Judy in Jail

Judy is still in jail, held over the weekend for a variety of delays and other "mistakes" such as:

  • the guy who takes the bail isn't here today
  • the guy who does the psychological evaluation doesn't work on Saturdays
  • the guy who does the psychological evaluations decided not to work on Sunday this week
  • arraignment hearing held at 3AM, after Judy's attorney had gone home
  • Judy's family wasn't allowed to see her on Saturday, and then on Sunday they were told that you should have seen her yesterday, you can't see her today.

She is due to be released tomorrow on $10,000 bail, (since she is such a violent criminal), but since she was also supposed to be released Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so we will see how it goes.

Nothing much else new, the media covered it all over the country, but they didn't have very much new to print, so it didn't last long. In some cases, they just cut and pasted from previous articles sometimes with even the same headline. Not very exciting news.

Almost all of the stories quoted Cyril Wecht, the coroner, saying, "women in labor can't think rationally", and that gets lots of people upset, including those who couldn't care less about midwives, so I imagine there will be a bunch of letters to the editor this week.

Found a quote by Wecht today, which one would think if he believes as strongly as he sounds, he wouldn't have made the sensational statements during the inquest.

Forensic pathologists functioning as coroners and medical examiners should remember that they are not an integral part of the prosecutor's team, and they should not consciously or unwittingly use language that is clearly designed to inflame and prejudice a jury. Forensic pathologists must constantly strive to be objective, rational, fair, and even-handed in expressing their conclusions and opinions in trial testimony and all other formal legal proceedings.
Source: Shaken baby syndrome research paper

Prayer requests:
  For Judy, it can't be much fun to be in jail all weekend, and not be able to see visitors
  For our family, particularly patience and peace-filled thoughts
  For the "Friends of Judy", in their fund-raising efforts

Posted by Jon Daley on April 25, 2004, 9:00 pm | Read 5224 times
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Comments
Dr. Wecht wrote an article in the Sunday paper regarding an upcoming decision about whether the coroner should be independently elected, or overseen by the County Council.
I don't know enough to know what is the right thing, but he had a couple quotes that I found interesting:
I cannot imagine that with an appointed medical examiner serving under the aegis of a county chief executive, there would not be sub-rosa conversations suggesting that a particular death be downplayed or avoided; or that an autopsy not be performed because of some political favor that may be owed. This has never happened with me as an independently elected coroner and never will.
Throughout my time as coroner, I have clearly demonstrated that my office operates efficiently and effectively without any kind of political bias or nepotism.
I wonder about the "political bias" part, given his closing statements, regarding the political scene in PA, and the generally accepted remarks by the media and lawyers that he usually uses those closing remarks to "grandstand", and spout his political views to the public...
Posted by jondaley on November 23, 2004, 8:45 am
Also -- if Pittsburghers vote for the coroner to be overseen by the County, I would guess, based on Wecht's remarks, that he shouldn't be the coroner any longer, as he would probably have a hard time making unpolitically motivated decisions.
I somehow doubt he will be voluntarily stepping down.
Posted by jondaley on November 23, 2004, 8:48 am
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