 Dr. Robert Weitzel, left, with his attorney Walter Bugden during Weitzel's trial in the Utah 2nd District Court in Farmington today.  Jason Olson, Deseret News |
Second District Judge Rodney Page told jurors Thursday that if they are
unable reach a verdict today, he would have them continue deliberations
Saturday. If a verdict is reached then, it will be sealed and read in court
Monday.
The cornerstone of defense arguments in the case involve a key expert witness
who testified that he did not receive full information about the case when he
was first approached by prosecutors to help in Weitzel's original trial two
years ago.
Dr. Perry Fine is an anesthesiologist nationally recognized as an expert on
pain management and end-of-life care. He is affiliated with the University of
Utah. Prosecutors did not use Fine in the first trial after the physician told
them there was not enough evidence to indicate criminal wrongdoing in the case
of the five patients who died.
Fine did tell prosecutors at that time that Weitzel had provided
"bumbling" and "D-minus" care. He also said that this was
typical of "most Utah care of the dying."
Fine now supports Weitzel's treatment of these patients. He said his opinion
"was considerably altered" after gaining more insight after receiving
complete records.
"To condemn these actions taken by Dr. Weitzel would have condemned
these patients to horrible deaths," Fine said in court Thursday.
Fine testified the five individuals died from the progression of their
pre-existing physical medical problems, not from doses or combinations of either
psychotropic drugs or morphine prescribed by Weitzel.
Weitzel was originally tried on five counts of murder, but was convicted in
2000 of two counts of second-degree felony manslaughter and three counts of
misdemeanor negligent homicide.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was released after six months
because the judge in the first trial overturned the verdict upon learning that
prosecutors had withheld information about Fine, whose testimony might have
altered the outcome of the first trial.
Prosecutors then charged Weitzel with two counts of second-degree felony
manslaughter and three counts of misdemeanor negligent homicide, which are the
focus of the current trial.
Fine said Thursday there is a tradition in America of undertreating pain in
elderly patients, especially those who are demented. And until recently, there
were few studies and little information on the subject, and medical personnel
had little or no training in this area.
"If you are afraid to give the last shot of morphine, no one would get
the first shot. There is a lot of misinformation and a lot of patients dying in
agony," Fine said.
"These patients didn't die in agony," prosecutor Charlene Barlow
said.
"That's because Dr. Weitzel insisted they not die in agony," Fine
replied. "The nurses were fearful (to give shots and some withheld shots).
I understand why. It was not part of the education and the culture."
Barlow suggested Fine has a stake in the trial's outcome because other
doctors might give inadequate pain medication for fear of being prosecuted — a
contention that Fine denied.
Weitzel has maintained his innocence throughout both trials and said he was
providing "comfort care" to patients who were dying and who, without
the drugs, would have suffered greatly.
But family members of the deceased are upset and are convinced that Weitzel
and his attorneys have artfully switched the focus from a doctor who allegedly
killed vulnerable old people to a doctor concerned about end-of-life care and
pain-management issues.