PITTSBURGH -- Despite receiving a letter that he considers threatening, the judge will not remove himself from the trial for a Mt. Lebanon oral surgeon who's accused of groping and sexually assaulting female patients under anesthesia.
On Monday afternoon, Judge Anthony Mariani was ready to hear from rebuttal witnesses in Dr. Robert Boyda's trial at the Allegheny County Courthouse.
Shortly before the proceedings started, Mariani told everyone in his courtroom that he got a letter that said it's "unacceptable" to hand down anything less than a guilty verdict with a lengthy prison sentence for Boyda, who's accused by 17 patients ranging in age from 13 to 58.
WTAE Channel 4's news exchange partners at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that
the letter supposedly came from hundreds of former students who claim that they went to dental school with Boyda and that he had a history of the behavior that's being alleged at his trial.
The letter also said that if Boyda isn't convicted, the group will have an issue with Mariani, not Boyda.
Mariani said he gave the letter to the FBI and offered to remove himself from Boyda's trial, but neither the prosecution nor the defense took him up on his offer to step down, the Trib reported.
The alleged victims in the nonjury trial claim they were fondled or assaulted as they recovered from dental surgery in Boyda's offices in Robinson and Scott townships. Testimony was spread over several weeks.
At one point, the trial briefly moved to Boyda's office on Cochran Road, where Mariani heard witness testimony and toured the space where some of the alleged assaults were said to have happened.
Attorney Bill Difenderfer has been defending Boyda on the grounds that the anesthesia drugs have side effects that could cause patients to hallucinate and dream that they had been attacked.
Closing arguments will begin later this month.
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