Jackson Co. jury acquits defendant in elder abuse case

JEFFERSON - A Jackson County jury has cleared a former employee of a Commerce Alzheimer's care center on charges that she abused a patient at the facility.<br /> <br /> The Athens Banner-Herald reported that 42-year-old Deanna Leigh Kitchens was acquitted on charges that she illegally restrained a patient when she allegedly tied the 84-year-old to a bed with sheets. Kitchens' attorney told the court that his client admitted restraining the patient at the direction of a supervisor, but not with bed sheets as alleged. The attorney said the patient was restrained to protect herself and others, since she was swinging her walker.<br /> <br /> The newspaper said it took the jury less than 20 minutes to reach its decision.<br /> <br /> Kitchens was among 20 people arrested during a raid in July 2013 on Alzheimer's Care of Commerce.<br /> <br /> No trial date has been set yet for the other people charged in the case, according to the newspaper.