Hospital trial postponed

ST. CROIX - A V.I. Superior Court judge has postponed the retrial of three former Schneider Regional Medical Center executives, after allowing attorneys for two defendants, Rodney Miller Sr. and Amos Carty Jr., to withdraw.

The retrial of Miller, Carty and Peter Najawicz had been scheduled for jury selection later this month.

In December, however, V.I. Superior Court Judge Michael Dunston granted motions by Dudley Clark & Chan, the law firm that represented Miller, and attorneys Anthony Chambers and Jomo Meade, who represented Carty, to withdraw from the case because Miller and Carty had not paid the attorney fees and costs that were due.

The judge noted in his order that the move would "require a period of time for defendants Miller and Carty to retain new counsel and have them prepare for trial," and he continued a pre-trial conference that had been scheduled for Monday until May 7.

Dunston ordered that the jury selection that had been scheduled for Feb. 13 would be continued, with a date to be determined at the May 7 pretrial conference. He further ordered Miller and Carty to obtain new legal counsel.

Miller, Carty and Najawicz pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to steal money from the hospital and a variety of white-collar crimes.

Their first trial ended in a mistrial on June 24, exactly six weeks after opening arguments were given.

That jury was unable, after 5½ days of deliberation, to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the 44 charges that made up the case at that point.

Dudley Clark & Chan asked to withdraw citing Miller's nonpayment of fees. They contended that Miller has been unable to abide by the retainer agreement he signed with the firm because the government has frozen his assets and the court would not release any of those funds.

The firm also contended that it has a conflict of interest because it is suing Miller for the amount it claims he owes, Dunston wrote in his order. Court documents indicate that the firm is suing to collect more than $1.2 million from Miller.

In his motion to withdraw, Chambers also cited Carty's failure to fulfill the terms of a retainer agreement and failure to pay trial fees and expenses.

Dunston wrote in his order that he was "keenly aware" of the length of the trial "and that all counsel involved presented meticulous and well constructed cases that obviously required enumerable hours of preparation and substantial expense."

He also noted that prosecutors have expressed a "firm commitment" to retry the cases.

Dunston further ruled that it would be an undue hardship on the attorneys for Miller and Carty if they were required to undertake a second trial of substantial length.

Prosecutors took no position on the motions to withdraw, although they wanted the matter taken care of in a way that would not delay the Feb. 13 scheduled start of the trial.

Dunston noted that prosecutors did not suggest how that could be accomplished, and wrote that "such a result is clearly not possible."

"The substantial commitment of time and resources" needed to mount a defense to the charges - which prosecutors have now reorganized into a 54-count charging document - "will undoubtedly require a continuance of the trial, even were experienced and able trial counsel to immediately undertake the defense," according to Dunston's order.

Dunston made it clear, however, that this does not mean that attorneys will be appointed to represent Miller and Carty at public expense.

"The fact that defendants Miller and Carty allegedly have not met their financial obligations to their current counsel is not an indication of the ability of Miller and Carty to pay for their defenses," the order states.

"The court has previously determined that both are financially able to employ counsel," the judge wrote. "The court is aware that Miller was employed for some period of time with a different hospital subsequent to his departure from the Virgin Islands and is aware of no impediment to his current or future employment. And Attorney Carty has represented persons before this court on more than one occasion since leaving the employ of the hospital."

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