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Jury Foreman in Wecht Case: Prosecution "Politically Driven"
Yesterday, we noted that the jury had hung in the case of forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht, a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat and former coroner of Allegheny County, and that the jurors seemed inclined towards acquittal. Wecht's attorneys, among them former attorney general Dick Thornburgh, have charged that U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan pursued the case out of political motivations.
Today, the jury foreman, speaking to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was even more explicit: "[A]s the case went on my thoughts were this was being politically driven."
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Comments (5)
Our current DoJ: cleaning the horse crap from the Augean Stables was probably easier, but this cesspool of corruption MUST be dealt with by the next administration.
Come Jan. '09, START CLEANING IT OUT!
April 10, 2008 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Naturally, the corruption of our Department of Justice to this extent is horrifying to any liberty loving American.
But perhaps more shocking is the lack of any discussion of prosecuting the plethora of criminal actions that have been conducted under the guise of law enforcement lo these many years and of the criminals who ordered, allowed, condoned, and encouraged these criminal acts. Those who simply looked the other way, said and did nothing to stop it should also come under prosecutorial scrutiny.
But despite the clearly widespread nature of this corruption none of our "leaders', none of our candidates for President even broach the subject. Not one of them. Ever. The lesson for the fascist element in American politics? Easy: go ahead and break the law, cause we don't have the balls to do anything about it even when we gain power. I tremble for my country.
April 10, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
SPECIAL PROSECUTOR! This screams out for a special prosecutor. Not just this case but the politicalization of the Justice Department. As a nation we HAVE to get to the bottom of this and it needs to at least start before the apparent criminals leave office. We need to shut down business in the house and senate until an independent special prosecutor is named.
April 10, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very strange FBI behavior to pressure witnesses, while they've openly refused to accept evidence of government corruption.
April 10, 2008 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
The odd behavior of the FBI appears not to have stopped with just the witnesses. The Pittsburgh Tribune Review ran an article this morning about how the FBI are harassing the former jury in the first Wecht trial. The article notes how many lawyers disagree with US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan's assertion that the FBI contacts of the jury are routine.
Additionally, please note that the prosecution has already decided to retry the case without polling the jury. There really is limited reason they should be contacting the jury now since the retrial decision was already made.
Here is the link to the article. It also notes that the majority of the jury felt the case was political.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_561792.html
TPM should do a story on this one.
April 11, 2008 6:22 AM | Reply | Permalink