By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Charging that the law requires evidence and not speculation, attorneys for a former pharmacist charged with second degree murder should not have to face a jury on the charges.
In a 19-page filing with the Michigan Supreme Court, Glenn Chin's lawyer, Kevin Gentry, argued that prosecutors still have failed to identify any act of Chin's that caused 11 Michigan patients to die from a contaminated drug.
Noting repeatedly that the drug, methyl prednisolone acetate, tested sterile when it left Chin's hands, the appeal states,"Something really had happened somewhere along this chain," but prosecutors didn't even try to show any act of Chin's caused it.
Chin was a supervising pharmacist at the now defunct New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak, which took the lives of more than 100 victims across the country.
Conceding that Chin's clean room was "not all that clean,"the motion concedes that Chin demonstrated a willful disregard of sanitary standards.
Chin's co-defendant, Barry Cadden, president and part owner of NECC already has filed a similar appeal. The case is being prosecuted by the Michigan Attorney General's office.
The two were already convicted in federal court of racketeering and conspiracy charges. Two separate juries, however acquitted them of similar murder charges.
Noting that the appeals court denied the motion just six days after the complete case arrived before the court, the motion states," Well that was quick. It is thus fair to say the Court of Appeals wants nothing to do with this case."
The motion notes that after Chin compounded the drugs and they were found sterile, they were handled by other NECC employees who placed the drugs in separate vials and shipped them to Michigan Pain Specialists where the drugs were injected into the 11 victims.
Contending that prosecutors made "a great assumption" when they charged Chin, the appeal states that the prosecutors still failed to establish causation,a requirement under Michigan law in a murder case.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Thursday, January 13, 2022
Conigliaro Gets Hearing for New Trial
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Acting swiftly a federal judge has granted a new hearing for a former drug executive seeking to overturn his conviction on conspiracy charges.
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns sitting today set a March 9 date for Gregory Conigliaro to argue for a new trial on charges that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Conigliaro was vice president of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak which ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients.
Stearns had previously acquitted Conigliaro of the conspiracy charge but his decision was overturned by the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
The appeals court then remanded the case back to Stearns to make a decision based on their ruling. Stearns then ruled that Conigliaro was guilty. At the same time, however the appeals court also sent back to Stearns, Conigliaro's petition for a new trial. The higher court issued no opinion on the new trial request.
Taking that opening, Daniel Rabinowitz, Conigliaro's lawyer, earlier this week filed the motion for a formal hearing on the new trial request.
Stearns then set the March 9 date for a hearing and gave lawyers until Feb. 3 to file briefs on the issue.
Prosecutors say Conigliaro conspired to make regulators believe that NECC was a just a family owned state licensed pharmacy not subject to stricter federal requirements.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Acting swiftly a federal judge has granted a new hearing for a former drug executive seeking to overturn his conviction on conspiracy charges.
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns sitting today set a March 9 date for Gregory Conigliaro to argue for a new trial on charges that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Conigliaro was vice president of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak which ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients.
Stearns had previously acquitted Conigliaro of the conspiracy charge but his decision was overturned by the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
The appeals court then remanded the case back to Stearns to make a decision based on their ruling. Stearns then ruled that Conigliaro was guilty. At the same time, however the appeals court also sent back to Stearns, Conigliaro's petition for a new trial. The higher court issued no opinion on the new trial request.
Taking that opening, Daniel Rabinowitz, Conigliaro's lawyer, earlier this week filed the motion for a formal hearing on the new trial request.
Stearns then set the March 9 date for a hearing and gave lawyers until Feb. 3 to file briefs on the issue.
Prosecutors say Conigliaro conspired to make regulators believe that NECC was a just a family owned state licensed pharmacy not subject to stricter federal requirements.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Tuesday, January 11, 2022
Conigliaro Seeks New Hearing, Acquittal
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
The former vice president of a rogue drug compounding firm is asking for a formal hearing on his motion for a new trial on charges that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The motion for the hearing by Gregory Conigliaro was filed today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass.
The request, which is opposed by federal prosecutors, will go before the same judge, Richard G. Stearns, who earlier acquitted Conigliaro only to have the First Circuit Court overturn his decision.
Stearns subsequently, following the appeals court's mandate, found Conigliaro guilty.
In the motion filed today, Conigliaro's lawyer Daniel M. Rabinowitz argued that the appeals court issued its decision "without the benefit of Mr. Conigliaro's full briefing on the arguments for a new trial."
"At the risk of being presumptuous Mr. Conigliaro submits the court would benefit from further oral argument before it issues its ruling on Mr. Conigliaro's motion," the filing concludes."
Conigliaro was vice president of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak, which ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients.
The now defunct company, based in Framingham, Mass, shipped thousands of vials of drugs heavily contaminated with deadly fungus.
Stearns, in his original ruling, found that it was a legal impossibility for Coniglaro to defraud the FDA because the agency itself was unsure of what if any authority it had over state licensed drug compounders like NECC.
The circuit court rejected that finding and sent the case back to Stearns. In the 61-page ruling on Sept. 27 the court said it could not understand Stearns' reasoning and concluded that he erred as a matter of law.
The appeals court at the same time sent Conigliaro's motion for a new trial back to the district court.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
The former vice president of a rogue drug compounding firm is asking for a formal hearing on his motion for a new trial on charges that he conspired to defraud the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The motion for the hearing by Gregory Conigliaro was filed today in U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass.
The request, which is opposed by federal prosecutors, will go before the same judge, Richard G. Stearns, who earlier acquitted Conigliaro only to have the First Circuit Court overturn his decision.
Stearns subsequently, following the appeals court's mandate, found Conigliaro guilty.
In the motion filed today, Conigliaro's lawyer Daniel M. Rabinowitz argued that the appeals court issued its decision "without the benefit of Mr. Conigliaro's full briefing on the arguments for a new trial."
"At the risk of being presumptuous Mr. Conigliaro submits the court would benefit from further oral argument before it issues its ruling on Mr. Conigliaro's motion," the filing concludes."
Conigliaro was vice president of the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak, which ultimately took the lives of more than 100 patients.
The now defunct company, based in Framingham, Mass, shipped thousands of vials of drugs heavily contaminated with deadly fungus.
Stearns, in his original ruling, found that it was a legal impossibility for Coniglaro to defraud the FDA because the agency itself was unsure of what if any authority it had over state licensed drug compounders like NECC.
The circuit court rejected that finding and sent the case back to Stearns. In the 61-page ruling on Sept. 27 the court said it could not understand Stearns' reasoning and concluded that he erred as a matter of law.
The appeals court at the same time sent Conigliaro's motion for a new trial back to the district court.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Cadden In Last Ditch Appeal Effort
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A former druggist, charged with 11 counts of second degree murder, has filed an appeal with Michigan's highest court in a last ditch effort to have those murder charges thrown out.
The appeal to the Supreme Court seeks to have a recent decision by the state Appeals Court overturned. That court early last month once again turned down Cadden's motion to have the murder charges dismissed.
Both Cadden and Chin contend that prosecutors in the state Attorney General's office did not provide sufficient evidence to have the charges presented to a Livingston County jury.
The charges stem from Cadden and Chin's involvement in a now defunct Massachusetts drug compounding firm which shipped thousands of vials of contaminated drugs to healthcare providers across the country. Eleven of those vials were injected into the spines of Livingston County patients who subsequently died.
Cadden was president and part owner of the drug compounding firm, the New England Compounding Center. Chin was the supervising pharmacist in the company's clean room where the tainted drugs were prepared.
Today's filing is the latest development in what has become a ping pong match between the state's two highest courts.
The appeals court has now rejected Cadden's pleas for the third time.
Chin is expected to file a similar motion to the Supreme Court.
Contact:wfrochejr999@gmail.com
A former druggist, charged with 11 counts of second degree murder, has filed an appeal with Michigan's highest court in a last ditch effort to have those murder charges thrown out.
The appeal to the Supreme Court seeks to have a recent decision by the state Appeals Court overturned. That court early last month once again turned down Cadden's motion to have the murder charges dismissed.
Both Cadden and Chin contend that prosecutors in the state Attorney General's office did not provide sufficient evidence to have the charges presented to a Livingston County jury.
The charges stem from Cadden and Chin's involvement in a now defunct Massachusetts drug compounding firm which shipped thousands of vials of contaminated drugs to healthcare providers across the country. Eleven of those vials were injected into the spines of Livingston County patients who subsequently died.
Cadden was president and part owner of the drug compounding firm, the New England Compounding Center. Chin was the supervising pharmacist in the company's clean room where the tainted drugs were prepared.
Today's filing is the latest development in what has become a ping pong match between the state's two highest courts.
The appeals court has now rejected Cadden's pleas for the third time.
Chin is expected to file a similar motion to the Supreme Court.
Contact:wfrochejr999@gmail.com
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