MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (AP) - A former nurse has gone on trial in connection with a patient abuse scandal at Connecticut's only maximum-security psychiatric hospital that led to the arrest of 10 employees. A state jury in Middletown began hearing evidence Monday in the case of Mark Cusson, a former nurse at Whiting Forensic Hospital.
He pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of cruelty to persons and disorderly conduct. Prosecutors say patient William Shehadi was subjected to numerous acts of abuse over several weeks in 2017 at the state-run hospital, including being kicked and having food thrown at him.
He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1995 in the killing of his father in Greenwich. Several other defendants pleaded no contest. Nearly 40 hospital employees were fired in connection with the abuse.
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