General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "Michael Brown wasn't shot in the back, so Wilson didn't shoot at him while he was running away" [View all]aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)I've always found Wecht impressive if a bit controversial. I found nothing in his wikipedia that justifies you calling him either corrupt or a loon. Perhaps you didn't read it close enough, such as the fact Wecht, a good democrat was the target of political hatchet jobs.
Regarding the Allegheny County criminal trial against him for which he was fully acquitted:
:...The original judge at trial was censured by a judge's panel and some findings vacated due to judicial misconduct.[25] Wecht's attorneys alleged that he was a victim of a political conspiracy.[26]..."
The federal criminal trial resulted in all charges being dismissed:
"...Public concerns were raised about the motivation and conduct of the prosecution before and after the trial.[29][30] Speculation arose that the prosecution of Wecht was politically motivated. Attorney General and Governor of Pennsylvania Dick Thornburgh, a defense lawyer for Wecht, testified before a house panel investigating the US Attorneys' Firing Scandal that Wecht was targeted politically.[31][32]
Representative Mike Doyle and Representative John Conyers questioned the prosecution's tactics in the aftermath of the first trial and instituted Congressional hearings on the matter.[33] Op-eds in The Pittsburgh Post Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review called for dismissal of the proposed re-trial.[34] On April 12, 2008, 33 prominent leaders in the Pittsburgh community sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey and US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan requesting that the prosecution dismiss the indictment against Wecht. Shortly after the press release of this letter, Senator Arlen Specter publicly recommended against a retrial for Wecht.[35] Former jurors stated to the press that they believed that the prosecution had been politically motivated.[36]
On May 5, 2008, the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) revealed that it initiated an investigation into the Wecht prosecution due to claims that the case was a "selective prosecution".[37]
On May 14, 2009, the trial judge in the retrial excluded most of the evidence against Wecht because it was seized under illegal and improperly executed search warrant.[38] On June 2, 2009, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced that her office would file a motion to dismiss all charges against Wecht.[39] ..."