Judge Dismisses Manslaughter Charges in Stair Mishap Case
by Tom Perotta


A Brooklyn judge yesterday dismissed a manslaughter indictment against a woman who watched her mother fall down the stairs and then left her there for five hours. The court said the woman was guilty of poor judgment but not her mother's death.

Paula Sanford, a geri­atric nurse, said that she and her mother were in an argument last September when her mother began shaking her finger at her. Ms. Sanford said she grabbed her mother's finger and her mother pulled it away, causing the 87-year-old to fall down the stairs. Ms. Sanford said that when she tried to help, her mother ordered her to leave.

Ms. Sanford returned five hours later and found her mother at the bottom of the stairs. She called 911 but her mother was dead when a rescue crew arrived. Ms. Sanford initially told investigators she arrived home to find her mother unconscious, but later admitted to having an argu­ment and witnessing the fall.

"In hindsight, it is clear that [Ms. San­ford] should have persisted in her effort to assist her mother," Acting Supreme Court Justice Matthew J. D'Emic wrote in People v. Sanford, 6893/03. "Ms. Sanford's leaving for five hours was a mistake, causing the direst consequence. Yet, it was not criminal."

A spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes said the office will appeal the ruling. Ms. Sanford's attorney, Christopher Renfroe, said, "I don't think there's any way that this is a crime."

Ms. Sanford could have faced 15 years in prison. The decision will be published Wednesday.