There’s a murder case in Southern California that has a ton of weird things going on. So many weird things, in fact, that while any one of them might give you pause, when you look at them all together, you can’t help but say “Seriously? This is two full scoops of crazy!” It’s yet another damning commentary on the sad state of justice in our country.
The case involves a murder charge against a company, American Addiction Centers (AAC). It’s groundbreaking – the first time in California’s 164-year history that a corporation has been charged with murder. But what’s even more groundbreaking is the level of overreaching, injustice, and intellectual dishonesty that is being perpetrated by the Attorney General’s office in prosecuting this nonsense.
(Full disclosure: AAC was founded by a good friend of mine. But while I’m friends with Michael Cartwright, their CEO, the facts here are crazy enough that anyone would know something is deeply, deeply messed up about this prosecution.)[1]
So what’s the case about? In 2010, a 53-year-old man named Gary Benefield flew from his home in Arizona to California to check himself into a rehab facility in Murrieta that was later acquired by AAC to get treatment for alcoholism. At the time, Mr. Benefield was active, but suffered from several significant medical problems, including COPD – he was a heavy smoker – for which he was prescribed an oxygen tank.
The first morning after Mr. Benefield arrived at the rehab center, he was found dead in his room. A full investigation was launched, involving both the Murrieta Police Department and the Sheriff’s Coroner’s Office. Witnesses were interviewed, documents were gathered, and physical evidence was examined. Most importantly, there was an autopsy performed by then-Chief Pathologist Mark Fajardo who concluded that Mr. Benefield died due to natural causes.
Five years later, after local authorities had declined to prosecute, without once speaking to the Chief Pathologist about his findings, and with no other new “smoking gun” kind of evidence, the California Attorney General filed murder charges against the corporation, and several executives who weren’t even there.
Why would the Attorney General’s office do such a thing? I’m not certain, but these days, when the murky worlds of politics, publicity, law and big business are so closely linked, I bet you anything that in the end it will prove to be one of the most popular of the Deadly Sins: Greed.
But back to the case. A big red flag that something is wrong here is that the prosecutor, years after the incident, chose to proceed by way of Grand Jury, and not by filing a criminal complaint leading to a Preliminary Hearing. Both a Grand Jury and a Preliminary Hearing will get a case from start to finish, but there are some key differences between them. A Grand Jury is a Star Chamber-like proceeding that happens in secret, without the accused (or their lawyer) being present. A Preliminary Hearing is very different.
With a Grand Jury:
- There is NO right for the accused to be present;
- There is NO right for a defense lawyer to be present;
- There is NO right for defense cross-examination of testifying witnesses, or the defense to directly present evidence: it is entirely up to the prosecutor to present all favorable defense evidence!
As one famous legal truism has it, “A Grand Jury would indict a ham sandwich if a Prosecutor asked it to.” So, yeah, that’s probably why this case went to a Grand Jury.
By contrast, what these defendants didn’t get is a Preliminary Hearing, which shines the bright light of integrity into the proceedings. A Preliminary Hearing is a safeguard to ensure people don’t languish away in jail awaiting baseless charges. It’s a chance for an actual judge to preside over an event that is like a “mini-trial” – except that there’s no jury present – and who listens to live witness testimony to decide whether there’s enough evidence to allow the case to proceed to trial. The defendant has the absolute right to attend, and the defense lawyer gets to cross-examine witnesses, and present his or her own evidence too. American Addiction Centers was deprived this most basic opportunity to breathe fairness into the system.
Crucially, on the central issue in the case – cause of death – the Attorney General never talked to the coroner, who was the only medical professional who ever examined the deceased. It wasn’t like he had vanished: Dr. Fajardo is now chief medical examiner for Los Angeles County! And, in a new declaration filed last month, he restated his findings that none of the acts performed by the rehab center (or anyone on their behalf) caused or even contributed to Mr. Benefield’s death. The immorality of ignoring this exculpatory material is nothing short of stunning.
Even worse, in place of calling Dr. Fajardo, prosecutors presented two medical “experts,” who nudged the grand jury towards the murder charge while, shockingly, never disclosing that both had been paid witnesses against AAC in a prior civil suit.
The law is clear that the prosecutor has a unique ethical duty at a Grand Jury – to seek justice by introducing all exculpatory evidence (anything good for the defense or bad for the prosecution). Even a quick review of this case shows that clearly didn’t happen here. And that’s outrageous.
This is a case that needs to be dismissed immediately. As the coroner made clear, Mr. Benefield died tragically, but he died of natural causes. And so, there seems to only be one real crime here: the crime of corporate character assassination.
The defendants deserve some long-overdue vindication. And Mr. Benefield’s family should be left to mourn in peace. Other than the self-aggrandizing prosecutorial unit, the only people who stand to benefit from the case continuing are short-sellers, who have seized on the charges to make a mint on AAC’s stock.
The next hearing is set for this Friday, Feb. 5, in Riverside, CA. The defense will be presenting the evidence I outlined and asking the judge to dismiss the charges. For the sake of our legal system, let’s hope that she agrees and puts an end to this heinous charade of a murder case.
[1] I always want to be clear with you guys – unlike the prosecutors in this case, I don’t want to cover anything up. I am close friends with Michael. I’ve been to his home. Our families have gone to concerts together. We’ve worked out together. We even did a Navy SEAL Camp together – a 3-day sleep-deprivation beat-down that was the toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life! I have watched with admiration as Michael and his partners have built a public company that has flourished, while helping thousands battle their demons of addiction. Disregard what I have to say based on that friendship if you choose. Or, read the paperwork filed by AAC’s legal team at www.AACTheTruth.com, and decide for yourself.
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Darren is an accomplished TV personality, attorney, interventionist, keynote speaker, and 'misbehavior expert' who appears constantly on countless TV and radio shows.