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State drops charges against ex-caregiver By Chris Bristol Without comment, the state dropped charges against a former caregiver accused of complicity in the starving death of an elderly foster-care patient. Troy O�Brien, 34, was scheduled for trial starting Jan. 3 on charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminal mistreatment in the death of Edward Hayes, 68, who weighed only 110 pounds and was covered in bedsores when he was removed from an adult foster-care home in the Central Point area where O�Brien lived. He died three days later at Rogue Valley Medical Center. The owner and operator of the home, William John Laybourne, and two other caregivers eventually pleaded guilty to reduced charges of criminally negligent homicide for their roles in the case. Laybourne, 62, died of lung cancer before sentencing. But O�Brien refused a plea offer, saying he had not worked for Laybourne for some time and was indicted simply because he still lived at the home. Court records show the state filed a motion to dismiss the case last week. Jackson County trial judge Daniel Harris approved the motion Tuesday. O�Brien�s defense attorney, Medford public defender Andrew Vandergaw, said the state indicted his client before it had all the facts. "This is another example of the state ... indicting someone because they have probable cause, then realizing just before trial � after ruining a guy�s life for a year � that they don�t have sufficient evidence to proceed," Vandergaw said. "I saw absolutely no basis, after spending months going through the state�s evidence, for them to have indicted him in the first place. They couldn�t show that he worked there." Sheen Wu, an assistant Oregon attorney general in Portland who handled the case, didn�t return a call Friday seeking comment. In an e-mail to the Mail Tribune earlier this year, O�Brien said he feared he was being railroaded but refused to agree to a plea because he was innocent. "I do feel very strongly that someone must pay the price if there was any wrongdoing, but I know that there was no wrongdoing on my part," he wrote. "I didn�t work for the home nor did I do any kind of caregiving. I know that I am being falsely accused." The state also dropped a second mistreatment charge that stemmed from allegations that another elderly patient lost 45 pounds in less than two months while living at the Laybourne home. In September, caregivers Jack and Johnnie Cockrell were sentenced to 19 months and 16 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the case. Reach reporter Chris Bristol at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.