Dear Friends,

Today jury selection started in my retrial. The state has offered a plea bargain of misdemeanors, but I'll never falsely admit to harming a patient, nor let everyone down who has supported me through all of this.

My lawyers, Wally Bugden and Tara Isaacson, seem to be confident and in good spirits. They've done a great job of mastering the voluminous amounts of information that 60 patient-days of hospitalization generated, and they have "the big picture", too. After the initial round of jury selection they were happy with the outcome. It seems the population of Davis County has been educated quite a bit in end-of-life care issues since the first trial over two and a half years ago; it was amazing how many prospective jurors sounded off about their personal knowledge of the beneficial effects of morphine and its necessity in palliative care for the dying.

I know our experts are the best, and feel sure that we will put the truth before the jury, and the jurors will respond by vindicating me.

I will do my best to keep a running commentary going on the trial process. Since the judge has ordered me to add no new material to WeitzelCharts.com, I can communicate only to those of you have been included on this e-mailing list. It's a shame, for I had hoped to broadcast .mpeg's of each day's court videotapes on those days that the state's expert witnesses testified. At least I can send out a report, and I'll do so.

Take care, all,

Robert Weitzel, MD