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A judge has dismissed without prejudice a case against a former Frankfort nursing home nurse.

Last summer, a grand jury indicted Elizabeth Elaine Royse on a felony charge of neglect of an adult. Prosecutors alleged Royse failed to order labs, push fluids, supervise nursing assistants and contact supervisors while caring for a patient at Golden Living Center in Frankfort.

According to court documents, on Jan. 19 Franklin Circuit Court judge Thomas Wingate dismissed the charge, finding that a Kentucky Attorney General's Office inspector, "made certain false and/or misleading statements to the grand jury in order to obtain the indictment."

Court documents indicate the inspector told grand jurors that Royse worked at Golden Living for "several months," when in fact she only worked there for eight weeks. Court documents also say the inspector told the grand jury that Royse failed to notify supervisors about the patient's declining condition.

"In fact, defendant proved that she contacted her supervisor several times already and had given her resignation because she felt that the facility was not being operated in a way that allowed nurses to provide high-quality care."

Court documents indicate that the crux of the Commonwealth's case was that Royse failed to follow through with lab orders for the patient.

"Yet defendant proved at the hearing with this court that she made several notations for labs to be taken, but those labs were not followed through with by her day shift coworkers."

Judge Wingate also expressed concern that Royse was arrested, noting that since the charge was a class C felony and Royse had no prior criminal record, a criminal summons was "the most appropriate means of notifying a defendant of these charges."

Wingate dismissed the case saying, "these facts clearly display to the court that the prosecution of defendant is unwise, misguided and not in the best interest of the public."

The judge amended the dismissal to "without prejudice" on Jan. 20, leaving the door open for the state to refile charges.

LEX 18 has obtained a copy of the Termination form filed by Royse's supervisor at Golden Years. For reason of termination, a facilitator writes: "Failure to follow facility guidelines. Failure to be a team player. Poor attitude."

Royse was let go on January 4, 2008.

The state Attorney General's office issued a statement about the case Friday. It reads, "We are disappointed in Judge Wingate's ruling. The victim in this case was horribly neglected, which resulted in a Type A citation from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of Inspector General. The Attorney General's Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control investigated the allegations and the evidence we presented to the grand jury resulting in an indictment. It is our policy not to comment on pending litigation; however, we believe testimony recently presented by the defense that was never provided to the Attorney General's office, nor the Office of Inspector General, impacted the court's ruling. We respectfully disagree with the dismissal and are now considering our next legal steps.

"Protecting Kentucky's seniors and vulnerable citizens is a top priority for Attorney General Conway. In his first term, he launched more than 100 abuse and neglect investigations, more than any previous Attorney General. General Conway and his investigators will continue to aggressively pursue all allegations of abuse and neglect involving our elderly and vulnerable citizens."