Nursing home's owners refused to evacuate during Katrina -- was it negligent homicide?

In Louisiana, the owners of a nursing home are on trial for negligent homicide because 35 people died at their facility during Hurricane Katrina. Prosecutors have said the couple are "good people," but accuse them of causing the deaths because they refused to evacuate before the storm.

Their defense says the couple thought their building was strong enough to ride out the storm and were afraid that some residents would die during an evacuation.

How crooks made money off Katrina

The AP's got a good story about Katrina fraud, cases where people took advantage of the disaster to get government or charitable aid. So far, about 600 people have been charged in federal cases. Some of the anecdotes are pretty outrageous. One woman said two of her kids, both nonexistent, died in the flood. Aid was also sent to people who applied from prison.

Hat Tip: Thanks, Doc!

Not enough defense attorneys in New Orleans?

In New Orleans, a judge has ordered the release of 42 defendants because the overwhelmed public defender's office isn't giving them adequate representation. Most of the accused are there on drug offenses, but some are up on robbery and sex crimes.

It looks like the judge is using the order to pressure the Louisiana legislature to increase funding to the defender's office. After Katrina, the defenders had to lay off several of its lawyers. The judge's order wouldn't take effect until later this month.

Mercy or murder?

The doctor and two nurses from New Orleans accused of killing four patients after Hurricane Katrina -- I know we're a little behind the curve on the story, but I was curious where everyone stood on this one. Your thoughts?

Hurricane fraud alert: Now the flood cars

By Greg Reeves
At left is a happy Kansas family, as pictured on AG Phill Kline's Website, trying to avoid getting ripped off by:

• Hurricane charity scams
• Phony hurricane-relief Websites
• Gas gougers

Next, Kline warns: flood cars. Regarding the vehicle you're interested in:

• Are there water marks on seat cushions? Door panels? Radiator? Wheel wells?
• How about rust on the door hinges? Hood springs? Trunk latch?
• Is the owner manual soggy? Musty? Heavily scented?

Read Star consumer reporter Paul Wenske's comprehensive look at this problem. And more in Kline's Consumer Corner. And be sure to run a hankie underneath the seat cushions. It'll come up musty in a flood car.

Hurricane relief, Platte County-style

By Greg Reeves
State Rep. Jason Brown of Platte City (left) didn't organize a flood-relief caravan to get his picture in the paper or anywhere else, he tells Crime Scene KC. But it was the media that got him started.
"On TV, the media, officials, local, state, federal, kept pointing the finger back and forth," Brown says. "It just struck a chord with me, that’s not solving anything or helping anybody."
So he got in touch with Parkville Mayor Kathy Dusenbery (right), and together they organized three semi-trailers of relief supplies, a Bobcat with a bucket and set of forks, and headed down to Ocean Springs, Miss., - Parkville's sister city.
Brown has two messages from his trip:

• Put supplies on pallets and shrink-wrap them. Unloading a semi in three hours with a Bobcat beats 100 exhausted volunteers working all day carrying stuff out by the handful.
• Blame-gaming "doesn't exist anywhere outside of New Orleans. Everywhere we were in Mississippi, people were courteous, helpful and genuinely thankful."

Links: Trip report and thank-you from Dusenbery and Brown
           Crime Scene KC Q&A with Jason Brown
           State Rep. Jason Brown

MHP troopers send Katrina pix

By Greg Reeves
The Missouri Highway Patrol, which sent a contingent of 50 troopers and six radio specialists to Biloxi, Miss., for flood relief, has posted a series of photos showing the destructive power of Hurricane Katrina.

Last week we passed along the picture of the patrol's living quarters in the flood-relief area, as well as the troopers' checkpoint encounters with a couple of celebrities. The patrol contingent got back to Missouri on Saturday.

Here are a couple of the patrol's pix. Click on photos for larger image.                              

MHP captioned this photo, "Obviously the owners of this property mean business when it comes to looters. The spray painted message "You Loot, We Shoot" is a warning to anybody who thinks looting is acceptable. Our officers have indicated looting is not widespread and that most of the people they have encountered have been gracious and a pleasure to be around."

Troopers wrote, "This neighborhood was toally wiped out by the winds and the storm surge."

MHP flood relief: cuisine du Starkist

By Greg Reeves
The 50-plus Missouri Highway Patrol officers who are working flood relief in Biloxi, Mississippi aren't on watch for celebrities every day, as you might think from yesterday's post. Working 15-hour days and trying to get by, in fact, sound pretty tough. See living quarters (left). Click on pic for larger image.

Here's an excerpt from Capt. Bloomberg's Tuesday report:

• "The volunteer kitchens are greatly appreciated and a hot meal is nice.  Lieutenant Robinson couldn't get to the kitchen area yesterday resorted to a seafood buffet for last night -- Star-Kist tuna and crackers -- but all indications are that it hit the spot."
• "Preparations are underway for a beach party Saturday night.  Unfortunately the beach is so contaminated with debris and reportedly is also full of bacteria, we will have to settle for a beach view from the parking lot."
• "Captain Schmidt’s crew obtained a barbecue grill, but we are in search of charcoal and something to grill.  Meat is a rare commodity here because everyone lost everything, including the grocery stores, and as soon as it goes on the shelf it is gone.  The restocking system has not quite caught up with the demand.  We may have to send a crew to Hattiesburg to see what they can find. "

MHP flood relief: Gloria Estefan no, Miss America yes

By Greg Reeves
Fifty Missouri Highway Patrol troopers and six radio operators have been helping out in Biloxi, Miss., having headed down there in a convoy last Friday.
Turns out the troopers, who are manning checkpoints among other duties, have fielded celebrity sightings, rumors of sightings and one close encounter. Part of Monday's report by MHP Capt. Bloomberg:

• "Today was also a day for celebrities to begin to roll in.  Reports of pop singer Gloria Estefan coming through a checkpoint, well let’s say coming to a checkpoint -- Tpr. Winter, Troop A, quickly turned her around as soon as it was determined she was a spectator, not a worker.  Sorry, but we’re just doing our job Miss Estefan.  Oprah was reported to be in the area but there were no confirmed sightings."
• "We did have a visit from Miss America, Diedra Downs, and she was gracious enough to stop for a photo opportunity in front of the Missouri DPS command post with.  Chief McGowan, Troop E, was able to memorialize the moment for eternity with a photo of her and we will try to get that on the website soon.  I was able to impress her with my knowledge of her background, thanks to Assistant Chief Groves, Troop I, doing a little advance background for me on Google.com."

Q&A: Star columnist Mike Hendricks

By Greg Reeves
Star columnist Mike Hendricks flew to New Orleans suburb Metairie, LA Monday to help his 85-year-old father retrieve property from his apartment. Mike returned on Tuesday and  wrote about the trip Wednesday.

Q. How bad was looting?
A. I didn't see any looting. I was out in the suburbs.

Q. Was there any looting in Metairie that you know of?
A. I don't know. There were people - clots of 'em, here and there, walking around with plastic bags in the dark. Being a weenie, I feared for my safety. My dad just thought I was being afraid of the boogeyman. I told him I didn't want to die. He said, 'Well, you can't live forever." Easy for him to say - he's 85!

Q. How far is Metairie from downtown New Orleans? Is it like from Overland Park to Downtown KC?

A. It's more like Raytown. It's a close-in suburb.

Q. So the people walking around with bags could have walked to Metairie?
A. Easily.

Q. Maybe because it was dry?
A. Yes. And the reason it was dry where we were was because a raised railroad bed acted as a dike.

Follow-up: Hurricane relief scams

By Greg Reeves
After Thursday's  story about two persons posing as hurricane victims in Johnson County this week, we found Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon had already lined up his guns  against disaster-relief scams. Such crimes always peak after a natural or man-made catastrophes, Nixon said.
Earlier this week, Nixon announced he was suing the operator of a  neo-Nazi  Website for soliciting hurricane help under false pretenses. The site has since been shut down, AG spokesman Jim Gardner tells Crime Scene KC.
"Immediately following Katrina, the attorney general put out a consumer alert basically saying beware of people raising money in the name of hurricane relief that you've never heard of - especially if they ask for cash only, for example. Just common-sense things," Gardner says.

KC churches: compassionate - and careful

By Greg Reeves
Ask the Rev. Tom Are Jr. (left) of Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village about the arrest Tuesday of two persons posing as hurricane victims, and he'll tell you it's not an isolated incident.
He'll also tell you that local relief workers are ever-vigilant in dealing with people seeking help. In fact, area help agencies work together to be efficient with resources as well as compassionate, Are told Crime Scene KC.
"We deal with this all the time," Are said. "People who work directly with those who need to be helped are in the confirmation business and making sure and finding out what can be found out to check people’s stories."
"It's not going to be an isolated incident," he said of the recent arrests. Two persons wanted on felony drug warrants have been charged in Prairie Village Municipal Court with illegal solicitation.
"We have had several people come and some have not checked out, but most have," Are said.

Don't think it can't happen here

By Greg Reeves
Baton Rouge, LA gun shops are reporting being swamped with gun buyers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. An estimated 100,000 flood evacuees and relief workers have swollen the city's population of 227,000.
"At the height of the post-storm panic last week, people waited in line for three and a half hours at Jim's Firearms, a giant gun and sporting goods store," The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The demand for guns has even spread - slightly - to the Kansas City area. The Bullet Hole, a popular shooting range and gun outlet in Overland Park since 1967,  tells Crime Scene KC that several customers have shown up seeking weapons to send to relatives or friends in the Gulf Coast. The business is pictured here (left) in a 1997 photo from Star files.
"Nothing dramatic, but people up here, some of their families are down there, and they're buying some guns to get in their house and save some of the stuff they've got," the man who answers the phone at The Bullet Hole said.
It can happen here. Business at The Bullet Hole after 9/11 was "chaos", the man said. When disaster strikes, he said, "people wake up and wonder where the hell they're at."