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Day 9: Bob Mayo Blogs The Cyril Wecht Federal Trial In Pittsburgh
POSTED: 11:43 am EST February 11,
2008
UPDATED: 4:55 pm EST February 11,
2008
Channel 4 Action News reporter Bob Mayo is covering the trial of Dr. Cyril Wecht at the federal courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh. He will be posting blogs as often as possible from court. These are the raw notes that were sent on his mobile device.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 8:30 a.m. update Witness: Joseph Thomas Rabicow III, Chief Histology Technician, Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office, which was formerly the Coroner's Office.Prosecutor Steve Stallings walks him through technical operating procedures in the coroner's office histology lab for preparing histology slides. He believes that one processing machine alone costs around $100,000.Tissues are set in paraffin, then sliced microscopically thin and placed on a slide. They're allowed to dry, placed in an oven. After that, there's a staining process to remove the paraffin, re-hydrate it, and stain the cell. It's then de-hydrated again. The goal is to produce a slice of the body tissue that can be analyzed by the pathologist.They're technically bio-hazard, but they can be handled without gloves because the processing removes the risk.From 1995 to 2005 he and George Hollis were both working in the histology lab. Hollis later left in 2005. The witness stayed on.In the early years, Hollis did as much county slide work as the witness did. But a time came when Hollis slowed down a lot on his county slide work. The witness noticed that he himself had a lot more to do. He noticed CHW (Cyril H. Wecht's initials) on the items on which Hollis was working.Stallings shows witness court exhibits: the case logbooks maintained in the histology laboratory.
Turned to August through September of 2000. Goes through the columns in the log book:
The dates in the left hand column: the date that the case was processed.
The second column: the Allegheny County case number.
The name of the deceased
The type of case, suicide, homicide, natural, pending.
Names: the pathologist(s) who did the autopsy
The date it was completed.
Number of slides in the case.
Histologist
Date case was completed.GH initials mean George Hollis. Witness previously reviewed these documents for the prosecution. Witness confirms that it was in early 2001 that Mr. Hollis' county work began to fall off dramatically.Exhibit Text of memos from Dr. Cyril Wecht at coroner's office2003 memo: There should be no reason for significant delay for signing out a case related to microscopic slides. In that year, Hollis was doing limited county work, witness was doing the bulk.August 2004 memo: We should not have significant delays in signing out cases because pathologists are waiting for slides.2001 through Hollis retirement in 2005: significant backlog due to cases that were not county cases.Did witness ever receive payment from Wecht Pathology? No. Sometimes finished them to get them out of his own way.At one point another person hired. Ameena Smith (sp?), as part time histology technician. Eventually became full time when Hollis retired and witness became chief histologist. They have since eliminated backlog and they are not doing private work in the lab.March 31, 2004 letter (on hiring) to county deputy controller.Stallings walks him through pages in logbook in which the witness was the only one preparing county slides on page after page in the logbook.If I told you there was one case for the entire year 2004 that was done by George Hollis would that surprise you? Objection. Leading. Sustained. Leads him through more pages of the same. Did George Hollis prepare any slide on that page? No. The same question and answer is repeated again and again. Takes him through the end of the year 2004. Now, takes him back to page one of the logbook he is looking at. Do you see an entrance for GH? yes. 'Gilboy' is the name of the case.Q: Now having looked at every page, how many cases did George Hollis work on in 2004? A: Apparently one.Asks him to look in an envelope. A loose tissue block with embedding rings they used to use. He has seen them before.Asks him to hold them up to the jury. Shows them paraffin embedded tissue blocks.What happened when he located those in the coroner's office? He notified one of the lead investigative supervisors on the second floor that he found them in the garage cooler. He found 2, maybe 3 boxes.End of direct examination
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 9:30 a.m. update Testimony of witness is continuing with cross-examination by defense attorney Mark Rush.Q: Did you ever show logbook to Dr. Wecht? A: No, I did not.Q: Did you Dr. Wecht tell backlog? A: No, I did not.Q: Did you tell Dr. Wecht that Hollis was doing private work at the county lab? A: No.Q: Did you observe Dr. Wecht in the lab looking at logbook? A: No.Questioning establishes that Wecht's office was on a different floor from the histology lab.Do you know why Mr. Hollis resigned? No, I do not.Do you know that he resigned because he was doing the private work at the lab without Dr. Wecht's knowledge? Objection.How did you learn that he resigned? Told by Mr. Dominick? Did he tell you why Hollis resigned? Objection. Hearsay.After he resigned, were there supplies purchased by Wecht Pathology to restock? That I do not know.You do not believe Dr. Wecht knew that Mr. Hollis was doing private work there, do you? A: that I do not know. I had little contact with Dr. Wecht.9:30 AM: Rabicow's testimony ends.9:31 AM Next witness: Maribeth Blettner Retired. Worked at coroner's office until December 2001. Lives in Florida now. Feb 1970 started working for Dr. Wecht as secretary. Typing letters. Making appointments.Worked for Wecht for those 31 years at different places:
1970 to 1980 at Coroner's office
1980 to 1984 at Commissioners office
1984 to 1996 at Pathology
1996 to 2001 at Coroner's OfficeAsked about 1984 to 1996: Her employer was Cyril H. Wecht Pathology. Secretarial duties. Says Wecht's firm did lots of consulting and autopsy work. Office was at Central Medical (the now closed hospital where Wecht was chief pathologist.) She kept the firm's checkbook and invoicing. During that time, Wecht did autopsies for surrounding counties. Other secretaries including Flo Johnson. Darlene Brewer. During that period, Wecht Pathology paid rent to the hospital.In 1996, she rejoined Wecht who was again elected to be coroner. Shows her document exhibit: Initials CHW/mb indicates she typed this January 4, 1996, her signature on behalf of defendant. She would do so at times with his express permission.Document says her salary would be more than $3,400 a month by county. Also paid by Wecht Pathology. She did checkbooks for Wecht Pathology.Jan 1997: $795.02. Feb 1997: $795.01. Does that refresh you memory of what he paid you? March 1997, same amount. Do these look like your pay from Wecht Pathology during this period? Yes.
So her base from Allegheny County was $3,458.33 a month, and her supplementary pay from Wecht Pathology was $795.02. A: Apparently, yes.She had 5 or 6 filing cabinets of cases at Saint Francis. When she went to work at coroner's office those files went to Wecht Law Offices. Active private cases went with her to the coroner's office. Approaches her with a sample case -- The Paige Phillips case -- in a large folder. She would tell prospective clients Wecht's fee schedule, collect information from attorneys who wanted to retain Wecht. Slides, medical records. Narrative summary. She would give them to Dr. Wecht. Before 1996 she gave him those materials at St. Francis. After 1996, she would give them to Wecht at the coroner's office.When Wecht would dictate to her, she would type it up and give it to Flo. She used to use a typewriter. Later switched to a word processor.When she deposited retainer checks for Wecht Pathology, she would record it in a checkbook ledger. She'd collect the checks and take them to the bank two or three times a week.When they switched to computerized QuickBooks for Wecht Pathology, Wecht had the computer she used at Saint Francis down to the coroner's office.(An aside: I have some court filings related to the Wecht case on my PowerBook laptop computer. Using Apple's "Spotlight" search function, I checked for the Name "Blettner." On Document 177, filed 05/25/2006, page 13 of 27"Moreover, Wecht's exercise of his discretion as Coroner directly benefited this undisclosed source of income.
First, he authorized the use of the county personnel to assist him with the travel.
Second, he personally directed his administrative assistants, including Eileen Young and Mary Beth Blettner, to prepare and transmit the false and fake expense reimbursement documents from the Allegheny County Coroner's Office while on county time."When Blettner was sworn in, she spelled her first name "Maribeth," not Mary Beth.)10:17 : Recess until 10:30.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 10:40 a.m. update Blettner testimony continues. Prosecutor Stalling picks up where he left off, talks about two kinds of reports for private clients. Reports in letter form or confidential memos. In this example, Wecht would dictate report to her at coroner's office. This one ran 20 pages or more. She'd go back to her desk and type it. She'd show it to him, then incorporate changes he wanted.Says when at Saint Francis Hospital, would not mail it through hospital mail room, but would receive mail there. This mail could be quite bulky, with slides. etc.We're looking at a report from 1999. Dr. Wecht and you are sitting at the coroner's office? Yes. Says the incoming packages would be mailed in to the Wecht Law Office on Wood Street, then Flo would pick them up and bring them to the coroner's office. She says when she would mail reports, Flo would take them back to Wood Street and mail them from there.(Note: Many of Blettner's answers are in "yes", "no" and very short answer form. The material attributed to her in the notes above are established in her testimony by the series of detailed questions from prosecutor Stallings.)Wecht Pathology would sometimes subcontract on initial pathology reports. She would get the materials to them. For example, Dr. Omalu would come into her office at the coroner's office, she would hand him the file. He would give it back to her at the coroner's office. She would give it to Dr. Wecht to review, then Wecht would give it back to her to retype. She would put Dr. Wecht's name on the opinion. Would she put anything in the report to indicate the autopsy had been subcontracted to another pathologist? No. She would write check to the pathologists who handled the subcontracted work.(In this line of questioning, they are talking about pathologists who work in the coroner's office. Dr. Omalu and Dr. Latham among them.)Did defendant have a microscope in his office at the coroner's office? Yes. Did he have one at his Wood Street office? I'm sure he did.Letter to attorney for Church of Scientology in Florida involving the Lisa McPherson case. Billings were in the 100s of thousands of dollars for this single case.(As I type this in my PowerBook, I Googled "Lisa McPherson" and Scientology on my BlackBerry. I found information indicating that Wecht and Dr. Michael Baden were apparently retained by the Church of Scientology to examine McPherson's death. There had been a controversy over the Church's actions in the wake of an accident in which McPherson was involved.)Stallings is walking her through identification of government court exhibits in which she prepared reports at the coroner's office for Wecht's private business.Is it fair to say that sometimes Dr. Wecht did private consulting work on cases that came first came through the Allegheny County Coroner's Office? Yes.(Apparently, Stallings had some technical problems while attempting to call up some computer data. In a toss-away comment to the judge, Stallings said something about having "forgot my Giant Eagle Advantage Card, your honor.")Now asking her about expense invoices submitted to Wecht's private clients. When you submitted them, where would you get the amount to place on the air fare line? Normally Cyril would give it to me.Q: Are you familiar with a travel agency called Mercur-Lombardo? At some point that agency went out of business, but you continued to use the agency's receipts after it went out of business? A: Yes.Q: Did you keep a file that had blanks of these? Would you fill in airfare on these receipts, even when you were not using Mercur-Lombardo? A: Yes.
Q: Where would you get these figures from, from the defendant? Yes.
Where did you get the blank receipts from? A: Kept them in the office.
What would you do with the expense reimbursement checks? Cash them at the bank. PNC Bank at the Frick Building. She had a stamp with Wecht's name on them and power of attorney. She would count the cash. She would put the cash in an envelope and give it to Dr. Wecht back at the office. She would not deposit it to Wecht Pathology account or put it in the ledger. Did not transmit anything to the corporate accountants totaling those figures of checks she cashed for Dr. Wecht.When you retired in 2001, who took over your job? Eileen (Young). Notation on court document, instruction to Wecht clients to make out separate check for reimbursement of expenses.You were aware the defendant was not taking a limousine to the airport, correct? Yes.
Did you ever ask him why he was sending this receipts for reimbursement? No. It was just something that we did.Would she give invoices to Wecht to review before she sent them out? A: Usually, yes.Acknowledges that the invoices sent out stamped paid were kept as blanks at the coroner's office, filled out there and sent out by her.Going through more examples of invoices sent out.Asked again where she would get details when preparing invoices. Again she says "Cyril". Again a notation on an expense invoice to make out a separate check. Air fare, limousine and taxi expenses.What happened when clients only sent one check, combining fee and expense amounts. She'd deposit it into Wecht Pathology account, then write a check to Wecht, cash it and give him the money.Going through more examples of invoices sent out.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 11:44 a.m. update Testimony continuing.Stallings notes details in invoices he's having the witness examine. Asks again, where would that sort of detail come from? Answer again is "Cyril."Instructions to Shawn Gary: instructions to a producer in California for a Marilyn Monroe show. Includes invoices from Mercur-Lombardo, long after the travel agency had gone out of business.Meeting with Henry Lee and Michael Baden concerning Scott case. ----Did you know what the defendant actually paid for this air fare when you prepared these invoices? No.
This information came from the defendant? Yes.
In fact we saw a note where he said to add ground transportation? Yes.Another document, Mercur-Lombardo receipt.
Details like that came directly from the defendant? Yes.--- You testified earlier that the defendant was meticulous about his finances? Yes.
How familiar was he with the way flight arrangements were made? Very familiar.Stallings shows letter from Wecht to a different travel agency, showing Wecht complaining about the charge for tickets for himself and his wife. In it, Wecht cites dollar and cents charges and complaining that the charge was triple what he thought it should be. "I must tell you quite frankly that both Sigrid and I are extremely disturbed" by this. Wecht's letter goes on to criticize the agency's action and judgments concerning the charges.12:15 PM Break until 1:15.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 1:15 p.m. update Bletter testimony and questioning by Stallings continues.They continue to go over private letters she typed for Wecht's at the coroner's office on county time.(When you see "---" separators below, time has passed between the statements recounted here.)-November 1998 letter on county stationery to F. Lee Bailey and to Philadelphia lawyer Richard Sprague, inviting to them speak at Duquesne Law School. It says he also wanted them to attend personal fundraisers for his campaign to run for county executive.-Friday, October 29, 2000, letter to attorney Johnny Cochran concerning a fundraiser. A county phone number was listed as a call back number in the letter.--- Another document with handwriting she identifies as "Cyril's." discusses "our" documentary on Marilyn Monroe. Handwritten note asking to pull files and information on "MM" books he helped on. There's a reference to a Wecht honorarium.--- Stallings: You did pretty much the things after 1996 that you did before 1996.--- In another document, Wecht says his basic charge when he goes out of town for private work is $2,500 per diem (at the time). He tells the person he is writing that there is no way he would ever have said that his fee is $2,500 for an entire case.--- Dr. Wecht was friends with Dr. Baden and they had a business relationship and consulted together? Yes.--- In 2001, who was preparing histology slides for Wecht Pathology? George Hollis.
Did you pay him? Yes.
How would you know how many slides he did? He'd prepare a list.
Shows document: appears to be $3 per slide. 19 slides.
The charge on this invoice is $10 per slide, correct? Yes. Also a charge for packaging and shipping.
Would the histologist gave you the package of slides, there's was nothing else to be done but get it to the Wecht law firm to be mailed, correct? Yes.
In this case, histologist's charge was $3 and Wecht was charging client $10.During your tenure, from 1996 to 2001, do you recall making payments for histology supplies. She believes someone else did that. ---Did your pay change from 1995 to 1996? Yes. How much did it change? I don't remember. You were making over $40,000 a year in 1996?--- 2:27 PM. Direct questioning of witness ends. Changing court reporters. Taking a break until 2:40, then cross-examination by defense begins.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 2:40 p.m. update Cross-examination by defense attorney Jerry McDevitt.In 31 years, you think you got to know that man? Yes.
Good work ethic? Yes.
Ever met anyone who worked harder? No. From 7 in the morning, until midnight, at least. Takes work home. Works weekends.Dr. Wecht always had a private pathology practice and was known even back in 1970 as a forensic pathologist? Yes.In all the years you worked for Dr. Wecht, had he ever asked you to do anything wrong? No.
If he had asked you to do anything wrong, would you have done it? No.Were you aware of any intention on Dr. Wecht's part to ever inflate the charges to private clients for airfare? No. He's never done that.In all the time you worked for Dr. Wecht, did you ever have one client complain about the limousine charge? No.
Was the first person to ever complain FBI Agent Orsini? Yes.First interview with agent Orsini was in November 2005, a couple of years after she retired. That was the first time in 31 years that anyone questioned those charges? That's correct.They interviewed her in West Palm Beach, Fla. And they returned to interview here there again least three, possibly four times. Only two FBI reports on their interviews. Most recent meeting was an hour to an hour and a half.Did you tell them in that meeting that you don't think Dr. Wecht ever did anything wrong? Yes.
Have you ever seen that in an FBI report? No.
When you told him that, what did Agent Orsini say to you-- that it was a crime? Yes.
Did you tell Agent Orsini and Mr. Stallings that you believe Dr. Wecht is a good man? Yes.
You were not asked to testify before the grand jury were you? No.Today is the first time she has been under oath.Never heard the term "Wecht detail" when she was at the coroner's office.Did they ever ask your version of stories that you had sent deputy coroners to get hot dogs instead of doing their coroner's duties? No. She says it never happened.Have you ever heard Dr. Wecht make a disrespectful remark in respect to a dead person? No.
How about stories he allegedly told deputies to leave a body wait "because they're not going anywhere? No.Is that the Cyril Wecht you know? No.Concerning the cashing of the reimbursement checks. Defense questioning establishes that Wecht never went to the bank himself and didn't have an ATM card.3:35 PM Court adjourns for the day.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 8:30 a.m. update Witness: Joseph Thomas Rabicow III, Chief Histology Technician, Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office, which was formerly the Coroner's Office.Prosecutor Steve Stallings walks him through technical operating procedures in the coroner's office histology lab for preparing histology slides. He believes that one processing machine alone costs around $100,000.Tissues are set in paraffin, then sliced microscopically thin and placed on a slide. They're allowed to dry, placed in an oven. After that, there's a staining process to remove the paraffin, re-hydrate it, and stain the cell. It's then de-hydrated again. The goal is to produce a slice of the body tissue that can be analyzed by the pathologist.They're technically bio-hazard, but they can be handled without gloves because the processing removes the risk.From 1995 to 2005 he and George Hollis were both working in the histology lab. Hollis later left in 2005. The witness stayed on.In the early years, Hollis did as much county slide work as the witness did. But a time came when Hollis slowed down a lot on his county slide work. The witness noticed that he himself had a lot more to do. He noticed CHW (Cyril H. Wecht's initials) on the items on which Hollis was working.Stallings shows witness court exhibits: the case logbooks maintained in the histology laboratory.
Turned to August through September of 2000. Goes through the columns in the log book:
The dates in the left hand column: the date that the case was processed.
The second column: the Allegheny County case number.
The name of the deceased
The type of case, suicide, homicide, natural, pending.
Names: the pathologist(s) who did the autopsy
The date it was completed.
Number of slides in the case.
Histologist
Date case was completed.GH initials mean George Hollis. Witness previously reviewed these documents for the prosecution. Witness confirms that it was in early 2001 that Mr. Hollis' county work began to fall off dramatically.Exhibit Text of memos from Dr. Cyril Wecht at coroner's office2003 memo: There should be no reason for significant delay for signing out a case related to microscopic slides. In that year, Hollis was doing limited county work, witness was doing the bulk.August 2004 memo: We should not have significant delays in signing out cases because pathologists are waiting for slides.2001 through Hollis retirement in 2005: significant backlog due to cases that were not county cases.Did witness ever receive payment from Wecht Pathology? No. Sometimes finished them to get them out of his own way.At one point another person hired. Ameena Smith (sp?), as part time histology technician. Eventually became full time when Hollis retired and witness became chief histologist. They have since eliminated backlog and they are not doing private work in the lab.March 31, 2004 letter (on hiring) to county deputy controller.Stallings walks him through pages in logbook in which the witness was the only one preparing county slides on page after page in the logbook.If I told you there was one case for the entire year 2004 that was done by George Hollis would that surprise you? Objection. Leading. Sustained. Leads him through more pages of the same. Did George Hollis prepare any slide on that page? No. The same question and answer is repeated again and again. Takes him through the end of the year 2004. Now, takes him back to page one of the logbook he is looking at. Do you see an entrance for GH? yes. 'Gilboy' is the name of the case.Q: Now having looked at every page, how many cases did George Hollis work on in 2004? A: Apparently one.Asks him to look in an envelope. A loose tissue block with embedding rings they used to use. He has seen them before.Asks him to hold them up to the jury. Shows them paraffin embedded tissue blocks.What happened when he located those in the coroner's office? He notified one of the lead investigative supervisors on the second floor that he found them in the garage cooler. He found 2, maybe 3 boxes.End of direct examination
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 9:30 a.m. update Testimony of witness is continuing with cross-examination by defense attorney Mark Rush.Q: Did you ever show logbook to Dr. Wecht? A: No, I did not.Q: Did you Dr. Wecht tell backlog? A: No, I did not.Q: Did you tell Dr. Wecht that Hollis was doing private work at the county lab? A: No.Q: Did you observe Dr. Wecht in the lab looking at logbook? A: No.Questioning establishes that Wecht's office was on a different floor from the histology lab.Do you know why Mr. Hollis resigned? No, I do not.Do you know that he resigned because he was doing the private work at the lab without Dr. Wecht's knowledge? Objection.How did you learn that he resigned? Told by Mr. Dominick? Did he tell you why Hollis resigned? Objection. Hearsay.After he resigned, were there supplies purchased by Wecht Pathology to restock? That I do not know.You do not believe Dr. Wecht knew that Mr. Hollis was doing private work there, do you? A: that I do not know. I had little contact with Dr. Wecht.9:30 AM: Rabicow's testimony ends.9:31 AM Next witness: Maribeth Blettner Retired. Worked at coroner's office until December 2001. Lives in Florida now. Feb 1970 started working for Dr. Wecht as secretary. Typing letters. Making appointments.Worked for Wecht for those 31 years at different places:
1970 to 1980 at Coroner's office
1980 to 1984 at Commissioners office
1984 to 1996 at Pathology
1996 to 2001 at Coroner's OfficeAsked about 1984 to 1996: Her employer was Cyril H. Wecht Pathology. Secretarial duties. Says Wecht's firm did lots of consulting and autopsy work. Office was at Central Medical (the now closed hospital where Wecht was chief pathologist.) She kept the firm's checkbook and invoicing. During that time, Wecht did autopsies for surrounding counties. Other secretaries including Flo Johnson. Darlene Brewer. During that period, Wecht Pathology paid rent to the hospital.In 1996, she rejoined Wecht who was again elected to be coroner. Shows her document exhibit: Initials CHW/mb indicates she typed this January 4, 1996, her signature on behalf of defendant. She would do so at times with his express permission.Document says her salary would be more than $3,400 a month by county. Also paid by Wecht Pathology. She did checkbooks for Wecht Pathology.Jan 1997: $795.02. Feb 1997: $795.01. Does that refresh you memory of what he paid you? March 1997, same amount. Do these look like your pay from Wecht Pathology during this period? Yes.
So her base from Allegheny County was $3,458.33 a month, and her supplementary pay from Wecht Pathology was $795.02. A: Apparently, yes.She had 5 or 6 filing cabinets of cases at Saint Francis. When she went to work at coroner's office those files went to Wecht Law Offices. Active private cases went with her to the coroner's office. Approaches her with a sample case -- The Paige Phillips case -- in a large folder. She would tell prospective clients Wecht's fee schedule, collect information from attorneys who wanted to retain Wecht. Slides, medical records. Narrative summary. She would give them to Dr. Wecht. Before 1996 she gave him those materials at St. Francis. After 1996, she would give them to Wecht at the coroner's office.When Wecht would dictate to her, she would type it up and give it to Flo. She used to use a typewriter. Later switched to a word processor.When she deposited retainer checks for Wecht Pathology, she would record it in a checkbook ledger. She'd collect the checks and take them to the bank two or three times a week.When they switched to computerized QuickBooks for Wecht Pathology, Wecht had the computer she used at Saint Francis down to the coroner's office.(An aside: I have some court filings related to the Wecht case on my PowerBook laptop computer. Using Apple's "Spotlight" search function, I checked for the Name "Blettner." On Document 177, filed 05/25/2006, page 13 of 27"Moreover, Wecht's exercise of his discretion as Coroner directly benefited this undisclosed source of income.
First, he authorized the use of the county personnel to assist him with the travel.
Second, he personally directed his administrative assistants, including Eileen Young and Mary Beth Blettner, to prepare and transmit the false and fake expense reimbursement documents from the Allegheny County Coroner's Office while on county time."When Blettner was sworn in, she spelled her first name "Maribeth," not Mary Beth.)10:17 : Recess until 10:30.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 10:40 a.m. update Blettner testimony continues. Prosecutor Stalling picks up where he left off, talks about two kinds of reports for private clients. Reports in letter form or confidential memos. In this example, Wecht would dictate report to her at coroner's office. This one ran 20 pages or more. She'd go back to her desk and type it. She'd show it to him, then incorporate changes he wanted.Says when at Saint Francis Hospital, would not mail it through hospital mail room, but would receive mail there. This mail could be quite bulky, with slides. etc.We're looking at a report from 1999. Dr. Wecht and you are sitting at the coroner's office? Yes. Says the incoming packages would be mailed in to the Wecht Law Office on Wood Street, then Flo would pick them up and bring them to the coroner's office. She says when she would mail reports, Flo would take them back to Wood Street and mail them from there.(Note: Many of Blettner's answers are in "yes", "no" and very short answer form. The material attributed to her in the notes above are established in her testimony by the series of detailed questions from prosecutor Stallings.)Wecht Pathology would sometimes subcontract on initial pathology reports. She would get the materials to them. For example, Dr. Omalu would come into her office at the coroner's office, she would hand him the file. He would give it back to her at the coroner's office. She would give it to Dr. Wecht to review, then Wecht would give it back to her to retype. She would put Dr. Wecht's name on the opinion. Would she put anything in the report to indicate the autopsy had been subcontracted to another pathologist? No. She would write check to the pathologists who handled the subcontracted work.(In this line of questioning, they are talking about pathologists who work in the coroner's office. Dr. Omalu and Dr. Latham among them.)Did defendant have a microscope in his office at the coroner's office? Yes. Did he have one at his Wood Street office? I'm sure he did.Letter to attorney for Church of Scientology in Florida involving the Lisa McPherson case. Billings were in the 100s of thousands of dollars for this single case.(As I type this in my PowerBook, I Googled "Lisa McPherson" and Scientology on my BlackBerry. I found information indicating that Wecht and Dr. Michael Baden were apparently retained by the Church of Scientology to examine McPherson's death. There had been a controversy over the Church's actions in the wake of an accident in which McPherson was involved.)Stallings is walking her through identification of government court exhibits in which she prepared reports at the coroner's office for Wecht's private business.Is it fair to say that sometimes Dr. Wecht did private consulting work on cases that came first came through the Allegheny County Coroner's Office? Yes.(Apparently, Stallings had some technical problems while attempting to call up some computer data. In a toss-away comment to the judge, Stallings said something about having "forgot my Giant Eagle Advantage Card, your honor.")Now asking her about expense invoices submitted to Wecht's private clients. When you submitted them, where would you get the amount to place on the air fare line? Normally Cyril would give it to me.Q: Are you familiar with a travel agency called Mercur-Lombardo? At some point that agency went out of business, but you continued to use the agency's receipts after it went out of business? A: Yes.Q: Did you keep a file that had blanks of these? Would you fill in airfare on these receipts, even when you were not using Mercur-Lombardo? A: Yes.
Q: Where would you get these figures from, from the defendant? Yes.
Where did you get the blank receipts from? A: Kept them in the office.
What would you do with the expense reimbursement checks? Cash them at the bank. PNC Bank at the Frick Building. She had a stamp with Wecht's name on them and power of attorney. She would count the cash. She would put the cash in an envelope and give it to Dr. Wecht back at the office. She would not deposit it to Wecht Pathology account or put it in the ledger. Did not transmit anything to the corporate accountants totaling those figures of checks she cashed for Dr. Wecht.When you retired in 2001, who took over your job? Eileen (Young). Notation on court document, instruction to Wecht clients to make out separate check for reimbursement of expenses.You were aware the defendant was not taking a limousine to the airport, correct? Yes.
Did you ever ask him why he was sending this receipts for reimbursement? No. It was just something that we did.Would she give invoices to Wecht to review before she sent them out? A: Usually, yes.Acknowledges that the invoices sent out stamped paid were kept as blanks at the coroner's office, filled out there and sent out by her.Going through more examples of invoices sent out.Asked again where she would get details when preparing invoices. Again she says "Cyril". Again a notation on an expense invoice to make out a separate check. Air fare, limousine and taxi expenses.What happened when clients only sent one check, combining fee and expense amounts. She'd deposit it into Wecht Pathology account, then write a check to Wecht, cash it and give him the money.Going through more examples of invoices sent out.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 11:44 a.m. update Testimony continuing.Stallings notes details in invoices he's having the witness examine. Asks again, where would that sort of detail come from? Answer again is "Cyril."Instructions to Shawn Gary: instructions to a producer in California for a Marilyn Monroe show. Includes invoices from Mercur-Lombardo, long after the travel agency had gone out of business.Meeting with Henry Lee and Michael Baden concerning Scott case. ----Did you know what the defendant actually paid for this air fare when you prepared these invoices? No.
This information came from the defendant? Yes.
In fact we saw a note where he said to add ground transportation? Yes.Another document, Mercur-Lombardo receipt.
Details like that came directly from the defendant? Yes.--- You testified earlier that the defendant was meticulous about his finances? Yes.
How familiar was he with the way flight arrangements were made? Very familiar.Stallings shows letter from Wecht to a different travel agency, showing Wecht complaining about the charge for tickets for himself and his wife. In it, Wecht cites dollar and cents charges and complaining that the charge was triple what he thought it should be. "I must tell you quite frankly that both Sigrid and I are extremely disturbed" by this. Wecht's letter goes on to criticize the agency's action and judgments concerning the charges.12:15 PM Break until 1:15.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 1:15 p.m. update Bletter testimony and questioning by Stallings continues.They continue to go over private letters she typed for Wecht's at the coroner's office on county time.(When you see "---" separators below, time has passed between the statements recounted here.)-November 1998 letter on county stationery to F. Lee Bailey and to Philadelphia lawyer Richard Sprague, inviting to them speak at Duquesne Law School. It says he also wanted them to attend personal fundraisers for his campaign to run for county executive.-Friday, October 29, 2000, letter to attorney Johnny Cochran concerning a fundraiser. A county phone number was listed as a call back number in the letter.--- Another document with handwriting she identifies as "Cyril's." discusses "our" documentary on Marilyn Monroe. Handwritten note asking to pull files and information on "MM" books he helped on. There's a reference to a Wecht honorarium.--- Stallings: You did pretty much the things after 1996 that you did before 1996.--- In another document, Wecht says his basic charge when he goes out of town for private work is $2,500 per diem (at the time). He tells the person he is writing that there is no way he would ever have said that his fee is $2,500 for an entire case.--- Dr. Wecht was friends with Dr. Baden and they had a business relationship and consulted together? Yes.--- In 2001, who was preparing histology slides for Wecht Pathology? George Hollis.
Did you pay him? Yes.
How would you know how many slides he did? He'd prepare a list.
Shows document: appears to be $3 per slide. 19 slides.
The charge on this invoice is $10 per slide, correct? Yes. Also a charge for packaging and shipping.
Would the histologist gave you the package of slides, there's was nothing else to be done but get it to the Wecht law firm to be mailed, correct? Yes.
In this case, histologist's charge was $3 and Wecht was charging client $10.During your tenure, from 1996 to 2001, do you recall making payments for histology supplies. She believes someone else did that. ---Did your pay change from 1995 to 1996? Yes. How much did it change? I don't remember. You were making over $40,000 a year in 1996?--- 2:27 PM. Direct questioning of witness ends. Changing court reporters. Taking a break until 2:40, then cross-examination by defense begins.
Wecht Day 9 - Feb. 11, 2008 - 2:40 p.m. update Cross-examination by defense attorney Jerry McDevitt.In 31 years, you think you got to know that man? Yes.
Good work ethic? Yes.
Ever met anyone who worked harder? No. From 7 in the morning, until midnight, at least. Takes work home. Works weekends.Dr. Wecht always had a private pathology practice and was known even back in 1970 as a forensic pathologist? Yes.In all the years you worked for Dr. Wecht, had he ever asked you to do anything wrong? No.
If he had asked you to do anything wrong, would you have done it? No.Were you aware of any intention on Dr. Wecht's part to ever inflate the charges to private clients for airfare? No. He's never done that.In all the time you worked for Dr. Wecht, did you ever have one client complain about the limousine charge? No.
Was the first person to ever complain FBI Agent Orsini? Yes.First interview with agent Orsini was in November 2005, a couple of years after she retired. That was the first time in 31 years that anyone questioned those charges? That's correct.They interviewed her in West Palm Beach, Fla. And they returned to interview here there again least three, possibly four times. Only two FBI reports on their interviews. Most recent meeting was an hour to an hour and a half.Did you tell them in that meeting that you don't think Dr. Wecht ever did anything wrong? Yes.
Have you ever seen that in an FBI report? No.
When you told him that, what did Agent Orsini say to you-- that it was a crime? Yes.
Did you tell Agent Orsini and Mr. Stallings that you believe Dr. Wecht is a good man? Yes.
You were not asked to testify before the grand jury were you? No.Today is the first time she has been under oath.Never heard the term "Wecht detail" when she was at the coroner's office.Did they ever ask your version of stories that you had sent deputy coroners to get hot dogs instead of doing their coroner's duties? No. She says it never happened.Have you ever heard Dr. Wecht make a disrespectful remark in respect to a dead person? No.
How about stories he allegedly told deputies to leave a body wait "because they're not going anywhere? No.Is that the Cyril Wecht you know? No.Concerning the cashing of the reimbursement checks. Defense questioning establishes that Wecht never went to the bank himself and didn't have an ATM card.3:35 PM Court adjourns for the day.
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