Wecht Trial
In the trial of long time Allegheny County, Pennslyvania coroner, and famed forensic pathologist, Cyril Wecht, closing arguments begin tomorrow in front of District Court Judge Arthur Schwab. The indictment, charging mail fraud, wire fraud, and honest services, was recently trimmed down, the government alleges, to streamline trial, and because certain counts were infirm as there was no mailing to suport the charge.
This case has been particularly rancorous, even in the context of federal criminal trials where the stakes are high.
- The defense moved to recuse the trial judge because of his alleged ex parte contacts with government counsel;
- The trial court referred the government’s motion for sanctions against defense counsel to the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennslyvania;
- Several appeals have been taken on various issues to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, with Judge Schwab, a careful, no non-sense jurist, having been reversed on 2 occasions (484 F.3d 194 (3rd Cir. 2007); and
- Congressional testimony by Former Attorney General and Wecht defense counsel decrying the alleged political motives behind the prosecution.
In the course of the six week trial, the government presented evidence that Wecht made underlings run personal errands, that he overbilled clients for travel and that he had a had a quid pro quo with Carlow University that was expressly debunked by the administrators at Carlow.
- Is this the stuff - having to run unauthorized errands for your boss - that federal crimes are made of?
- Is every moral lapse a federal criminal case?
One famed prosecutor has argued that fraud is as ancient and as versable as man himself, and was first set forth in Leviticus 19:11-13 - do not lie, do not cheat, do not deceive one another (citation). But, is that, in fact, the case?
- Are there instances, where deceptive conduct is handled by termination?
- Are there not instances where conduct exceeding the bounds of office decorum and decency are handled by civil filings?
With closing arguments to begin tomorrow it will be interesting to see if the jurors believe that what the government has charged and proven is actually a crime.
