The doctor who prescribed drugs to Slipknot bassist Paul Gray was not responsible for his manslaughter, a court has ruled.
Daniel Baldi was yesterday acquitted of seven charges relating to the deaths of patients, including Gray, who died in 2010 after losing his battle against addiction.
Jurors at Polk Country District Court, Iowa, came to their verdict after two days, in what’s believed to have been the first trial of its kind in the US state. They decided there was insufficient evidence to suggest Baldi should have known a death was likely as a result of his actions.
One juror told the Des Moine Register: “I didn’t understand why he was on trial – I was waiting for a smoking gun of some sort. It never appeared.” A patient of Baldi’s who attended the full trial to show her support said: “I could think of no other place to be – he has always offered me so much kindness and compassion.”
Brenna Gray last week spent over an hour in the witness box, during which time she suggested her late husband’s bandmates had failed to help her in the days leading up to his overdose.
She said: “One was playing golf two minutes away from our house but couldn’t come. Nobody else cared, nobody was involved. They told me it was my problem.”
Baldi, 51, an expert in pain management, had faced up to 18 years in jail if found guilty. He now hopes to return to work.
Slipknot are currently working on their first album since Gray’s death.
