In murder trial, Chesco lawyer says father died as he wanted

Chester County lawyer Edward O'Brien III, on trial on third-degree murder charges in the 2013 death of his father, took the stand Monday to defend himself against accusations that he withheld necessary medical care from the 92-year-old man.

Defense attorney Joseph Patrick Green Jr. used the examination to portray O'Brien, 61, of West Whiteland Township, as a loving son who had tried to help his father, Edward Jr., but met resistance.

This is O'Brien's second time in court. In February, a judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict.

On Monday, Green told jurors of the elder O'Brien's several hospitalizations and asked the son to read medical reports that showed his father had declined to take medications, resisted recommendations to go to rehabilitation, and turned down offers to move in with his son.

"It was what he wanted to do," O'Brien said.

Prosecutors, who have yet to cross-examine O'Brien, tell a different story.

During opening arguments, Assistant District Attorney Chad Maloney argued that O'Brien failed to get his father medical care during the two years they lived together. He said the prosecution would prove the elderly man had cared about his health and consented to treatment.

Maloney told the jury that police had found the elder O'Brien with bedsores and dried feces after his son called 911 on Sept. 8, 2013.

Green said O'Brien died the way he wanted to. The younger O'Brien testified that his grandfather's hatred of the nursing home in which he lived had led his father to reject the idea for himself.

The trial is to resume Tuesday at the Justice Center in West Chester.

dblock@philly.com