MADRAS, Ore. — A judge has found three Jefferson County Jail corrections officers not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in a man’s death.
KTVZ-TV reports Crook County Circuit Judge Daina Vitolins decided Tuesday that evidence presented at trial was insufficient to prove the deputies’ failure to more quickly summon medical care was the cause of James Wippel’s death.
Prosecutors accused Cpl. Anthony Hansen and deputies Michael Durkan and Cory Skidgel of ignoring medical issues leading to the death of the 59-year-old from a burst ulcer.
The Portland man was arrested on drug charges in April 2017. Wippeldied two days later at the jail.
Vitolins said no one was able to testify to the critical question of when it was too late for medical treatment to save Wippel.
