COALITION AGAINST INSTITUTIONALIZED CHILD ABUSE
 HEADLINE NEWS                                                                                                                                                                                                             CAICA EN FRANÇAIS
 

CAICA     HOME   │   NEWS  │  PROGRAM NEWS  │  STORIES │  DEATHS  │   WWASPS   │  PARENTS' CORNER  │  MISSION  │ SITE MAP │  LINKS & RESOURCES
  _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

              AUTISM  │ LITIGATION  │  LEGISLATION  │ JUVENILE JUSTICE  │ MENTAL HEALTH │ LIGHTER SIDE │  EN FRANCAIS  │ COMMENTS  │ LIST SERVE  │  BLOGS  
 

 


 

No charges in Brown Schools death

Grand jury finds insufficient evidence of criminal responsibility in Chase Moody case

By Mike Ward

Friday, August 29, 2003

A Mason County grand jury has concluded that no criminal charges are warranted in the Oct. 14 death of a Dallas-area teenager at a wilderness camp. 

Mason County officials said Thursday that the grand jurors explained their decision in a one-sentence report: "After considering considerable testimony, we find that there is insufficient evidence of criminal responsibility to charge anyone with the unfortunate death of Mr. Chase Moody on October 14, 2002."

The report was filed Monday, when the grand jury ended its term of service that began two months ago.

Moody, 17, died while being restrained by three employees at the On Track camp, a therapeutic adventure program for struggling youths. An initial autopsy determined Moody died of suffocation, and state investigators later cited the employees involved of physical abuse and neglect.


Dallas attorney Charles Moody holds a basketball
and a portrait of his son Chase Moody. Chase died
at a wilderness camp last October after being
restrained.  More photos

The camp's owner, the Brown Schools, steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and insisted, after completing its own inquiry, that Moody died from becoming so excited and enraged that his heart stopped.

Brown Schools officials closed the camp permanently in January after losing its lease for the 6,000-acre site from the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, which cited contract issues unrelated to the death.

Mason County investigators initially said they intended to ask the grand jury to determine whether the three employees, or even the Brown Schools itself, could or should be held criminally liable.

Howard Falkenberg, an Austin-based spokesman for the Brown Schools, said Thursday that the company "remains saddened by the death of Chase Moody."

Nonetheless, "We're gratified by the fact that Mason County authorities have concluded their investigation without further action," he said.

District Judge Karl Prohl, who oversaw the grand jury, and District Attorney Ronald Sutton were on vacation Thursday and were unavailable for comment.

Chase's father, Charles Moody, a Dallas lawyer who once represented the Brown Schools in a restraint-related death case, was not immediately available for comment.

Link to more pics: http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/photos/specialreports/0518restraint/photo01.html

 

 

 

 

 

 
DISCLAIMER, WARNINGS, AND NOTICE TO READERS: This website does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any of the information, content collectively, the "Materials") contained on, distributed through, or linked, downloaded or accessed from any of the services contained on this website (the "Service"). None of the contributors, sponsors, administrators or anyone else connected with this website in any way whatsoever can be responsible for the appearance of any inaccurate or libelous information or for your use of the information contained in these web pages. All information provided using this website is only intended to be general summary information to the public.

FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

REFERRALS: CAICA is not a referral agency. CAICA does not refer to or promote facilities or transport companies for children or teens. CAICA warns parents that the parent pay / parent choice programs ie. Residential Treatment Centers, Therapeutic Boarding Schools, Behavior Modification Programs, Christian Programs, Positive Peer Culture Programs, etc., are not regulated by the Federal Government and that it is a "Buyer Beware" industry. CAICA provides the following for parents: Message to Parents, Help for Distraught and Desperate Parents, and Questions to Ask and Warning Signs.

© 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008