Hospital and prosecutors spar over fate of confiscated wine

(Harrisburg) —  A dispute between state prosecutors and a suburban hospital over the fate of nearly 1,400 bottles of confiscated wine is heading to a courtroom outside Philadelphia. 

The hearing in West Chester could determine whether the remnants of a lawyer’s wine collection will end up going down the hatch or down a drain. 

Chester County Hospital wants the county judge to let it have the wine. 

It was seized two years ago during a state police investigation into a lawyer accused of skirting Pennsylvania’s liquor laws by selling wine from his home. 

The lawyer and his wife were recently allowed to reclaim more than 1,000 bottles under a deal with the attorney general’s office. 

Still unresolved is whether the hospital can take possession of the remaining bottles under a 1935 law.  

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