Thoughts on Mistrial

As a close friend of George Weber’s and someone who has watched every day of this trial, I can’t even begin to describe how shocked, saddened and dismayed I am that the jury was unable to find this monster guilty.  The prosecution proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that this satanic thug, addicted to violence murdered my friend.  The fact that even a single juror could have any doubt about his guilt really shakes to the core my faith in human judgment.  I just can’t imagine this.   The fact that Katehis and his lawyer were dancing around like they just won the lotto makes this even more nauseating.

As horrible as this is, it’s not nearly as bad as the feeling I had when learning George was killed.  He was the first person I saw almost every day for about four years.  We had a friendship that transcended the workplace and he was one of the few people I’ve ever known who was universally liked.  It hurts every day that he’s gone and I miss him terribly. 

Putting this devil in prison for the rest of his life won’t bring George back, but it will ensure that no other family ever has to endure the torment that George’s has.  I look forward to a quick retrial date and hope that justice is ultimately served by a wiser group of 12.

Satan's Lawyer is Out

Jeffrey Schwartz

In between the two mistrials declared yesterday one of the items we didn't get to mention is that Schwartz, the ethically challenged, arrogant,  headline grabbing attorney who doesn't let lack of legal knowledge stand in his way of a loud argument, told the Judge yesterday that the Katehis family would not be retaining him for the re-trial.  The Judge then asked Schwartz if his client could afford an attorney.  Schwartz indicated that he couldn't and the Judge said he would assign an attorney to the case at the public's expense.

As I told you here, Schwartz has been handling this case for free.  My guess as to Schwartz's thnking on this is pure ego.  He was willing to take the case for free just for the publicity in the hopes of either getting an acquittal (unlikely) or a hung jury.  In the event of a re-trial, chances are pretty good that there will be a conviction, so he looks to the uninformed masses like a legal genius for preventing a conviction the first time when a second lawyer couldn't.  He can use the excuse that because this case is so time consuming, he just can't afford to continue to handle it for free.

He's a real slimey guy.  You feel like you need a shower after listening to him talk.  He re-enforces every single negative stereotype about criminal defense attorneys.  I will not be sorry to see him go.

On a much more disappointing note, Anna Nicolazzi might not be able to re-try this case because she is poised to go on maternity leave in a few weeks.  She will be missed as she's not only an immensely talented attorney, and very attractive (which certainly helps in making your case to the jury).  She also strikes me as someone who not only knows the law, but has the absolute highest regard for the principles of our legal system and legal ethics.  I'm sorry to say that many prosecutors in the Brooklyn DA office have a very poor reputation, both in terms of their ability and how they handle cases from an ethical point of view- Anna Nicolazzi is a notable exception to that and I hope that the schedule of the new trial allows her to be the prosecutor a second time. 

Jury was 11-1 in favor of Conviction

The lawyers on both sides had the opportunity to speak with the jurors after the trial.  Apparently the final split was 11-1 in favor of conviction.  They began the first day of deliberations with it being 9-3 in favor of conviction and pretty quickly it became 10-2.  By this morning it was 11-1.  One of the jurors told the NY Post that all three initial holdouts were women.

Apparently this lone idiot voting no wasn't arriving at her position based on the evidence but had this position from the beginning.  While I don't know who this juror was, I do have my suspicions and I don't believe that it was the sleeping juror.  From what I understand, this juror couldn't get past the whole "ick factor" of George's smothering fetish and was totally grossed out by it.  This in spite of the fact that all of the jurors were questioned about this during jury selection and all indicated that even if they thought this was weird, they could arrive at a verdict based on the evidence.  This juror clearly violated her oath and just ignored the law.  It was plain to everyone watching (including the vast majority of the jury) that Katehis was guilty of second degree murder, as it's defined by the law and that his defense of "justification" and/or "intoxication" was pure nonsense. 

I'm really so sad.  I can't even begin to describe the injustice in this.  Because of one renegade juror, this devil remains unconvicted. 

There is a pre-trial hearing set for next week.  If there is going to be a new trial, I hope it's soon so as to spare George's family any further prolonged agony as it relates to this.  Apparently the 11 in favor were surprised when the Judge told them he would declare a mistrial and they wanted to keep going until they got a conviction, that's why they initially asked the Judge for a few more hours.  It became clear though after the Judge left the jury room, that this juror wasn't going to change his mind.

Now though, if I were to guess, there will be renewed plea negotiations between the prosecution and the defense and my guess is after seeing how close this was to a conviction Katehis will take a plea somewhere in the neighborhood of eighteen years to life.  Part of me hopes that's the case, so as to spare George's family another trial and to get this maniac in prison to begin serving his sentence as quickly as possible, but a big part of me would like to see a conviction at trial (which I believe will occur) so that he can get the maximum possible sentence. 

This is just so unfair and I hope this renegade juror who had absolutely no regard for the oath he swore to uphold is as haunted by Katehis and his satanic imagery as I am.

Needless to say, it is unlikely he will be getting bail.

Judge declares Mistrial TWICE!!!!

I've never seen anything like what just occurred.  Upon receiving the jury's note, the Judge declared a mistrial.  There was some discussion of a re-trial date, etc. When they brought the jury out the Judge asked if they'd like to speak to the lawyers and at least six of them all nodded their head in the affirmative. 

The defense attorney then asked the Judge if he would entertain a bail application or if he'd just be wasting his breath.  The Judge indicated that he'd have to see what the split is (how many in favor of conviction, how many in favor of acquittal).  The lawyers suggested at that point that the Judge talk to the jurors first to see if that's something that would be.  So he went back to talk to them and thank for them for their service. 

He returned to the court room two or three minutes later and said that as soon as he went back there, the jurors asked him if they could give them a few more hours because "they think they can reach a verdict".  At this point, the Judge vacated his order for a mistrial and said they would continue deliberating.

Jeffrey Schwartz flew into a rage and was heatedly argumentitive with Judge Firetog.  As they were fighting, Firetog received another note from the jury saying they were deadlocked and again declared a mistrial.

Schwartz's annoyingly sarcastic response to the Judge, "This time no backsies Judge?!?!?!".

The Judge then asked the attorneys if they wanted to go back and speak with the Jurors and Schwartz asked, "Will they then continue to deliberate?", and let out a long sigh letting everyone know how annoyed he was with the inconvenience of a mistrial slightly delayed.

There will be a hearing on a re-trial next Wed, November 3rd and I pray it occurs quickly and ends in a guilty verdict this time.

HUNG JURY...........UNBELIEVABLE

I can't believe I'm writing these words, but the jury has been unable to reach a verdict.  They just sent a note to the Judge saying they're hopelessly deadlocked (not in those exact words).  Will post the text of the note as soon as possible.


Upon receiving the note, Katehis's attorney, Jeffrey Schwartz started giggling like a school girl to his co-counsel.  Katehis's father walked around as if he'd just gotten away with something.  His son certainly has.  For now.

The Judge will now declare a mistrial.  This is so incredibly unfair.  Words escape me.  I feel ill.

Third Day of Deliberations begins

The third day of deliberations has begun.  There's still been no verdict.  There have also been no notes from the jury yet.  It's difficult to describe the feeling here today.  Whereas yesterday was anxious and nervous.  Today has taken on a very different feel.  Today it almost feels as if we're just waiting for bad news (the news of a hung jury) to arrive.

George's sister has come to court today to observe deliberation process.  Seeing how upset she is and how painful this is for her family, makes your heart break all over again as if for the first time. 

Hopefully those who have doubts about "reasonable doubt" will come to their senses soon.

George's sister and brother-in-law at memorial last year

George tells the whole bed bug story

You'll recall we told you about how George had bed bugs.  And the prosecution mentioned that the white powder found in George's apartment was most likely bed bug insecticide and not cocaine, as Katehis had claimed.  You can read all about that discussion here. 

As I was going through some old George clips earlier, I found this clip of George describing his bed bug problem in detail to Mark Simone, Curtis Sliwa, Warner Wolf and Jeffrey Lichtman on WABC.  It's 100% clear to me that this was bug powder not drugs. 





You can listen to it above.