Michigan Legal Milestones
45. The Overturned Jury
Photo Credit: Cecil Lockard, Ann Arbor News
In 1975, at least 10 patients died at the Ann Arbor Veterans Administration Hospital after being injected with Pavulon, a powerful muscle relaxant that can be fatal in large enough doses. The FBI identified two nurses, Leonora Perez and Filipina Narciso, as the suspects and the federal case went before Judge Phillip Pratt of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
The ensuing trial in 1976 caught the attention of the public due to its circumstantial nature—prosecutors produced no eyewitnesses and did not offer evidence of motive in their case against the nurses—and because both nurses were Filipino immigrants.
FBI officials claimed the fast-acting nature of Pavulon and the schedules of the nurses proved they were the only two who could have administered the poison. The nurses’ defense attorney, Thomas C. O’Brien, believed the FBI targeted the two women because they were immigrants and because “the FBI had a high-profile case they could solve.” in the wake of the agency’s failure to solve the disappearance of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa in Detroit.
The story made the front page of the New York Times, was covered by CBS Evening News’s Walter Cronkite, and was also heavily covered in the Philippines, leading to a rift between the U.S. and Filipino governments.
In 1977, a jury acquitted Narciso of the one charge of murder, but Perez and Narciso were each convicted of three counts of poisoning. Later than year, however, granting a defense request, Pratt overturned the jury’s ruling and ordered a new trial—a rare occurrence following a jury verdict.
In his opinion, Pratt said the prosecution’s “persistent misconduct,” which included improprieties in arguments made during the trial as well as improper communication with witnesses, press, and jury resulted in “overwhelming prejudice to the defendants.”
Prosecutors never retried the case, and no other charges were ever filed for the murders. On February 1, 1978, the United States formally moved to dismiss all charges against both Narciso and Perez.