DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The trial judge has dismissed two of the nine counts of involuntary manslaughter against a Des Moines doctor.
Judge Gregory Brandt dismissed them on Monday morning in Polk County District Court, before lawyers for Dr. Daniel Baldi began presenting their case. Brandt said the proof presented by the prosecution regarding the two counts was insufficient to allow the counts to remain.
The defense had made a dismissal motion on Friday. The prosecution had dropped a tenth count before the trial began.
Prosecutors have said Baldi prescribed large amounts of narcotic painkillers to patients including Paul Gray, founder of the band Slipknot, who died in 2010.
Baldi’s lawyers say his patients either took more of their medications than prescribed or took other drugs along with them.
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