No Charges In Case Of Utility Freezing 93-Year-Old To Death
No charges will be filed in the case of a 93-year old Michigan man who froze to death after the utility company put a malfunctioning electricity limiter on his house.
The limiter deprived the house of enough juice to run the furnace and he died of the cold. CNN reports:
The prosecutor acknowledged one could reasonably argue that many people were at fault, but he said he lacked evidence to prove gross, criminal negligence including an intent to cause harm.
New evidence suggested that the man had Alzheimer's and though he had enough cash to pay his bills, as evidenced by the money stapled to them lying around the house, he forgot to pay them due to his deteriorating mental state. There were also instructions on how to restart the limiter sitting on the man's counter.
A needless tragedy that could have been averted had anyone come to visit the poor guy more often.
No charges in Michigan man's freezing death [CNN]
PREVIOUSLY: Utility Freezes 93-Year-Old To Death For Overdue Bill
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Just another example of how we as human beings are shipped out to pasture once we are past our prime, and can't provide anything to anyone anymore.
Something to look forward to. If anything, I think we have learned that getting old sucks.
It's a terrible situation, but I agree with the judge. In any other case someone would have just called the utility to get a repair job done, who could have anticipated the faulty part? There's a reasonable expectation that the inhabitant/s would notice and get something done about it.
The real problem is that no-one was there for this man as he was deteriorating. Too socially isolated old people are suffering and dying for the stupidest reasons.
@Sam Ryland: I agree. I obviously don't know the specifics of this case, but he didn't have any family? What about next-door neighbors?
Who on earth *would* you charge in this terrible situation?
:(
@Featherstonehaugh: Somebody, anybody, everybody, just to get a sense that something's being done because you can't or don't want to address the real issue at the root of the tragedy.
A couple things bother me about this story. First, the city-run utility was exempt from a law prohibitting privately owned utilities from shutting down service during the winter. Had a privately owned utility commited this atrocity, I'm sure the boys at city hall would have been screaming for an investigation and fines. Second, the man had sufficient money stapled to his bills dating back to 2007. Clearly, he was financially stable. I wonder if his kin aren't too upset about this because it sounds like they just got a nice payday. The man was 93 and suffered from alzheimers. Seems like his death might not have been too difficult to accept.
Going out Kevorkian style is looking better every day. I'll be damned if I have to revert back to diapers or get tossed in a disease-ridden cesspool retirement home.
I have seen my fair share already of poor, deteriorating seniors, and I fear I will see more very soon as my grandparents succumb to the same fate. Not allowing them the choice to go out with dignity is both insulting and inhumane, both to the senior and their family/friends.
I'd rather die purposefully in my sleep rather than freezing to death alone.
@clamjuice: You mean, how we as human beings are used by companies until we can't give them any more money, and then left to freeze.
um, isn't there a suit against the manufacturer for the malfunctioning limiter?
oh how nice, government refuses to prosecute itself.
where was social services?
shouldn't they have been involved when a 93 isn't paying his bills?
did any of that money laying around end up in cop/utility worker/ambulance worker pockets?
I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying.
@Ronin-Democrat: um, isn't there a suit against the manufacturer for the malfunctioning limiter?
None that I've heard of. More to the point though, there's no eidence I'm aware of that the limiter malfunctioned. Do you have any links with more information?
Consumerist needs to do a better job reading the story. The limiter didn't malfunction. It was set to be tripped at 10 amps if the house owner was late on payments. As noted in the story, this practice is illegal for privately-owned utilities, however, since this was a city-run utility, it was exempt from that law.
@Ronin-Democrat: Just cause you're 93 doesn't mean you're an invalid. Unfortunately, this guy wasn't monitored, and he happened to be incapable of taking care of himself. But other 93 year olds are perfectly capable.
Consumerist... please do a better job reading the story so you don't provide incorrect information. The limiter was not faulty. Upon reaching 10 amps, the limiter cut-off service to the house. The limiter was installed because the owner was late on several payments. While I disagree with the installation of the limiter, you're implying the manufacturer could be liable due to a faulty device. That is not the case. Please correct your mistake and please have a little more diligence when reading stories before providing us with inaccurate information.
In American culture. Let's be specific, please. Most other countries don't have these problems. American culture is unique in it's distain for the aged.
And, as I mentioned in my original post, the city would have went after the utility if it was privately owned. Since this was run by the city, of course they're not filing charges. Prosecutor probably has hopes for another public office and doesn't want to buck the system.
@Skankingmike: Sometimes you can't. Try forcing my 90 year old Grandma into a home. Seriously, she will bite you.
@Sam Ryland: I remember the article when it came out and I don't remember anything about any malfunctions. In fact, I seem to recall that the limiter was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. IIRC guy was trying to heat his house with his oven instead of the furnace which is what probably sent the power draw over the limit.
Maybe I'm wrong though, it was a while ago that this happenned.
Guess he should have signed up for online billpay.
reading this story tells me that if I am ever to create my own energy company, I am going to get somebody to code a routine into my programs that will check to make sure even a little bit of energy is being used each day.
When you go on vacation, how many of you actually unplug EVERYTHING I mean running the fridge used 4KW where I am living the other day, and it was a fridge and a clock.
Back on topic, if no energy was used, I would look into calling the person. (in my mind, I would be a very people friendly company)
Did this poor gentleman have any relatives?
He could have lived past 100 years...
Is there a lawyer in the house? I'm curious about "negligence including an intent to cause harm". I'd have thought that by definition, negligence would lack such an intent; how can one intend to cause harm and happen to do so negligently? I'd think that either negligence would cause unintentional harm (as in this case), or deliberate action would cause intended harm.
@bloggerX: Would the seven extra years have been quality? He had severe enough Alzheimer's that he was stapling cash to bills, and not paying them. Also, he was apparently trying to heat the house with his oven (?)
It is clearly a tragedy, and no one should freeze to death, and I am not trying to minimize that. However, I'm not sure that wishing seven more years of dementia on anyone is a great thing, either.
@clamjuice: Just put me on an ice flow and push me toward open waters when I get feeble. Or at least use me in a movie to do a really dangerous stunt.
"You see that guy getting pushed off the building in handcuffs, and then hitting the ground? That's grandpa!"
@nakedscience: Exactly, which is why his family and next-door neighbors should be keeping an eye on him?
@calquist: If he was suffering some Alzheimer symptoms, he may have been increasingly cut off from people because of that as well, unfortunately.
@bloggerX: I'd say that depends on how one defines "living."
Though I get that reasonable people can disagree on the "dying with dignity" debate, I personally don't want to live for seven years so clueless that I don't get that stapling money to my bills doesn't pay them.
@babyruthless: Quality of life with Alzheimer's is really variable. At my father's retirement community there are people who still enjoy quite a few things despite their impairment, and people who, sadly, don't. It's hard to know without knowing the person.
Here in Quebec, if you're a non-paying customer but use electricity to heat your primary residence not only will they NOT disconnect in the winter, but they are obligated to reconnect your service should it have been disconnected and you're still living there come winter again.
Despite all the crap we put up with here, our government owned and operated electrical utility is a shining star more often than not.
@Gramin: The question is, did the family know he suffered from alzheimers? That is not made clear in the article. It was stated that no immediate family lived near him and that investigators found him to be extremely independent(?). It could be the symptoms were just beginning to manifest in which case, no one may have been aware of his condition in order to assist him.
@Skankingmike: Normally the reason children choose not to is simply because it eats away at their inheritance. Nothing to do about treatment.
That said, it's obviously the better choice in cases like this.
@heybtbm: Well, at least you're not guilted into it by traditional pressures and gender favoritism, like you are in China. I'd rather take care of my parents because I love them, not because I feel I owe them anything or because they expect me to - or worse, if I were a male, that they specifically wanted me to be born just so I could carry on the family name and take care of them in their old age.
/Has been reading a lot of academic papers on China's gender favoritism and is feeling lucky she was not raised in China.
Yeah, but this is America. Corporations run the government, and if you can't afford healthcare/heat/etc, you just die.
An even bigger question...was there family at all? This poor guy may have been on his own, forgotten, and then frozen. What a sad way to go.
Which is why I think we should be able to throw toasters in the pool at the YMCA during senior water aerobics. It would sovle all sorts of issues like this before they become a problem.
@Saboth: So just a question: If you no longer can pay for the electricity coming to your house what makes you think you're entitled to it? You do realize that someone has to pay for it.
@digitalgimpus: what an irresponsible and broad statement! Unless you've done some research in this area, I doubt you know what is normal. Even if you somehow are privy to many of these situations, it doesn't make your experience the norm.
@digitalgimpus: That is a sad and selfish way of doing things.
My mother put her mother in an assisted living place, and later into the attached nursing home. It was posh and crazy expensive, which meant that it ate up every penny of my mom's inheritance. But I know my mom didn't care, because my grandmother had a good quality of living for her last ten years.
@digitalgimpus: I won't put my mother or my in laws in those homes because I'd rather take care of them myself unless they require too much then I might hire a nurse than send them to a home.
Offspring 1: "should we put dad in a home?"
Offspring 2: "OMG I heard they torture them in those places!"
Either take your old in or pawn them onto private business either way help them!