FARMINGTON — After spending nearly five months in prison, psychiatrist Robert Allen Weitzel was a free man today.
Following a brief hearing Thursday, Weitzel posted $25,000 bail and said he is optimistic he will be vindicated.
"It feels real good to be out," he said, moments after he was freed from the Davis County Jail. "I just want to be with friends and family now, and get my name cleared."
Last August, Weitzel was convicted of two counts of second-degree felony manslaughter and three counts of class A misdemeanor negligent homicide in connection with the deaths of five patients who died during a 16-day period in December 1995 and January 1996. He was sentenced in September to up to 15 years in prison, where he remained until Thursday.
Second District Judge Thomas L. Kay this week granted Weitzel a new trial, ruling prosecutors erred when they failed to disclose information from one of their potential expert witnesses.
Deputy Davis County Attorney Steve Major said the Attorney General's Appeals Division plans to file an "extraordinary writ" with the Utah Court of Appeals, asking to overturn Kay's ruling. The writ is one of the only options available to prosecutors, because Utah law prohibits a more traditional appeal.
Still, Major said he believed the situation warranted appellate review and that the higher court would rule in the state's favor.
"Our hope is — and we're fairly confident — that we won't have to do a new trial, that the appellate court will uphold the conviction," Major said.
Major said he did not believe there was a clear legal precedent instructing his team to disclose Perry Fine's opinion; and even if Fine had taken the stand, Major said his testimony "wasn't anything that didn't come from other experts" at trial.
Defense attorney Peter Stirba applauded Kay's decision. Looking forward, he declined to speculate on what the higher court would do with the prosecution's writ.
Major estimated it would take a month to prepare the petition, and several months after that before the Court of Appeals would hear argument and issue a decision.
If the court rules against him, Davis County Attorney Mel Wilson said he is prepared to try the case again. He also said his preliminary review of state law indicates he can re-file first-degree murder charges against Weitzel, though Stirba argued double jeopardy laws prohibited it.
Weitzel's next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 15. Hurrying to his car in the drizzling rain, Weitzel declined to speculate on what would happen in the case in coming months.
"Right now," he said, "I'm going to have a good meal."
E-MAIL: jnii@desnews.com