LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Defense attorneys have moved a motion to overturn Ed Buck’s convictions for delivering the drugs that killed two men in his West Hollywood apartment on the grounds that the government “completely failed” to to prove any of the federal charges beyond reasonable doubt, according to court records received Wednesday morning.
What you need to know
- Defense attorneys have filed a motion to overturn Ed Buck’s convictions for delivering the drugs that killed two men in his West Hollywood apartment
- An attorney for Buck wrote in the acquittal that the two men suffered from several underlying medical conditions that caused their deaths
- After only four and a half hours of deliberation on July 27, a federal jury in downtown Los Angeles found Buck guilty of the nine charges he faced
- Buck, the former WeHo politician who donated more than $ 500,000 to primarily democratic causes, has been convicted of dual controlled substance distribution resulting in death
An attorney for Buck wrote in the acquittal motion that the two men, Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean, had multiple underlying medical conditions that caused their deaths, not the methamphetamine they took, the document filed Tuesday said.
“There is no interpretation of the evidence that overcomes reasonable doubt,” wrote defense attorney Ludlow Creary.
After only four and a half hours of deliberation on July 27, the four-year anniversary of Moore’s death, a federal jury in downtown Los Angeles found Buck guilty of the nine charges he faced.
Buck, the former WeHo politician who donated more than $ 500,000 to primarily democratic causes and served as a member of the California Electoral College in 2016, was convicted of two fatalities for the distribution of controlled substances on two counts, resulting in the death of Moore in July 2017 and Dean in January 2019. These fees both have a mandatory minimum of 20 years.
Buck was also convicted of convincing Moore and another man to travel to Los Angeles to engage in prostitution; conscious and intentional distribution of methamphetamine; and using his West Hollywood apartment to distribute narcotics such as methamphetamine and the tranquilizers gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and clonazepam.
US District Judge Christina Snyder did not immediately set a sentencing date.
Prosecutors alleged Buck caused the deaths as a result of his “fetish” of injecting men with increasing doses of methamphetamine until they fell into a coma. The defense countered that the victims suffered from serious illnesses that ended their lives.
Buck declined to testify in his own defense.
During the trial, prosecutors called more than 20 witnesses, including four men, who reported smoking methamphetamine provided by Buck and then pressured into allowing the defendant to inject the drug.
The acquittal claims that the only evidence that Buck was distributing methamphetamine and other drugs in his home was backed by “the testimony of drug addicts” and should not have been believed.
The defense only called one witness to the stand. Dr. Marvin Pietruszka, who runs a private autopsy service in the San Fernando Valley, testified that after analyzing photos, slides, and medical reports on the bodies of Moore and Dean, he found that both men had significant medical problems that resulted in their deaths . Methamphetamine, he told the jury, didn’t kill either of them.
Creary wrote in his acquittal that the government’s own evidence showed Moore died of pulmonary edema caused by complications from HIV / AIDS. The lawyer alleged that Pietruszka had “confirmed” that Moore “had full blown AIDS” and that his health was further affected by “chronic methamphetamine abuse”.
The second man, Dean, died 18 months later of complications from several health problems, including a bad heart and pulmonary edema, “caused by the ravages of methamphetamine addiction and alcoholism,” said Creary. “The evidence shows that he died of advanced heart disease combined with the effects of alcohol poisoning.”
Creary also argues that a doctor called by the prosecutor told the jury that Dean “injected himself and none of the syringes (only one used) found in or around the apartment contained Mr.’s DNA.” Dean”.
“This only leads to one conclusion,” the attorney wrote. Dean “injected himself with methamphetamine before arriving at Mr. Buck’s apartment.”
Several doctors called in by prosecutors, including a coroner, testified that both men died from a fatal methamphetamine overdose.
Comments are closed.