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MURRIETA, Calif. (AP) — A Riverside County grand jury has indicted a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center for murder after the death of a man who was seeking help to treat a drinking problem.

Attorneys for A Better Tomorrow say it is the first time in California history that a corporation has been accused of murder.

The Los Angeles Times reports Sunday the second-degree murder charges against A Better Tomorrow and four of its employees sent a jolt through California’s drug and rehabilitation industry.

Prosecutors argue that the company, in its drive for profits, accepted to treat Gary Benefield, a client it was not prepared to care for and killed him by not refilling his oxygen.

Defense attorneys have asked the judge in the case to throw out the charges, saying the prosecutor failed to call as a witness the coroner who found that Benefield died of natural causes.