All Charges Dropped in Wecht Case
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania announced yesterday that it would drop all charges against former Allegheny County Medical Examiner Dr. Cyril Wecht, in a major victory for the defense, as reported by WTAE in Pittsburgh. The government had charged the 78 year-old Dr. Wecht with various alleged offenses, including using his county staff and resources to benefit his private practice, overbilling private clients for limousines and air fares and ripping off prosecutors for mileage fees as an expert witness.
All but 14 of the charges against Dr. Wecht had been dismissed by the time Dr. Wecht was tried in April of 2008. The trial resulted in a hung jury and U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Schwab declared a mistrial.
Dr. Wecht reacted to the announcement by criticizing U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan and her office for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars pursuing the case, and calling for President Obama to fire Buchanan. Dr. Wecht's attorney, Jerry McDevitt, said Buchanan's comments showed "the same lack of judgment that has fueled this case from day one," and suggested she resign.
Dr. Wecht told reporters that the prosecution had used up all his and his wife's savings, and that they were very much in debt. Dr. Wecht had been a celebrated Medical Examiner, conducting examinations on Elvis Presley, JonBenet Ramsey and Vince Foster.
Buchanan had given a press conference earlier yesterday in which she maintained that prosecuting Dr. Wecht had been the right decision, however she acknowledged that there were problems with the warrants issued in the case. In response to allegations that the prosecution had costs millions, Buchanan claimed that the cost of prosecuting Dr. Wecht had actually been less than $500,000.
