Deseret News                Opinion        

      Monday, March 11, 2002

      Put ex-Utah official in jail

 
            I watched the "60 Minutes" segment on Dr. Robert Weitzel and was 
      outraged by the conduct of Utah prosecutors. It is former Assistant 
      Attorney General Elizabeth Bowman who should be going to jail for official 
      misconduct. She knowingly and purposefully withheld the expert's (Dr. 
      Perry Fine) findings and opinion that all five patients who died were 
      terminal and in pain, and she did this because she was certain that 
      disclosure of the information would have resulted in an acquittal for Dr. 
      Weitzel.
            Bowman should be suspended or barred from the practice of law, and 
      the prosecutor's office should be compelled to reimburse Dr. Weitzel for 
      the expenses and loss he has incurred as a result of prosecutorial 
      malfeasance and arrogance. Utah citizens should be appalled that Bowman 
      had the audacity to go on national television and say, with a straight 
      face, that none of the five patients was experiencing pain at the time of 
      treatment by Dr. Weitzel. She is a disgrace to the legal profession.
            Utah residents should also be alarmed that the judge who properly 
      ordered a new trial was removed from the case for "appearing" to be biased 
      against the prosecution. It "appears" to this observer that problems in 
      the Utah criminal justice system are not limited to the Attorney General's 
      Office.

      Joel A. Siegel, attorney-at-law
      New York, N.Y.
         
© 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company

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