Tech charged in hep C outbreak seeks trial delay

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- A former hospital technician charged in New Hampshire with stealing drugs and infecting patients with hepatitis C wants his trial pushed back six months.

David Kwiatkowsk (kwiht-KOW'-skee) is scheduled to go to trial on 14 drug charges in October, but the public defenders representing him filed a motion this week asking that the trial be moved back at least six months. They argue that more time is needed given the complexity of the case, and say they've barely scratched the surface of the more than 10,000 files involved in the case so far.

Prosecutors say they will agree to push the trial back only to mid-January.

Kwiatkowski is accused of stealing painkiller syringes from Exeter Hospital and replacing them with saline-filled syringes tainted with his own blood.