The Salt Lake Tribune -- Weitzel Judge Ousted

              Weitzel Judge Ousted
 

                  Saturday, November 17, 2001
                   

                  BY STEPHEN HUNT
                  THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE 

                      Amid allegations that he was biased against prosecutors, 
                  2nd District Judge Thomas Kay was disqualified Friday from 
                  presiding over the retrial of psychiatrist Robert Weitzel, who 
                  is accused of killing five elderly patients with morphine 
                  overdoses. 
                      Kay's removal from the case culminates a seven-month 
                  recusal campaign by Davis County prosecutors, who claim Kay 
                  improperly limited the evidence they were allowed to present 
                  during Weitzel's first trial in July 2000. 
                      In a lengthy opinion released Friday, fellow 2nd District 
                  Judge W. Brent West said Kay's apparent anger toward 
                  prosecutors "calls into question [Kay's] impartiality toward 
                  the state." 
                      But the bulk of West's 28-page ruling is a scathing 
                  criticism of Davis County Attorney Melvin Wilson and what West 
                  called his "overzealous" attempt to remove Kay. West said 
                  Wilson, through press conferences and personal public attacks, 
                  "created an atmosphere of bias and prejudice, and then blamed 
                  Judge Kay for the poisoned atmosphere," West said. 
                      West also said Wilson and his prosecution team provoked 
                  Kay's anger during incidents where they were "ill-prepared, 
                  seemed confused, failed to communicate among themselves and 
                  engaged in behavior Judge Kay considered inappropriate, 
                  unethical and even bordered on prosecutorial misconduct." 
                      West nevertheless ruled in favor of the prosecutors, 
                  concluding: "Judge Kay's apparent anger, even though 
                  justified, does reasonably call into question his impartiality 
                  . . ." 
                      Kay made another critical misstep, West said, when he told 
                  a Layton City prosecutor that a medical expert who had not 
                  been disclosed by prosecutors "would have blown the state's 
                  case out of the water." 
                      The timing of the remark is disputed. Kay claims in an 
                  affidavit filed at West's request that he made the comment 
                  after Jan. 9, 2001, when he granted Weitzel a new trial based 
                  on the discovery of witness Perry Fine. 
                      But Wilson and the Layton prosecutor claim Kay made the 
                  comment before he granted Weitzel's request for a new trial. 
                      West said the statement was problematic, regardless of the 
                  timing, because it implies Kay had already made up his mind 
                  about the impact of Fine's testimony during a second trial. 
                      Weitzel told The Tribune on Friday, "[West's] decision 
                  speaks for itself." 
                      "This is the result we wanted," said Carolyn Buhman, the 
                  daughter of Lydia Smith, 90, one of Weitzel's alleged victims. 
                  "We just felt we had not got a fair trial [from Judge Kay] and 
                  that's all we're looking for this time." 
                      West on Friday reassigned the case to 2nd District Judge 
                  Rodney Page, a former Davis County attorney who has been a 
                  judge for 17 years. One of Page's first major decisions is 
                  likely to be whether to adopt Kay's previous rulings on 
                  evidence or start the second trial with a clean slate by 
                  deciding those issues anew. 
                      Jurors last year convicted Weitzel, charged with five 
                  counts of murder, of two lesser counts of manslaughter and 
                  three even lesser counts of misdemeanor negligent homicide. 
                      Prosecutors claim Weitzel systematically weakened the five 
                  patients with psychotropic drugs, then killed them with 
                  morphine overdoses. All died during a 16-day period spanning 
                  December 1995 to January 1996. 
                      Weitzel, 45, insists he was giving "comfort care" to 
                  patients who were at death's door when they were admitted to 
                  his geriatric/psychiatric unit at Davis Hospital and Medical 
                  Center in Layton.     
                      The patients were Ennis Alldredge, 85; Ellen Anderson, 91; 
                  Mary Crane, 72; Judith Larsen, 93; and Smith. 
                      Utah authorities last year suspended Weitzel's medical 
                  license and federal authorities revoked his license to write 
                  prescriptions. 
                      Weitzel currently is awaiting sentencing on two counts of 
                  prescription fraud in federal court. Weitzel pleaded guilty in 
                  August, admitting he prescribed morphine and Demerol to two 
                  patients, but gave them only a portion of the drugs and kept 
                  the remainder.

                                                                                                        
                  © Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune

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