Forgery case over SLO County teen’s death at psych unit dismissed after mistrial
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judge dismissed misdemeanor case 'in furtherance of justice' after mistrial.
- Defense filed motion citing charge cuts and weak evidence to seek dismissal.
- District Attorney has 30 days to seek appeal to retry the case.
The medical fraud case against a former technician at the county’s Crisis Stabilization Unit where a Paso Robles teen died was dismissed last week after a trial ended in a hung jury in December.
Janet Marie Brown, 40, was working as a licensed psychiatric technician for Sierra Mental Wellness Group, the company contracted to run the now-closed county Crisis Stabilization Unit, when 19-year-old Elina Branco was found dead on the morning of May 16, 2024, after she was brought in for fentanyl poisoning the night before.
The now-dismissed misdemeanor charges against Brown — one of multiple staff members on duty that night and the one who was in charge of monitoring Branco — alleged that she falsified medical records with fraudulent intent by reporting Branco was sleeping and breathing normally all night when she was actually deceased.
Branco’s time of death was determined to be between 10 p.m. and midnight.
Brown was not accused of being responsible for Branco’s death.
Why was medical record forgery case dismissed?
Brown’s trial ended on Dec. 19 in a hung jury, meaning the 12 jurors could not come to a unanimous agreement over whether to convict or acquit her.
Eight jurors voted Brown was not guilty and four voted she was guilty, according to Brown’s lawyer, Gerardo Agustin, and the proceedings ended in a mistrial.
From there, the court could’ve decided to retry the case or dismiss it all together.
Agustin filed a motion to dismiss on Jan. 21 arguing the prosecution lacked the evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the legal threshold required for a criminal conviction.
His main argument revolved around changes to Brown’s charges.
Brown was originally charged with 10 misdemeanors under both the penal code and the business and professions code for allegedly forging five records, but the latter business code charges were dropped.
The motion to dismiss said the prosecution moved to amend the complaint again on Jan. 20 to remove all but one count of altering a medical record with intent to defraud.
“The amendments highlight the overblown and sledgehammer approach by the prosecution and the shortcomings of this case,” the motion said.
The motion also noted that the court used the prosecution’s proposed jury instructions, which Brown had raised concerns over, instead of her own during the trial.
Supplemental arguments to the motion to dismiss filed by Agustin on Feb. 2 called the instructions “inherently flawed” and said the majority of the jurors he spoke to after the mistrial was declared expressed confusion over the instructions.
The DA’s Office “failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt,” the supplemental arguments said. “Allowing this case to go further is an upset upon the interests of justice and a clear and preventable drain upon judicial economy.”
Judge Barry LaBarbera dismissed Brown’s case on Friday court records show, a result which Agustin said he was “really satisfied” with.
“Obviously, I think it was the right decision to make,” Agustin told The Tribune. “I’m still in the position that this case should have never been filed.”
The District Attorney’s Office now has 30 days from the dismissal to file an appeal to retry the case. The office is currently deciding whether to do so, Chief Deputy DA Jerret Gran told The Tribune.
Brown did not respond to The Tribune’s request for comment.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 2:48 PM.
