A federal judge declared the tragedy-filled trial of three St. Bernard sheriff’s deputies a mistrial Wednesday, ruling that last week’s suicide attempt by one of the deputies, Captain Andre Dominick, raised too many legal difficulties to allow the case to proceed.
Dominick was on trial with two other deputies, Debra Becnel and Lisa Vacarrella, accused of violating the civil rights of 19-year-old Nimali Henry by showing “deliberate indifference” to her grave medical condition. Henry, suffering from a rare blood disorder, died while lying face down in an isolation cell at the parish jail in April 2014.
After hearing arguments from both sides Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle ruled against a government motion to continue with the trial. With prosecutors near the end of their witnesses list after three full days of testimony, they argued to continue without Dominick in the courtroom.
“He chose this course. He made this decision,” government prosecutor John Gore argued.
But Lemelle ruled that the jury could interpret Dominick’s sudden disappearance from courtroom negatively for the defendants and that his absence may not qualify as “voluntary,” as the law requires for a defendant to be tried in absentia.
“An attempted suicide is evidence of some type of mental defect or illness,” argued Dominick’s attorney Paul Fleming, raising questions about whether his client’s absence with such a psychological state could be considered voluntary.
Fleming added that Dominick had been preparing to testify during the defense portion of the case.
With Dominick’s condition from a gunshot wound to the torso improving after five surgeries, Lemelle said he would like to schedule a new trial as soon as possible, preferably before the end of February.
But the delay will come with serious repercussions for Dominick.
Lemelle ordered that as soon as he is released from the hospital, the career law enforcement officer must be placed in custody for violating the conditions of his bond. In particular, the judge found that Dominick violated his bond agreement by possessing a firearm, and that he could be considered a continuing danger to himself.
Four days of the trial were completed last week when Dominick, 58, shot himself in the mid-section at his home late Thursday night, leaving him in the hospital with critical - and at one point - life-threatening injuries. Dominick has improved to the point where a breathing tube has been removed and he is expected to survive, Fleming told the court.
Dominick and the other two deputies are charged with allowing the gravely ill Henry, a new mother, deteriorate in the St. Bernard Parish jail despite her pleas for help and her families attempts to get her medical attention.
Henry had been arrested on questionable and relatively minor charges in March 2014, but died of her serious but treatable illness after 10 days in jail.