New Charges Possible In Retrial Of Kentucky Fen-Phen Attorneys

US District Judge Danny Reeves has set October 14 as a retrial date for William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham, Jr., two of the three attorneys who were tried for conspiracy to commit wire fraud against class action members in a lawsuit against fen-phen maker American Home Products. The trial is likely to be delayed due to defense attorneys’ commitments to other cases. The third defendant, Melbourne Mills, Jr., was acquitted on July 1 but US District Judge William Bertelsman declared a mistrial on July with jurors apparently deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquitting Gallion and Cunningham. Bertelsman has since recused himself. A superseding indictment will be forthcoming which will omit Mills, and AUSA Laura Voorhees told Judge Reeves that additional charges may be brought against Gallion and Cunningham. Voorhees later said that there will be new calculations of the amounts the defendants allegedly took from their clients. Unable to win a conviction on one set of allegations, the USAO plans to move the goal posts (Lexington Herald-Leader).