Paul Gray’s Doctor Acquitted of Involuntary Manslaughter Charges

The Des Moines Register reports that Daniel Baldi, the doctor of deceased Slipknot bassist Paul Gray, has been acquitted of all nine charges of involunatry manslaughter brought against him for the death of Gray and multiple other drug-addicted patients. (That’s Baldi above left, reacting to the verdict.)

Last week, Gray’s widow, Brenna, testified that Baldi continued to prescribe the anti-anxiety medication Xanax to Paul, despite the fact that “it was his drug of choice, that he’d struggled with it.” She also testified that Baldi ignored evidence of the severity of Gray’s addiction. But according to The Register, by most accounts, the prosecution failed to prove that Baldi “did more than make mistakes… [but actually] caused the deaths by practicing medicine so recklessly that he should have known he most likely would kill someone.” In fact, the presiding judge, Gregory Brandt, apparently dismissed two of the charges against Baldi outright as soon as the prosecution rested — an unusual move that signaled the prosecution’s case may have been less-than-stellar. 

Baldi’s not quite out of the woods yet: he still has deal with multiple malpractice lawsuits from the families of the patients he had been accused of killing (although it’s not clear if any of those lawsuits come from Brenna Gray or any other members of the Gray family), and he still has to go before the Iowa Board of Medicine, who could potentially suspend, or outright revoke, Baldi’s medical license.

As of this writing, neither Brenna Gray nor any of the members of Slipknot have released a public statement regarding the verdict. We will, of course, let you know when/if they do so.