Updated April 13, 2022 at 8:20 a.m.
Attorneys in the William Husel murder trial made their final appeals to jurors Monday, with closing arguments proceeding after a week's worth of delay. Jurors began their deliberations Tuesday morning.
The juror stopped deliberations at 5 p.m. on Tuesday and they are expected to resume them at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
"You don't get a pass for killing a dying man, even if you are doctor of the year,” said prosecuting attorney David Zeyen in summing up the state's case against Husel during rebuttal remarks Monday afternoon.
Husel faces 14 counts of murder - and if convicted, life in prison - for prescribing what prosecutors have said throughout the trial was excessive and fatal doses of fentanyl and other drugs. Husel has pled not guilty to the charges.
The fact that there may be have been more than one cause of death in each victim is not a defense, Zeyen argued, at one point pulling out vials of fentanyl to show the unusually large doses given to Husel's patients.
"And perhaps some of them were on a trajectory to die very soon anyways. You cannot hasten their death cannot quickly painlessly cause the death of a dying person. Can't do it. Not in the state of Ohio," Zeyen said.
Zeyen spoke for over two hours, reminding jurors of the over 50 witnesses who testified over the course of the trial.
Not to be outdone, lead defense attorney Jose Baez spoke for more than three hours, pleading with the jury to see "common sense" and acquit.
"There are numerous times in this case, where you've been asked to take a leap of faith, to find things that aren't necessarily there, but might be there. Well, that's not beyond a reasonable doubt. And that's not fulfilling your burden,” Baez argued.
Baez accused the prosecution of misleading jurors, and criticized the Columbus police investigation of Husel, which he called "at best pathetic." Baez also asked jurors the rhetorical question of what would be the motive for Husel to kill his own patients.
"He's dedicated his life to taking care of the ill. To taking care of patients. To saving lives not to taking them," Baez said.
Late in the day Monday, Baez put forward a motion for a mistrial, arguing that the prosecution was trying to "shift the burden" onto the defense.
Judge Michael Holbrook said he would issue a ruling on the motion Tuesday morning.
Holbrook denied a previous request for a mistrial over expert testimony from another doctor.
