COLUMBUS, Ohio — After calling more than 50 witnesses, prosecutors rested their case Tuesday morning in the murder trial of former Mount Carmel Dr. William Husel.
Husel is charged with killing 14 of his patients through overprescribing medications – including fentanyl and other drugs. Prosecutors allege that Husel’s drug orders were excessive – so much so that they hastened the deaths of the critically ill patients under his care.
Beginning Wednesday, the defense team will have its chance to begin calling witnesses.
Throughout the trial, Husel’s legal defense team has claimed that Husel was providing comfort care medications to patients in order to prevent them from enduring painful deaths.
The final prosecution witness to testify was Brian Mollette, the son of Danny Mollette. On the witness stand, Mollette described how his father coded several times and was revived but would not have wanted to live long-term on a ventilator.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Diane Menashe asked Brian Mollette about his deposition in a separate civil lawsuit against Husel and Mount Carmel Health System and if the family was unanimous in its decision to remove life support.
Mollette then said: “There were few of us that were a little reserved about that because we kind of felt like Dr. Husel was a little hasty… that Dr. Husel was kind of making that decision too soon for us.”
Mollette went on to say that consensus was to remove his father’s ventilator and breathing tube.
“That’s when we decided to put him in God’s hands,” he said.
After the prosecution rested and jurors were sent home, Husel’s legal defense argued a motion for acquittal -- claiming the evidence in this trial has been insufficient.
Judge Michael Holbrook dismissed the motion, but not before arguments were presented from both sides, which offered a reminder after six weeks of testimony of the defense team’s argument: which is that it was the patients’ conditions and the removal of life support that killed these 14 people – not Husel’s drug orders.
Defense attorney Jaime Lapidus argued Ohio law protects physicians who are providing comfort care medications in good faith – even if an unintended consequence or “bad outcome” is that it hastens death.
“The bad is not death – the bad is suffering,” he said. “And that man clearly never wanted that to happen for any of his patients.”
In his argument, prosecutor David Zeyen said: “You cannot purposefully cause the death of another man or woman… that’s murder. And that’s what he did here with these doses.”
Husel’s legal team is expected to call its first witness Wednesday.
There could be more arguments over the qualifications and statements of the expert witnesses that the defense team intends to call forward to testify.
You can watch video of the most recent testimony below.