NECC Defendants Seek More Challenges

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Lawyers for the remaining eight defendants in the probe of a deadly outbreak are asking a federal judge to give them three more peremptory challenges of jurors in their upcoming trial.
In a five-page filing today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass., lawyers for the defendants asked U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to increase the number of peremptory challenges from 13 to 16.
Stearns last week in a pre-trial order granted prosecutors nine challenges and the eight defendants a combined total of 13.
Citing three factors, the defense attorneys said additional challenges should be allowed because of the unique characteristics of the case and "in the interests of justice."
The eight were among 14 indicted following a two year investigation of the fungal meningitis outbreak which has been described as the worst public health crisis ever to be caused by a prescription drug.
The outbreak sickened some 778 patients in 20 states, killing 76 of them.
All the defendants scheduled to go on trial in October were affiliated with the New England Compounding Center, the company that caused the outbreak by shipping out fungus infested drugs to unsuspecting health providers across the country. None of the eight has been charged with any of the deaths
In the motion the eight defendants cited the highly publicized nature of the case, the fact that charges against the defendants differ widely and the wide demographic disparity among the defendants as justification for additional juror challenges.
In a footnote the defendants also said they oppose a proposed summary of the case offered by Stearns in last week's order.
The charges range from racketeering to conspiracy to mail fraud. Jury selection is set to begin Oct. 2 and opening arguments are set for Oct. 15.
In addition to setting a pre-trial schedule, Stearns order sets limits on the amount of time prosecutors and defense attorneys can spend in presenting their cases. Both sides were allotted 60 hours, with cross examination to be included within those limits. The 60 minutes allocated to the defense must be divided up among the eight attorneys.
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