Deseret News, Thursday, December 05, 2002
Weitzel jury is convinced firmly that he is innocent
Juror denies rushing to any decision on case
By Linda Thomson
Deseret News staff writer
Jurors who found psychiatrist Robert
Weitzel not guilty of manslaughter and negligent homicide say they didn't have
to agonize over the decision. "There was no question in any of the people's minds that he was not
guilty," said juror Paul Robert Wigren. "When the prosecution rested,
I thought, 'Why are we here?' I didn't see enough evidence to convict him beyond
a reasonable doubt." Jurors acquitted Weitzel on Nov. 22 of second-degree manslaughter and
misdemeanor negligent homicide in connection with the deaths of five elderly
patients. Wigren's first impression made him nervous, especially since jurors could not
discuss the case until the trial was over. But once jury deliberations began, Wigren said he was "very
reassured" as fellow jurors went through the case patient by patient and
everyone agreed Weitzel was not guilty. "I wasn't rushing to a decision —
there were seven other people who had no question in any way that he was not
guilty." Wigren said the evidence taken as a whole persuaded him to acquit the
46-year-old psychiatrist. Wigren was particularly taken by the fact that, with
one exception, no prosecution witness could say definitively that morphine
overdoses killed any of the patients. Another juror, Reid Alan Robinson, said the caliber of expert defense
witnesses was probably the deciding factor for him. Robinson wasn't part of the
deliberations because he learned he was an alternate juror only minutes before
deliberations began. But he too is convinced Weitzel committed no crimes. "While the state produced credible expert testimony, most of those
people seemed to be emotionally invested in a decision against Dr. Weitzel. The
defense, on the other hand, produced authoritative, dispassionate and convincing
testimony to the contrary," Robinson said. Prosecution witnesses were
people Robinson found generally lacking in the academic, professional and
publishing credentials that specifically applied to this case. But defense
witnesses were experts who had conducted studies and written scholarly articles
and books about treating the elderly, pain management and end-of-life care. Contrary to claims that jurors were "confused" by conflicting
medical testimony, Robinson said the expert witnesses provided useful
information that related directly to the case's merits. "The defense just
raised the bar, raised our consciousness as far as the situation was
concerned." Both men also said the treatment of the elderly people before and after
Weitzel became their doctor gave them much to think about. "It broke my heart to hear that Utah was 50th out of 50 states in
treating pain in people in nursing homes," Wigren said. Robinson said Utah's culture came into play as he thought about the care
these patients received. "It's a pioneer ethic: 'We'll depend on ourselves,
we'll will ourselves better.' If we give drugs and hasten death, we're somehow
taking it out of the hands of God. In these cases, when someone's going to die
in the next 24 hours, I don't think God cares if we make them more
comfortable." But that doesn't mean Robinson thinks powerful drugs should be administered
willy-nilly. He has a relative who struggled to overcome addiction to painkillers.
Robinson also has concerns about what standards are used when decisions are made
about how close a patient is to dying and what should be done. "At what point do the Kevorkians start doing something?" he asked,
referring to Dr. Jack Kevorkian of Michigan who has deliberately killed patients
as part of physician-assisted suicide. "At what point do you draw the line?
That has to be addressed." Now that the trial is over, Robinson has been questioned by people about why
he would want Weitzel acquitted. "I tell them all you're ever getting is
the sound bite. You're only hearing an infinitesimal part of it. You have to sit
through three weeks of testimony and weigh it in your mind." "My faith in the system is really bolstered by this," he said.
"Eight or 10 people can sit down and, if they have the right information,
they can come up with the right answer." © 2002 Deseret News Publishing Company