Chin Jury Deliberates for 1st Day

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

BOSTON-The jury considering the racketeering and second degree murder charges against one of the druggists blamed for a nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak completed its first full day of deliberations today without reaching a verdict.
Glenn A. Chin, who spent the day in a federal court house hallway waiting for news, is charged with racketeering, 25 counts of second degree murder and mail fraud. He was a supervising pharmacist at the New England Compounding Center, which produced fungus laden steroids that sickened 778 patients, killing 76 of them.
In a brief morning session before U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns, one of Chin's lawyers complained that Assistant U.S. Attorney George Varghese's closing argument left jurors with the impression that it was Chin who handed an autoclave manual to a federal investigator in October of 2012.
Stearns said he had reviewed the testimony of Stacey Degarmo, the investigator with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and concluded she did not say that Chin handed her the manual.
The manual has become an issue because it contained instructions on the length of time that items had to be placed in the autoclave to ensure sterilization. Prosecutors say Chin only left items in the autoclave for 15 minutes when up to 27 minutes were required.
The jury will resume deliberations Tuesday.
Chin's is the second major trial to occur since a federal grand jury issued an indictment of 14 persons connected with NECC.
Chin's boss, Barry J. Cadden, was found guilty of racketeering and mail fraud but cleared of the second degree murder charges. Three other defendants have entered guilty pleas while charges were dismissed against two others, including Chin's wife.
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