Judge weighs whether to dismiss Ohio doc’s 25 murder charges

By KANTELE FRANKO
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A judge is weighing arguments about whether to dismiss the 25-count murder case against a central Ohio doctor accused of ordering excessive painkillers for hospital patients. William Husel’s lawyers say he was providing comfort care to the dying, not trying to kill them. Defense attorneys argued in a hearing Wednesday that the fentanyl dosages in question wouldn’t necessarily be uniformly lethal for such patients, and that public comments by the longtime prosecutor who initially handled the case suggest the prosecution must have misled the grand jury about that. But the current prosecutors say Husel’s team hasn’t proved misconduct, and the grand jury proceedings have remained secret.