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Dr. Wecht Tailgates With His Former Jurors
It's been a long, difficult few years for Dr. Cyril Wecht, The former coroner of Allegheny County, celebrity forensic pathologist and prominent Democrat, who has been at the center of a so-called political prosecution, but at least he picked up some friends along the way.
After serving on the jury for Wecht's federal trial that ended in a mistrial earlier this year, five of the former-jurors who had voted for acquittal sought out the good doctor, and his legal team to voice their support. It wasn't long before the group was organizing outings-- most recently to a Pirate's baseball game complete with tailgating.
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
A message on PNC Park's electronic scoreboard welcoming a special group to a recent baseball game went unnoticed by those it was intended to honor.That's because Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, along with five jurors who voted to acquit the former Allegheny County coroner at his federal public corruption trial, still were tailgating in the parking lot.
The group get-togethers have been going on since the trial ended in April, ranging from lunch at the food court in downtown Pittsburgh to a 60th anniversary celebration.
"A group of them five of them reached out to us, and told us they'd like to meet with us and talk to us because of how they felt about what had happened," Wecht's attorney Jerry McDevitt told TPMmuckraker.
"They started telling us how strongly they were against the retrial. So, not only did they not convict him, they thought he was a decent guy. . . The whole thing hasn't exactly renewed my faith in the government, but it's certainly renewed my faith in the jury system."
Josh
Zachary
Well at least something positive came out of this debacle. Congrats to the jurors for doing the right thing in this case and also not being intimidated by the use of the FBI by US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.
July 7, 2008 10:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
This prosecutor is famous for the prosecution of water bong peddlers, prosecuting two veterans who wore the wrong military rank at a parade, and this "84-count case", which centers on $1,778 worth of state-owned gasoline and mileage allegedly diverted to Dr. Wecht's personal use. It's coincidental that Wecht actually testified against the single bullet theory before the Warren Commission as an expert witness in forensics. You might start to think that someone in the Justice Department was harboring an old grudge, considering the flimsiness of the case they brought against him.
July 8, 2008 7:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Dwight,
Interesting theory. The local speculation around Pittsburgh is that the case is due to Wecht's run ins with the local DA Zappala. Prior to the federal investigation of Dr. Wecht, there was a fatal police incident where an unarmed man died in custody. Wecht completed an autopsy and determined that the officers piled up on the man's back and suffocated him. As a result, Wecht ruled the case a homicide and requested the Zappala investigate the officers. Zappala refused.
Wecht being the person he is, would not let he issue rest and made his autopsy results known. The family of the deceased hired Wecht as an expert in the wrongful death suit against the officers and the city.
In response, Zappala allegedly threatened Wecht for cooperating with the defense.
The local speculation is that Zappala handed the complaint off to Buchanan knowing that she was looking to build feathers in her cap. At teh time her office had known investigations into the areas other two prominent Democrats, Sherrif Pete DeFazio and mayor Tom Murphy. Seeing Wecht on a plate handed to her, Buchanan allegedly jumped at the chance to go after him.
That is the local theory. Wecht's lawyers wanted to argue this issue in court, but were barred from raising it. Local coverage in the Tribune Review and the Pittsburgh city Paper in the article entitled the Wecht Files has a lot of this information.
Here is a link to one of the articles:
http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A39852
July 8, 2008 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good for those jurors. i am glad that there is local support for Wecht. US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan is on a witch hunt to make a name for herself and her loyalty to Republicans. The case against Wecht is a bad joke and there should be no retrial.
This sums up this case - "Mr. Snyder is also a Republican who nonetheless thinks the appointments of Ms. Buchanan and Judge Schwab during the first term of President Bush were "unfortunate."
The two of them, he says, have allowed the Wecht case to become a spectacle, one that undermines the good work of most federal agents and prosecutors in this district."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08139/882577-109.stm
July 8, 2008 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ally,
You should read up on the district more. To say the otehr federal agents and prosecutors are doing good work is a stretch. Buchanan's oversight of the district has created a systemic issue of corruption and incompetence in my opinion. You simple need to read up on agent orsini or the witness letters in the Rottschaefer case to realize that there are a lot of bad apples in the Western PA district. A cleaning of the house is warranted.
July 8, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is my posting, suggested by testing.
I am still awaiting a WAR CRIMES conference contributor.
I heard from Wecht's attorneys yesterday.
July 12, 2008 8:19 AM | Reply | Permalink
All,
Ladybroadoak is a poster who has attempted to utilize the plight of Dr. Wecht to push her own agenda of a war crimes tribunal on GW Bush. Testing, who I suspect is Lady after all, is also attempting to utilize the same situation to such an end.
It is unfortunate that when a tragedy such as what has fallen on Dr. Wecht occurs, there are people such as lady and testing who will attempt to capitalize on one's suffering for their own personal ambitions.
Recently, lady even went so far as to send an inflamatory letter full of misinformation and lies to Wecht's lawyers in an attempt to try to intimidate others that dare to disagree with her and dare to post actual links to facts that have been reported within this case to date.
July 12, 2008 9:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Translation: After sending a letter full of misinformation to Wecht's lawyers, someone from the same law firm that represents Dr. Wecht spent twenty minutes reading Lady's blog.
It is unfortunate that Wecht's lawyers were taken off task by the rants of lady. Dr. Wecht is surely innocent of the crimes he is alleged to have committed and Dr. Wecht's trial appears to be a clear overreach by the US Attorney in relation to the rule of law. When Wecht's attorneys could be focused on their client's needs, they instead are distracted by lady's rants.
July 15, 2008 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink