Springfield paramedics plead not guilty to murder charges; accused of suffocating man
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Two Springfield paramedics on Friday pleaded not guilty and requested jury trials as they face murder charges accusing them of suffocating a patient they were called to help.
A Sangamon County judge ruled Friday the case against Peggy Finley and Peter Cadigan can move forward, finding prosecutors had provided enough evidence to warrant murder charges in the death of 35-year-old Earl Moore Jr.
Finley and Cadigan are due back in court on Feb. 6. A trial judge has yet to be assigned. Both defendants are in jail being held on $1 million bond. Finley's attorneys said his client has received threats in jail and is being segregated from the general population.
On Thursday, CBS 2's Charlie De Mar spoke to one of the paramedics' defense attorneys, who said body camera video may actually help prove a crime wasn't committed.
Illinois State Police investigator Zach Weishaar was the only witness called by prosecutors in court on Friday. He testified that Finley contacted the hospital they were heading to with Moore to alert the staff there they were on their way. When Finley was asked by hospital staff if she checked Moore's vital signs, she replied that she was "not messing with vitals, because she didn't want to poke the bear."
Attorneys for Finley and Cadigan have said this case is unlike anything they have ever been part of. They say the video shows a crime did not occur, but prosecutors and Moore's family claim the video is clear evidence of murder.
Finley and Cadigan have been charged with first-degree murder in Moore's death last month.
Moore himself had called 911 on Dec. 18, and a relative told police Moore was hallucinating from alcohol withdrawals. That was when officers called for an ambulance.
Police body cameras captured Finley yelling at Moore to get up and walk to the ambulance.
With the help of police officers, Moore finally reached the waiting stretcher outside. It appeared Cadigan shoved him down onto his abdomen before both paramedics strapped him down.
"They treated my son like an animal," said Moore's mother, Roseana Washington.
Moore's family's legal team – including civil rights attorney Ben Crump – filed a wrongful death lawsuit Thursday against the paramedics and the private ambulance company Lifestar.
We sat down with Moore's mother and sister in their first interview.
"When they first strapped him in, I knew that was wrong. To me - it wasn't their little one. They didn't care. That hurt my soul. That hurt me," Washington said. "That's the last time I see my son move."
Finley and Cadigan's attorneys both said their clients should not be charged with a crime – let alone murder – and they plan to use the body camera video in their defense.
"I don't believe that this involves criminal activity. I don't think it rises to the level of a crime. I know it's not first-degree murder," said W. Scott Hanken, attorney for Peggy Finley. "I've been practicing law for 33 years, and I've never had a case like this. I doubt I'll have another one."
Lifestar declined our request for comment.
CBS 2's Charlie De Mar sat down with the victim's mother and sister in Springfield on Wednesday.
Earl Moore Jr.'s family is understandably devastated - they were extremely emotional during their conversation with De Mar. They described Moore as an incredible son and uncle.
"They was wrong. They was wrong," said Moore's mother, Rosena Washington. "And because of what they did, I no longer have my son. My son can tell me he loves me no more. I can't tell that no more."
Moore was a longtime manager at the local McDonald's. His mother is still trying to understand how their son was killed after calling 911.
Body camera footage from the Springfield Police Department shows Moore, 35, in distress on Dec. 18. A relative told police that Moore was in alcohol withdrawal and hallucinating at the time.
"Sit up, now! I am not playing with you tonight! Sit up!," she is heard saying. She later says, "I am seriously not in the mood for this dumb s**t."
The video shows Moore trying to stand, but he can be seen falling. Springfield police officers then help him outside.
Afterward, Finley and Cadigan are seen strapping Moore face-down in a stretcher. It is unclear why they did so.
The ISP investigator who testified in court on Friday said investigators examined text messages sent from Finley in which she expressed that Moore's death was "her f**k up" and that she "should have flipped him over" and "takes full responsibility."
Moore later died at the hospital, and his death was ruled a homicide. Both paramedics were charged with first-degree murder.
"Call for help and get murdered - murdered," Washington said. "There was no reason why he should not be here - a 35-year-old healthy young man."
From Sangamon County:
In the charges filed Jan. 9, prosecutors said Finley and Cadigan tightened restraints across Moore's back when he was face down, thereby causing death "by positional and compression asphyxia."
Moore's mother and sister said they want accountability. They want both EMS workers to go to prison.
"They need to pay for what they did," Washington said.
An attorney for Finley said the state is turning what would presumably be negligence into a criminal offense – describing the charges as an overreaching stretch.
Cadigan's attorney calls the case highly unusual, and said his client is devastated.
Finley and Cadigan could each face between 20 and 60 years in prison if convicted.
