Wecht Jurors: Majority Favored Acquittal

For reasons that are yet unclear, US District Judge Arthur Schwab asked jurors in the public corruption trial of former Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht not to speak to the press or public until after a retrial. However, two jurors have spoken to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the jury foreman has spoken to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, all on condition of anonymity, and a juror who was dismissed for medical reasons after the seventh day also spoke to the Post-Gazette. It is obvious from their statements that the majority favored acquittal and that the jurors who spoke did not buy the government’s case at all. The jury foreman contended that the allegations did not exist independently of the FBI investigation:

• “I guess what bothered me was the FBI went and informed his private clients, ‘Look what Dr. Wecht is doing to you. I can understand if they didn’t know that ahead of time, OK, fine. But once they were notified, not one of them came forward and said, ‘You know something, the government is right, Dr. Wecht cheated me, he robbed me, I would like to file charges, I want my money back, I want something done.’”

Another Post-Gazette article here by Jonathan Silverman analyzes the trial and finds the government’s case unconvincing. A retrial has been scheduled for May 27.