The legal team for Dr. Cyril H. Wecht is asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to formally rebuke Pittsburgh's U.S. attorney for insisting at a news conference last month that Mr. Wecht committed crimes even though charges were dismissed against the former Allegheny County coroner.

Former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh wrote Mr. Holder June 16 that statements by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan at the June 2 event "vindictively ... expressed the view that Dr. Wecht was a criminal and was guilty of the charges made against him."

"We trust you will agree such statements by a United States prosecutor are completely improper, violate all notions of prosecutorial ethics and decency, and warrant remedial action by the Department of Justice," Mr. Thornburgh wrote later in the letter. "Ms. Buchanan's vindictive statements have served to bring the Justice Department into disrepute."

A federal grand jury indicted Mr. Wecht in January 2006 on 84 counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud and theft, for misusing his government office to benefit his private pathology business. Over the years -- which included an August 2008 mistrial after the jury deadlocked -- Ms. Buchanan's office whittled the charges down to 14 counts, and in May of this year a federal judge suppressed much of the evidence in the case.

Ms. Buchanan was defiant at the June 2 news conference where she announced her office was dismissing Dr. Wecht's case, which she said was forced by the judge's decision.

"He wasn't acquitted of anything. It was a hung jury ... However, in our society, everyone is innocent until proven guilty," she said.

"I'm absolutely confident it was the right prosecution to bring," she said. "This case has never been about anything other than a criminal act.

"If I could have a do-over, I'd still bring the case. Even with the tremendous criticism that's been dumped on this office, I still believe a crime was committed here."

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, D-Pa., mentioned the letter during an appearance in Oakdale yesterday, saying Ms. Buchanan's statements were "not appropriate."

"When a case is dismissed, the presumption of innocence is that the person is innocent," said the former Philadelphia district attorney. "There ought not to be a denunciation of the edification that the individual is guilty. That's not fair play."

Asked if he thought Ms. Buchanan should resign, he said that was between her and Mr. Holder. "The attorney general has full authority to take care of the situation," Mr. Specter said.

President George W. Bush appointed Ms. Buchanan to the Western District of Pennsylvania job in September 2001. U.S. attorneys traditionally tender their resignations when new presidents take over, but she has not, telling the Post-Gazette in December that "I am open to considering further service to the United States."

Mr. Specter said a legal panel is due to interview replacement U.S. attorney candidates on July 17 and he, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and the state congressional delegation will work with the Obama administration to announce a replacement in "a few weeks." They are also reviewing candidates for Pennsylvania's Middle and Eastern districts.

Ms. Buchanan was out of town yesterday and unavailable for comment.

Mr. Thornburgh served as attorney general under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and had Ms. Buchanan's job from 1969 through 1975. Fellow Wecht attorney Jerry McDevitt said yesterday that the team has not received a response from Mr. Holder on the rebuke request.

Mr. Specter was in town to laud a previously announced $13 million project, funded with federal stimulus money, to improve the cloverleaf interchange on the Parkway West at Steubenville Pike, near Robinson Town Centre.

Asked why the $787 billion stimulus was not producing more jobs -- figures released Thursday showed a 26-year high in unemployment -- Mr. Specter cautioned patience, noting that it was not approved until February.

"The real question is where we'd be if we didn't have the stimulus, and I think the unemployment picture would be a lot worse," he said.

Conservative Republicans were outraged after Mr. Specter voted for President Obama's stimulus package, leading him to switch parties and run for re-election as a Democrat next year. After the June 30 federal fundraising period, his said his campaign should have some $8 million in the bank, far outpacing his Democratic and Republican rivals for the seat.

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and state Rep. Bill Kortz are the likely other Democrats and former Club For Growth President Pat Toomey is the leading Republican name.

Police interviewed a North Dakota man Tuesday after he left a telephone message with Mr. Specter's office at the Capitol threatening to kill the senator. The man claimed to be intoxicated, The Associated Press reported.