Weitzel Is Denied Private Attorney
Friday, September 7, 2001
BY STEPHEN HUNT
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
LAYTON -- Second District Judge Thomas Kay looked for a
way to give psychiatrist Robert Weitzel what he wanted
Thursday: the attorney of his choice to defend him at a second
trial for allegedly killing five elderly patients with
morphine overdoses.
But following a two-hour hearing, Kay said he could find
no "compelling reason" -- as required by Utah law -- to
appoint Salt Lake City defense attorney Walter Bugden Jr. as
Weitzel's attorney. If appointed, Bugden would have been paid
by county taxpayers.
Instead, the judge appointed public defenders Glen Cella
and William Albright, who already have a contract with Davis
County to represent indigent criminal defendants. Weitzel, who
spent more than $500,000 on private counsel during his first
trial, is now too poor to hire his own attorney.
"I'm very disappointed," said Weitzel after the hearing.
"I had every confidence in Mr. Bugden. He was working
zealously and was already familiar with the case."
Meanwhile, prosecutors have lost one battle in their
two-pronged effort to have Kay removed from the Weitzel case
for alleged bias. The Utah Court of Appeals on Wednesday
rejected their request for a temporary restraining order.
Prosecutors -- who claim Kay unfairly limited the evidence
they were able to present during Weitzel's first trial --
wanted the judge barred from hearing further pre-trial matters
until the appeals court can consider their bid to remove him
from the case.
Their petition for extraordinary relief, scheduled to be
argued on Sept. 17, takes aim at 2nd District Judge W. Brent
West, whom prosecutors claim abused his discretion by refusing
to disqualify Kay.
During Thursday's hearing before Kay, Bugden argued that
taking the case from him would unduly burden the four members
of Davis County's public defender pool, who presently handle
as many as 600 cases per year.
Noting that Weitzel's first trial lasted six weeks,
including jury selection, Bugden predicted any new attorney
would require at least two months of intense preparation to
tackle a second trial. Albright testified he and Cella could
handle Weitzel's case, although it would require shifting
their workloads to other attorneys.
Bugden has handled several pre-trial motions for Weitzel.
Attorney Peter Stirba, who represented Weitzel at the first
trial and won the second trial, bowed out of the case in
January to care for his terminally ill wife.
The judge asked attorneys repeatedly whether there are any
appellate rulings dealing with the appointment of private
counsel after a defendant has exhausted his resources on an
initial trial. The attorneys agreed there are no such rulings.
The judge also complained that while Utah law says a judge
may appoint private counsel for a "compelling reason," that
term is not defined by the statute.
Initially charged with five counts of first-degree felony
murder, Weitzel was convicted of two lesser counts of
second-degree felony manslaughter and three even lesser counts
of class A misdemeanor negligent homicide.
Sent to prison for up to 15 years, Weitzel was released
six months later and granted a new trial after Kay learned
prosecutors had failed to disclose knowledge of a medical
expert with strong pro-defense views.
Prosecutors claim that Weitzel used psychotropic drugs to
weaken relatively healthy patients, then killed them by
prescribing large doses of morphine. Weitzel insists he
provided morphine as "comfort care" to patients who were at
death's door when they were admitted to his Davis Hospital
geriatric/psychiatric unit in Layton.
© Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune
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