Who's telling the truth, the prosecutors or the defense?

"With all the witnesses that came forth that had immunity, you would have thought there'd be somebody that would have dropped a bomb or had the smoking gun..."

That's what a juror named Bruce said. He might not have as much experience as I do with perjury committed by the people you'd least expect it from. What good is immunity when you could still lose your job if you tell the truth? And be harmed in other, more subtle ways?

Whistleblowers are fired all the time, even though it's against the law.

On the other hand, it's clear (the Don Seligman case, for example) that US prosecutors go after innocent people for political reasons.

Why doesn't the legal profession care about the disreputable state of the American justice system?

Could the reason be money?



Here's a story from WTAE TV

Most Wecht Jurors Wanted To Acquit, Don't Favor 2nd Trial
'I'd Do Anything' To Stop A New Trial, Says One Jury Member

April 29, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- Five jurors in the federal mistrial of former Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht said the jury favored acquitting Wecht on the majority of the 41 fraud and theft counts against him.

"With all the witnesses that came forth that had immunity, you would have thought there'd be somebody that would have dropped a bomb or had the smoking gun," said a juror identified only as Bruce.

Video: Wecht Jurors Speak Out


The 11-member jury deadlocked in federal court in Pittsburgh earlier this month, and U.S. District Judge Arthur Schwab scheduled a new trial on the same charges to begin May 27.

At a news conference Monday in the city's Summer Hill section, five of the jurors said they had been unable to find any criminal intent or scheme and they do not believe Wecht should be retried.

"I definitely feel it's a waste of taxpayers' money," said the jury foreman, identified as Bob. "I don't understand how they can find a juror that would convict him, to have 12 people be unanimous."

At one point, the jury was unanimous for a not guilty verdict on three counts of mail fraud for allegedly overbilling area district attorneys for mileage expenses, the jurors said.

By the time they deadlocked, the jury favored acquitting Wecht 8-3 on those counts and 24 more wire fraud charges.

The jurors said they favored convicting Wecht, 6-5, on 14 wire fraud and theft counts -- but that count would have been 6-6 if not for one member of their panel being excused for illness.

"I felt strongly that the prosecution did not present a strong enough case that there was a plan or a scheme or intent to defraud," a juror named Kimberly said.

Wecht is charged with mostly mail and wire fraud counts for allegedly having his county employees send invoices and other correspondence relating to his private practice from the coroner's office on county time.

Some jurors said they think the prosecution of Wecht is politically driven -- a claim his defense team has repeatedly made in public.

"I feel that there definitely could be some political motivations behind what's happening with Dr. Wecht," Kimberly said.

"Definitely politics, now that it's all said and done," Bob said. "Not so much that I thought that during the trial, but especially after you think about how quickly (prosecutor Gene) Stallings got up and said, 'We're retrying him' -- how quickly they had a date set."

"I don't know if it's politically motivated or not, but it seemed to me that the motivations were certainly less than pure. There was something behind it other than seeking justice," a juror named Linda said.

Jurors were also surprised that the government pressed ahead with announcing a second trial before hearing from them.

"I would do anything that it took if I could have an effect on there not being a future trial," Linda said. "I just feel that it would be punitive, that there's not a chance that another jury would find differently than we did."

The jurors said they're speaking out because they don't think the government will ever get the unanimous vote necessary to convict Wecht.

"We truly did try," said a juror named Dawn. "We went though count by count by count, just went through that barrage of paper, and it just was not there."

Wecht's defense team is asking to have Schwab removed from this case, alleging he's biased for the prosecution.

"The defense was not able to get a lot of information out to us," Dawn said. "A lot of it was stopped, and I just feel that he somewhat sided with the government."

U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan's office declined to comment on the jurors' remarks Monday.


http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/16036614/detail.html