David Schertler and Lisa Manning Obtain Jury Acquittal in Involuntary Manslaughter Prosecution

FEBRUARY 2018

After a seven-week trial, a D.C. Superior Court jury acquitted Schertler & Onorato client Clifton Montgomery and a co-defendant, Charles Brown, of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the accidental death of a MedStar Washington Hospital Center patient in 2015.  At the time of the incident, Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Brown were hospital special police officers called upon to help return the confused and combative patient to his hospital room.  The patient suffered from an undiagnosed bone condition that made him unusually susceptible to injury.  David Schertler and Lisa Manning represented Mr. Montgomery at the trial, which included testimony from multiple eyewitnesses, both defendants, and numerous expert witnesses on both medical topics and law enforcement use-of-force standards.