After Two Hung Juries, Prosecutor Declines Further Criminal Proceedings Against Woman Who Allegedly Abused POA To Snatch 57-Acre Farm, Bank Funds From Her Grandmother, Leaving Her To Die As A Ward Of The State, Broke & In Nursing Home

In Boyle County, Kentucky, The Advocate-Messenger reports:

• After two hung juries, a special prosecutor will not seek to try Anne C. Rush a third time on a charge she exploited her elderly grandmother for her own financial gain.
  
  Boyle Circuit Judge Darren Peckler issued an order [] dismissing the 2013 felony indictment against Rush for exploitation of an adult more than $300. Peckler's order followed a motion by prosecutor Barbara Whaley of the Attorney General's office to have the case dismissed.
  
  Whaley's motion stated the commonwealth did not wish to pursue a third trial against Rush because she "was tried two times with both trials ending in a mistrial due to the jury being unable to reach a verdict," Peckler wrote.
  
  ***
  The first trial in February 2014 ended in a hung jury, with eight jurors voting for acquittal and four for conviction. In the second trial in October of this year, nine jurors thought Rush was innocent while three thought she was guilty. A unanimous verdict is required in criminal cases.
  
  Whaley contended that Rush took advantage of her grandmother Geraldine Waits' deteriorating mental condition to enrich herself to the tune of about $200,000. She cashed out Wait's CDs and deeded her 57-acre farm on Scrubgrass Road to herself, the prosecution argued.
  
  “It’s not a robbery, it’s not an assault, it’s not a sexual offense, but it’s no less a crime,” Whaley told jurors in October. “It’s a crime what she did to an 86-year-old woman, her own grandmother.”
  
  Waits died last year as a ward of the state, unable to pay her nursing home bills.
  
  [Defense attorney Travis] Lock argued that Waits gave power of attorney to Rush because she was the one family member who cared for her in her declining years. That power of attorney gave Rush the right to make gifts of Waits' money and property, including to herself, he said.
  
  “That power of attorney gave Anne Rush the legal authority to do what she did, even if you don’t like what she did," Lock told jurors during his closing arguments in October.

For the story, see After two mistrials, prosecutor drops case against Rush.