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Apr 11, 2008 3:05 pm US/Eastern
Prosecutors To Retry Wecht On All 41 Counts
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) ―
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A judge declared a mistrial in the federal corruption trial of Dr. Cyril Wecht.
KDKA
Federal prosecutors have now told a judge they intend to retry former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht on all 41 theft and fraud counts that resulted in a mistrial earlier this week.
On Tuesday, the judge declared the mistrial after the jury deadlocked. A second trial has been scheduled to begin May 27.
Wecht is charged with wire fraud, mail fraud and theft for allegedly using his former Allegheny County coroner's staff to benefit his private practice.
Wecht's attorney Jerry McDevitt says he thought federal prosecutors should have re-evaluated their "hasty decision" to retry Wecht considering the jury's problems in the first trial and public opinion, which he says favors Wecht.
Wecht was originally charged with 84 counts, but prosecutors dropped more than half to "streamline" the case for the first trial.
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