The Salt Lake Tribune -- Prosecutor: Judge Unfit for Weitzel Retrial
                  

                  Wednesday, November 7, 2001
                   

                  BY JACOB SANTINI
                  THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE 

                     Two weeks ago, 2nd District Judge Thomas Kay defended 
                  himself in writing against allegations of bias in his handling 
                  of the criminal case against psychiatrist Robert Weitzel. 
                      Kay's affidavit, in which he dubs the allegations against 
                  him "misrepresentations, groundless statements and false 
                  accusations," proves he cannot preside over Weitzel's second 
                  trial, prosecutors say. 
                      "Given that Judge Kay views the state's motion and 
                  affidavit as a groundless, personal* attack, he cannot 
                  reasonably be expected to preside over a second trial in which 
                  the same prosecutors will be appearing before him," Davis 
                  County Attorney Mel Wilson wrote in a response filed Monday. 
                      Wilson's filing was sent to Judge Brent West, the 
                  presiding judge of 2nd District Court in Ogden. He will decide 
                  whether Kay will preside over Weitzel's second trial, in the 
                  wake of accusations of prejudice made against him by Wilson. 
                      In July 2000, a jury rejected murder charges against 
                  Weitzel and found him guilty of two counts of second-degree 
                  felony manslaughter and three misdemeanor counts of negligent 
                  homicide. Kay overturned the convictions after learning 
                  prosecutors had not disclosed an expert witness who believes 
                  Weitzel did not illegally cause the deaths of five patients, 
                  who were under his care in a geriatric/psychiatric unit of the 
                  Davis Hospital. Those deaths occurred within a 16-day span 
                  beginning in December 1995. 
                      Shortly after Weitzel was released from prison, 
                  prosecutors accused Kay of an "appearance of bias." They said 
                  Kay unfairly limited the evidence prosecutors were allowed to 
                  present in Weitzel's six-week trial. Wilson also alleged Kay 
                  made prejudicial and hurtful comments to the patients' 
                  families. Kay says the comments were taken out of context. 
                      A status conference for Weitzel's upcoming trial is 
                  scheduled for later this month. 

                  © Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune     

<<Back to Home Page   *Nowhere in Judge Kay's Affidavit does he claim Wilson's attack is "personal"