Apr 8, 2008 8:38 pm US/Eastern
Wecht's Attorneys Plan To Fight Against Retrial
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
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A judge declared a mistrial in the federal corruption trial of Dr. Cyril Wecht.
KDKA
Attorneys for Dr. Cyril Wecht are changing their game plan after prosecutors said they wanted to hold another trial after the first one ended with a deadlocked jury.
US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan acknowledges the burden of proof is on the government in the Wecht trial, but she says allegations of wrong doing by public officials are often hard to prove.
Still Buchanan says,"We are committed to eliminating the culture of corruption that prevails when officials at the highest levels abuse the public trust."
Buchanan says the deadlocked jury means only the jurors couldn't reach a unanimous decision on the charges presented. She says prosecutors will have to do a better job on the next trial.
But Wecht's lawyers are making a few changes to their game plan as well.
Wecht's defense attorneys will throw everything but the kitchen sink at this case in hopes that it won't be retried.
First they're going to go to the third circuit court to have the judge removed, or request that the judge be removed, but that's only the first step.
If there was any doubt that this would be a fight to the finish Cyril Wecht put it to rest.
"I want you to know that we are going to continue to do whatever is necessary. I don't say that in a bold fashion…I'm just telling you what has to be done will be done," Wecht said.
Having already spent almost $4 million on his defense, Wecht will martial his defense attorneys to pull out all stops to prevent a retrial.
One key member of that team, former U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh, is likely to go above the head of U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan and appeal directly to her boss, Michael Mukasey, the current attorney general.
"I've already brought this case to his attention. He knows what it's about, he knows what our grievances are, and I think that's an option we may pursue," Thornburgh said.
Thornburgh has testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee that the prosecution of Wecht was a political one - a wasteful case brought by the Republican Buchanan against Wecht, a leading democrat.
"Million and millions of dollars that could have been spent on effective law enforcement rather than the pursuit of a political figure," Thornburgh said.
He will make the same argument to Mukasey and other Washington insiders.
"It's time to dismiss these charges to enable Dr. Wecht to get on with his life and to enable, equally importantly the Department of Justice to pursue the real threats that exist in this community," Thornburgh said.
If that proves unsuccessful there is also the possibility of playing out the clock, forcing a series of delays and hoping a new president will appoint a new U.S. attorney who may not want to pursue the case any further.
Either way, Wecht says he will go the distance.
"If I have to spend the rest of my years, then so will it be," Wecht said.
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