers for both sides from discussing it with the media.
