Lawyers representing nursing aides accused of abusing a 94-year-old Alzheimer's patient at the county-owned Kane Regional Center in Glen Hazel disputed the allegations yesterday and said their clients performed their best in difficult jobs.

Several of the defendants declined to speak to reporters who visited their homes. Their attorneys said they expect them to be vindicated in court of charges they physically and verbally assaulted wheelchair-bound Thelma Bryant over a period of months before their arrests in November.

"Why would you just pick this one patient out? If this were a problem, it certainly would have been with other patients also," said Bart Beier, whose law firm represents one of the five defendants, Shelly Keene, 35, of West Mifflin.

Allegheny County officials revealed last week that the nursing home workers had been charged with offenses such as assault and neglect of a care-dependent person after other staff members witnessed alleged abuse. All of the defendants have been terminated from their positions.

The other aides charged along with Ms. Keene were Danielle Taylor, 46, of the North Side; Shalaya Hatten, 30, of the Hill District; and Karen Perry, 46, of Homestead.

A lesser harassment citation was issued against Mary Ann Bower, 57, of Munhall, a licensed practical nurse who, as a "team leader" was supposed to have been supervising the others. The citation said she had thrown objects at Ms. Bryant and poured water on her head.

The aides face more serious charges such as punching Ms. Bryant in the face and chest, throwing oranges at her, stomping on her foot, pouring lotion on her head and repeatedly cursing at her.

Mr. Beier said it his understanding that Ms. Bryant was an unusually combative patient, unable or unwilling to listen to instructions. "There may have been attempts to restrain her" because of her condition, Mr. Beier said, but he denied that Ms. Keene did anything inappropriate.

Ms. Hatten's lawyer, Kenneth Haber, went one step further. He said his client never had any interaction with Ms. Bryant and did not work in the same unit as the other four women charged.

"I'm sure she helped others out on the unit over the years," Mr. Haber said, "but my information was she was never assigned to work with [Ms. Bryant], didn't work with her and had no contact with her."

Mr. Haber also said Ms. Hatten was on vacation and not at the facility during the last week of October, when police affidavits show an unnamed witness or witnesses observed two other defendants abusing Ms. Bryant. If she was indeed absent that week, it casts doubt on a statement made Friday by Mary Stevens, administrator of the Glen Hazel complex.

"The only times that these behaviors took place were on the occasions when all of these people were together on the unit," Ms. Stevens said during a news conference.

Police said a witness told them that Ms. Hatten cursed at Ms. Bryant and "forcefully" pushed her elbow into the elderly woman's chest for up to a minute while the victim was in her wheelchair. An affidavit states that the victim told police Ms. Hatten did this at least twice. At least one of those times was around the end of June, the affidavit said.

For Ms. Hatten, who was charged with simple assault and neglect of a care-dependent person, her arrest last month in the Glen Hazel case was not her first brush with the law. Court records show that in 2003, Pittsburgh police arrested her for simple assault and harassment. The more serious charge was dropped and Ms. Hatten pleaded guilty to a summary count of harassment.

In 2005, Pittsburgh Housing Authority police charged Ms. Hatten with aggravated assault and harassment. The assault charge was dismissed and she again pleaded guilty to harassment.

Details about those cases were unavailable yesterday, but Mr. Haber said they had nothing to do with causing harm to an elderly person.

"She's absolutely stunned. She's extremely distraught, of course," Mr. Haber said. "She's lost her job. She feels she's lost it wrongfully and plans to not only contest the charges but at the appropriate time contest the loss of her job."

Mr. Haber said his client was unaware of any abuse taking place at Glen Hazel. He added that she believes she was charged because "she was grouped with [the other defendants] in terms of knowing them socially outside the work setting."

Ms. Perry's lawyer, Leo Harper Jr., also disputed the allegations, noting there has been no evidence offered of injuries suffered by Ms. Bryant.

He said of Ms. Perry, "She's terribly embarrassed by all the attention, because she's done nothing wrong."

Kane administrators did not return phone calls seeking comment yesterday.

A preliminary hearing for the four aides is scheduled Monday, and an Allegheny County Council committee intends to hold a hearing Jan. 8 to look into the alleged abuse and how it was handled.

Joan Cleary, chairwoman of council's Committee on Health and Human Services, said of any abuse, "It shouldn't ever happen. I still can't believe it happened, and we need to make sure it doesn't happen again."

She said council members weren't aware of the allegations until they received media attention. She expects to hear from Dennis Biondo, executive director of the Kane system, on various issues pertaining to the abuse case.

"I have a lot of confidence in Mr. Biondo," Ms. Cleary said. "Maybe he's already instituted changes to correct these problems. We've got to see what he did."