Wecht seeks ruling on politics in case

The request from the
ex-coroner is linked to the probe of the firing of nine U.S. attorneys.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Embattled former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht has asked a federal judge to determine whether an 84-count federal indictment against him is politically motivated.

In a 22-page motion submitted late Friday, the attorneys of the high-profile coroner asked U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab to rule on whether Republican U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan has gone after Wecht because he is a Democrat.

Buchanan has repeatedly denied having a political motive in the prosecution Wecht, whose trial is scheduled to begin in January. She recently called on Wecht’s lawyers to bring their allegations before a judge.

Buchanan did not immediately return a call seeking comment Sunday.

The latest Wecht motion is linked to an ongoing Congressional investigation of last year’s firing of nine U.S. attorneys nationwide. Buchanan has been questioned about her involvement in the contentious layoffs, which Democrats have called a purge by the Bush administration.

Wecht, 75, has been accused of using his county staff to do work for his private multimillion-dollar pathology practice. The coroner, whose cases have included the death of Elvis Presley, resigned in January after being indicted by a federal grand jury.

Wecht’s attorneys and other supporters have accused Buchanan of going after Democrats since she assumed her post in 2001 while ignoring allegations of wrongdoing against fellow Republicans.

“Her record of prosecuting or investigating high-profile Democrats stands in stark contrast to the Republicans whose conduct her office ignored,” Wecht’s attorney, Jerry McDevitt, wrote in the motion. “The public perception of this U.S. Attorney is that the verdict is in: 100 percent political.”

The motion is accompanied by 71 exhibits and goes into a lengthy summary of the congressional investigations. It also provides a list of the U.S. Justice Department staff members who have resigned since the stories about the firings broke.