The trial for 28-year-old Upper Darby resident Shacoy McNish, accused of stealing the identities of patients from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in November, was moved to May 24 by a Delaware County judge.
The April 26 delay marks the third postponement of McNish’s trial. According to defense attorney Edward Weiss, the prosecution “again couldn’t get his witnesses in the courtroom.” McNish’s trial was previously delayed on April 12 for the same reason.
“The Constitution of the United States requires speedy trials. It’s up to debate what a speedy trial is,” Weiss said Monday, adding that under Pennsylvania law, the prosecution has a year to bring the case to trial.
Prosecuting district attorney Brian Doherty could not be reached for comment Monday.
McNish faces 24 charges, including 19 counts of identity theft. Susan Phillips, spokeswoman for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, told The Daily Pennsylvanian in December that 18 patients’ records were accessed. “A former employee who had legitimate access to patient records allegedly provided [McNish] with information,” Phillips wrote in an e-mail Monday.
According to a police affidavit, McNish reportedly purchased about $3,000 of merchandise at an Upper Darby Sears store on Nov. 18, 2009 and Nov. 23, 2009 using social security numbers associated with two Sears credit card accounts, whose holders were unaware the accounts had been opened.
The affidavit also says police found 19 photocopies in the back of a car McNish had been driving, each containing “detailed personal identifying information.”
Phillips stated that the Health System’s procedures and policies did not undergo any changes as a result of McNish’s arrest.
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