KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |Penalty phase under way in 'fight club' case
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Associated Press - August 14, 2009 4:15 AM ET
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) - Testimony was expected to continue in the penalty phase of the trial of a former state employee who was accused of orchestrating fights at a state facility for the developmentally disabled.
Jesse Salazar, 26, was the first of 6 former employees of the Corpus Christi State School who were charged in connection with an abuse scandal that police described of as a "fight club" at the living center. A jury on Thursday found him guilty of intentionally causing injury to a disabled person, a third-degree felony, after deliberating for less than two hours. The trial immediately moved into the penalty phase, with Salazar facing up to 10 years in prison.
More indictments could be in the works.
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