U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab refused to recuse himself from the case against Dr. Cyril Wecht after pressure from defense attorneys. Schwab declared a mistrial when the jury deadlocked and failed to deliver a verdict on April 8. The retrial is scheduled for May 27.
Wecht's attorneys forwarded a letter from 33 prominent Western Pennsylvanians to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey. The letter asked Mukasey to intervene in the trail and dismiss the charges against the nationally recognized pathologist.
In response, Schwab accused Wecht's attorneys of "repeated and improper attempts at judge-shopping and disruption of the proceedings."
Wecht, the former Allegheny County coroner, is charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, and misusing his staff to benefit his private practice. He is also charged with trading unclaimed county morgue cadavers for office space at Carlow University.
"Wecht judge says he won't step aside" Jonathan D. Silver, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
1 comment:
Charles: You should mention that Obama and Hillary will be in the area over the weekend. Also, just a reminder that Tuesday is election day. You might also want to list state and dates for the remaining primaries. Good job. See you in class.
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