VI hospital corruption trial opens

Is it about fraud, theft, and breaching the public's trust - or is it about four people wrongly accused, the result of others' ignorance, intimidation and political agenda? Jurors were presented with both of those views last week, when prosecuting and defense attorneys hashed out their positions as opening statements got under way in the trial of four former Schneider Regional Medical Center officials accused of helping each other steal large sums of money from the hospital. Former hospital executives Rodney Miller Sr., 38; Amos Carty Jr., 45; and Peter Najawicz, 44, are accused of conspiracy, embezzlement and fraud, as well as violating the territory's anti-racketeering statute, the Criminally Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or CICO. Former hospital board chairwoman June Adams, 82, is charged with aiding and abetting embezzlement or falsification of public accounts and perjury.