It’s been a long, difficult few years for Dr. Cyril Wecht, The former coroner of Allegheny County, celebrity forensic pathologist and prominent Democrat, who has been at the center of a so-called political prosecution, but at least he picked up some friends along the way.
After serving on the jury for Wecht’s federal trial that ended in a mistrial earlier this year, five of the former-jurors who had voted for acquittal sought out the good doctor, and his legal team to voice their support. It wasn’t long before the group was organizing outings– most recently to a Pirate’s baseball game complete with tailgating.
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
A message on PNC Park’s electronic scoreboard welcoming a special group to a recent baseball game went unnoticed by those it was intended to honor.
That’s because Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, along with five jurors who voted to acquit the former Allegheny County coroner at his federal public corruption trial, still were tailgating in the parking lot.
The group get-togethers have been going on since the trial ended in April, ranging from lunch at the food court in downtown Pittsburgh to a 60th anniversary celebration.
“A group of them five of them reached out to us, and told us they’d like to meet with us and talk to us because of how they felt about what had happened,” Wecht’s attorney Jerry McDevitt told TPMmuckraker.
“They started telling us how strongly they were against the retrial. So, not only did they not convict him, they thought he was a decent guy. . . The whole thing hasn’t exactly renewed my faith in the government, but it’s certainly renewed my faith in the jury system.”