Alexander DeLuca, M.D.
Addiction, Pain, & Public Health website  
[Home] [Library]  [Slides]  [Search]  [Medline]  [Links]
Statement of Purpose; Privacy policy; Statement of Ownership; Statement of Sponsorship; Advertising policy 

A Davis County psychiatrist twice tried on criminal charges involving the deaths of five elderly patients under his care filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against what appears to be every agency, and individual, involved in the case.

Robert Weitzel claims his due process rights were violated by the state prosecutions, and a related federal prosecution, and that prosecutors made "false and slanderous statements" to the press and others.

The suit names 21 individuals and seven agencies and governmental entities, including Davis County Attorney Mel Wilson, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, U.S. Attorney for Utah Paul Warner, the Layton City Police Department and the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing.

The Davis County Attorney's Office and Utah Attorney General's Office were unaware of the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon and declined comment on the allegations.

Acting as his own attorney, Weitzel alleges that prosecutors pursued murder charges against him in the deaths of five patients who died under his care at Davis Hospital and Medical Center's geriatric-psychiatric unit despite "full knowledge" that he was not guilty of the crimes.

"Defendants were or should have been aware of plaintiff's innocence, but persisted in pressing the charges of murder," the lawsuit states.

Jurors in 2000 convicted Weitzel of two counts of second-degree felony manslaughter and three counts of misdemeanor negligent homicide. The verdicts were later overturned when a judge ruled prosecutors withheld critical evidence.

Weitzel was tried again on the same charges and was acquitted in November 2002.

Weitzel pleaded guilty in September 2002 to two charges of prescription drug fraud in U.S. District Court, and served one year in a Nevada federal prison in that case.

According to Tuesday's lawsuit, the prosecution resulted in the suspension of Weitzel's medical license and has left him unable to work in his chosen profession. Weitzel seeks at least $75,000 in actual damages, plus unspecified punitive damages

 [Top of Page]