A California state judge on Friday dismissed second-degree murder charges against AAC Holdings and its executives in the 2010 death of Gary Benefield at an American Addiction Centers substance-abuse treatment facility.
Judge Elaine Kiefer ruled there was insufficient evidence presented to the grand jury to establish the elements of murder charges against the main operating unit of AAC, Jerrod Menz, AAC’s co-founder and former president, and two other individuals associated with the company.
“There was no evidence to show express malice,” wrote Judge Kiefer. “There is no evidence that any of the defendants knew that their acts of giving medications to Benefield were dangerous to the extent that they risked killing him.”
Shares of AAC Holdings increased on the news, rising 12% in Friday afternoon trading.
In a seven-page ruling, Judge Kiefer did not dismiss criminal charges of dependent adult abuse against AAC Holdings, other corporate entities and four individuals, including Menz, but did dismiss all charges against one of the defendants. “The evidence was also sufficient for the grand jury to find that seven of the eight defendants—willfully caused or permitted Benefield’s health to be endangered while he was in the care of the treatment facility,” Judge Kiefer wrote. A trial is likely to proceed on the remaining charges in May.
“We believe the allegations are legally and factually unfounded and intend to contest them vigorously,” AAC has said in its Securities & Exchange Commission filings. “We have always strived to deliver and will continue to seek to provide, quality, comprehensive, compassionate care to individuals and families struggling with alcohol and drug addictions and mental and behavioral health issues.”
California Attorney General Kamala Harris filed the murder indictment against AAC and its employees last year. Benefield suffered from alcohol dependency and other medical issues, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that required him to be supplied with oxygen. Before arriving at an AAC facility in southern California in 2010, an airline had forced him to empty his oxygen tank that was not replaced at the rehab clinic. Benefield did receive an anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drug and died within hours of arriving at the AAC facility on his 53rd birthday.
Judge Kiefer said “the act of admitting someone to a residential treatment facility or not having someone immediately assessed by a medical doctor are not acts that are highly likely to cause to death.”
