A judge in Ossipee, N.H., threw out...

A judge in Ossipee, N.H., threw out negligent homicide charges and issued a directed verdict of acquittal in the trial of three persons accused of provoking an argument that ended with a fatal heart attack. Perley Ryder, his wife, Linda, and her brother, Daniel Moody, were charged in the July 15, 1984, death of Donald Dodier, 56. The prosecution contended that the defendants knew Dodier had chronic heart problems when they argued with him over back rent. But Judge Richard Dunfey said, “The necessary causal relationship for criminal negligence has not been established.”