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Thread: Melvin Knight - Pennsylvania Death Row

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    Melvin Knight - Pennsylvania Death Row








    Suspect in torture-slaying might seek insanity defense


    One of six Greensburg roommates charged with torturing and killing a mentally challenged woman last year might pursue an insanity defense.

    In court documents filed Tuesday, the defense attorney for Melvin Knight requested money to pay for medical records needed to conduct a psychological evaluation to determine whether such a defense should be pursued.

    "These records will be necessary for a proper evaluation of the defendant's mental competency and to determine whether the defendant was legally insane or mentally ill at the time of the offense ...," wrote attorney Jeffrey Miller.

    Knight, 21; Ricky Smyrnes, 24; Amber Meidinger, 21; Angela Marinucci, 18; Robert Loren Masters, 37; and Peggy Darlene Miller, 27, are charged with first-degree murder and related offenses in connection with the Feb. 11 killing of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty.

    Daugherty's body, wrapped in Christmas lights and garbage bags, was found stuffed into a trash can under a vehicle in a snow-covered parking lot at Greensburg Salem Middle School. Police contend the six roommates held Daugherty captive for more than two days, tortured her and stabbed her to death.

    Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Knight, Smynes and Meidinger, identified by police as the ringleaders of the group.

    Miller has suggested in previous court filings that Knight suffered from a mental infirmity that would prevent the prosecution from seeking the death penalty. Bringing his mental status into play could lead to the defense asking a judge or jurors to return a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity or guilty but mentally ill.

    Duquesne School of Law Professor Bruce Antkowiak said both verdicts specifically address a defendant's mental capability at the time of an alleged crime.

    "The number of times these mental defenses work is very, very rare," Antkowiak said.

    A finding of not guilty by reason of insanity would require a jury to determine that a defendant had a mental disease or defect that made him unable to appreciate the nature of his actions or unable to determine that those actions were wrong.

    "It's like a guy who thinks he's watering his lawn with a hose when he's actually shooting someone," Antkowiak said.

    That verdict essentially would allow a defendant to be freed or to face a civil mental health commitment for an unspecified period of time.

    With a verdict of guilty but mentally ill, a defendant would be sentenced for his actions.

    Antkowiak said that verdict would not immediately bar the prosecution from seeking the death penalty, but it would make it far more difficult for jurors to impose death instead of a term of life imprisonment.

    Knight and the other defendants are scheduled to appear in court with their lawyers on Thursday for a conference with Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway to map out the future proceedings in the case.

    http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dail...#ixzz1CoCUUc9F

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    Trial set for Daugherty defendant

    The capital murder trial for Melvin Knight, one of six defendants charged in the 2010 torture- slaying of a mentally challenged woman, will start in September.

    Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway on Friday signed a court order that scheduled Knight's trial to begin Sept. 6.

    Knight, 21, and five Greensburg roommates are charged with torturing Jennifer Daugherty, 30, of Mt. Pleasant, for more than two days before they stabbed and choked her to death.

    Daugherty's body was found Feb. 11, 2010, tied up with Christmas lights and garland and stuffed into a garbage can that was left under a parked truck in the parking lot at Greensburg Salem Middle School.

    District Attorney John Peck has said he will seek the death penalty against Knight, Ricky Smyrnes, 25, and Amber Meidinger, 21, if they are convicted of first-degree murder.

    Angela Marinucci, 18, was convicted in May of first-degree murder and related offenses. She was ineligible for the death penalty because she was a juvenile at the time of the murder.

    Marinucci is slated to appear before Hathaway on Aug. 17 to be formally sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Attorneys for Robert Masters, 37, and Peggy Miller, 28, have been trying to negotiate guilty pleas to lesser charges for their clients. Masters already has testified against his co-defendants.

    Meidinger testified against Marinucci last month, although her defense attorney, Amy Keim, has said there is no deal in place for Meidinger to plead guilty to a lesser charge or to have the death penalty taken off the table.

    Prosecutors consider Knight and Smyrnes the two defendants who participated in Daugherty's murder.

    Prosecutors contend that Daugherty suffered multiple injuries, including three fatal stab wounds to her heart. In a detailed confession, Knight admitted to police that he stabbed Daugherty at Smyrnes' urging.

    In her testimony last month, Meidinger said that Knight and Smyrnes stabbed Daugherty. She said she saw Knight rape Daugherty during the two days of torture.

    In court filings, Knight's lawyer, Jeffrey Miller, has indicated that he might offer an insanity defense at the trial. Miller could not be reached for comment on the trial date.

    Hathaway ordered Knight to appear in court on Aug. 29 for a pretrial conference to resolve last-minute details in the case.

    Smyrnes is scheduled to appear before Hathaway on July 18 for a hearing to determine whether his low intellect will prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against him.

    http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt...#ixzz1QHan4uYg

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    Lawyer in Greensburg torture-slaying seeks 4-month trial delay

    The lawyer for Melvin Knight, one of three defendants facing a potential death penalty in the case of a mentally disabled woman who was tortured and killed, said he needs more time to prepare for trial.

    In a request filed on Tuesday, defense attorney Jeffrey Miller asked for a four-month delay in Knight's first-degree murder trial.

    Miller also wants Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway to approve a $22,500 payment to an expert hired to review Knight's medical and educational records, and other personal history as part of his effort to avoid the death penalty.

    Last month, Hathaway announced that Knight's trial would begin on Sept. 6.

    Miller said his expert will conduct interviews later this month.

    He asked Hathaway to delay the trial until January.

    Knight and five others were charged in the Feb. 11, 2010, stabbing death of Jennifer Daugherty, 30, of Mt. Pleasant. Police said Knight, 21, Amber Meidinger, 21, Ricky Smyrnes 25, Peggy Miller, 28, Robert Masters, 37, and Angela Marinucci, 18, held Daugherty captive for more than two days in their Greensburg apartment, tortured her then stabbed her to death.

    Daugherty's body was left under a truck in a snow-covered parking lot at Greensburg Salem Middle School.

    The prosecution has said it will seek the death penalty against Knight, Smyrnes and Meidinger if they are convicted of first-degree murder.

    Marinucci, after a two-week trial in May, was convicted of first-degree murder. Because she was 17 at the time of the slaying, she was ineligible for the death penalty and will be formally sentenced to life in prison on Aug. 3.

    Smyrnes is scheduled to appear before Hathaway on Aug. 17 for a hearing to determine if his low intellect will prohibit prosecutors from asking a jury sentence him to death. Hathaway yesterday pushed back the hearing a month to accommodate Smyrnes' lawyer's schedule.

    Hathaway will conduct a hearing on Friday on Knight's request to delay his trial and the additional expense to pay for an expert.

    Hathaway previously imposed a $5,000 cap on payments made to such experts.

    Miller said that the expert needs additional money to review more than 5,000 pages of records and work 300 hours to finish interviews and complete a report.

    http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt...#ixzz1RzdyR7Yy

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    Defense wins delay in torture slaying trial

    The capital murder trial of Melvin Knight, charged with last year's torture slaying of a mentally disabled woman, has been delayed until January.

    Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway ruled on Friday that defense attorneys need more time to prepare their case, but she refused their request to spend an additional $22,500 to pay a mitigation expert who would try to persuade a jury to spare his life if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

    Knight, 21, is one of six people arrested for the torture and murder of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty of Mt. Pleasant in February 2010. She was held captive for more than two days, then stabbed.

    Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Knight; his former fiancee, Amber Meidinger, 21; and Ricky Smyrnes, 25.

    Angela Marinucci, 19, was convicted of first-degree murder in May and will be sentenced Aug. 3 to life in prison. Attorneys for Robert Masters and Peggy Miller are attempting to negotiate plea bargains.

    Attorney Jeffrey Miller, who will represent Knight, said, "There is additional work to be done. We got a little bit of a late start in collecting mitigation evidence."

    Miller said his expert from New York, hired to prepare a detailed psychological and social background of Knight to argue against a death sentence, needs to conduct personal interviews with up to 48 additional witnesses.

    Hathaway, who previously approved $5,000 in payment to the expert, said the county cannot afford the $22,500 proposed fee.

    "Unfortunately, our county doesn't have those types of funds. There needs to be another way you can achieve this mitigation evidence," Hathaway said. "Your client is entitled to a fair trial, but your client is not entitled to the most expensive mitigation expert you find."

    The judge allowed Miller to pay his expert an additional $5,000.

    Knight raped and stabbed Daugherty and helped rob the contents of her purse, according to prosecutors and Masters, who testified at a preliminary hearing, and Meidinger, who testified against Marinucci. Knight thwarted Daugherty when she tried to escape, Masters testified.

    According to witnesses, Knight and Meidinger arrived in Greensburg days before Daugherty's death, meeting up with Smyrnes and Marinucci at the bus station.

    They eventually moved into the North Pennsylvania Avenue apartment where Smyrnes was staying with Miller and Masters. Daugherty, who had been friends with Miller and Marinucci, came to spend an evening there, witnesses said.

    In their testimony, Masters and Meidinger described Knight as a violent man who joined in torturing Daugherty.

    They said Knight forced Daugherty to ingest Marinucci's medication, pulled Daugherty back as she tried to escape through a window and beat her. According to Meidinger, Knight raped Daugherty on the floor.

    The final hours of her torture started when Knight, Meidinger and Marinucci became angry because Daugherty drank a soda, Masters said. So they forced Daugherty to drink concoctions of cleaning products, spices, feces and urine, he said.

    At Smyrnes' urging, Knight allegedly stabbed Daugherty three times in the heart as she was tied up in a bathroom.

    "Masters stated that Knight was gone from the bedroom for perhaps 10 to 20 minutes when he returned and told Smyrnes, 'It's done,'" Hathaway wrote in a pretrial ruling this month.

    "Masters testified that it was then that he heard what sounded like someone slap the floor in the bathroom. Masters related that Melvin Knight looked from the bedroom door into the bathroom and said, 'This (expletive) isn't dead yet,'" Hathaway wrote.

    Meidinger testified Smyrnes and Knight then used a string of Christmas lights to choke Daugherty.

    They tied her body up with more Christmas lights and garland, put it in a garbage bag and stuffed it into a plastic trash can, witnesses said. Knight and Smyrnes then dragged the can several blocks and dumped it in the snow-covered parking lot at Greensburg Salem Middle School, where they left it under a parked truck, according to police.

    http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt...#ixzz1SIVz8glz

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    Murder trial of torture death suspect delayed

    The capital murder trial of a Greensburg man charged with torturing and killing a mentally handicapped woman nearly two years ago has been delayed for four months.

    Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway on Wednesday set jury selection to begin on April 16 for the first-degree murder trial of Melvin Knight.

    The trial had been set to begin in January, but Knight's lawyers and county prosecutors said they needed more time to review mental health and other personal records that might be used in a penalty phase hearing to determine if Knight lives or dies.

    Knight, 22, was one of six roommates charged with killing 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty on Feb. 11, 2010. Police said Daugherty was held captive for more than two days in a Greensburg apartment shared by the defendants. She was tortured, beaten and stabbed to death, and her body was discarded in a trash can in the Greensburg Salem Middle School parking lot.

    In addition to Knight, police charged Ricky Smyrnes, 25; Amber Meidinger, 21; Peggy Miller, 28; Robert Masters, 37; and Angela Marinucci, 19, with first-degree murder and other offenses.

    Marinucci was convicted in May and sentenced to life in prison while attorneys for Miller and Masters have been trying to negotiate plea bargains for their clients.

    The prosecution has said it will seek the death penalty against Knight, Smyrnes and Meidinger, the three perceived ringleaders of the torture and murder plot.

    According to testimony during Marinucci's trial, Meidinger claimed that Knight raped and stabbed Daugherty of Mt. Pleasant after she arrived in Greensburg to visit with the roommates.

    Masters and later Meidinger described Knight in court as a violent man who joined in torturing Daugherty for more than two days.

    They said Knight forced Daugherty to ingest Marinucci's medication, pulled Daugherty back as she tried to escape through a window and beat her. According to Meidinger, Knight raped Daugherty on the floor.

    The final hours of her torture started when Knight, Meidinger and Marinucci became angry because Daugherty drank a soda, Masters said. So they forced Daugherty to drink concoctions of cleaning products, spices, feces and urine, he said.

    At Smyrnes' urging, Knight stabbed Daugherty three times in the heart as she was tied up in a bathroom, according to their testimony.

    Testimony in Knight's trial is scheduled to start on April 23.

    Because Meidinger testified against Marinucci it is unclear if her case will ever go to trial.

    Smyrnes' case is on hold indefinitely.

    He is awaiting a hearing to determine if his low intellect would bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against him. That hearing was to be held this week, but was postponed when the prosecution asked for time to review Smyrnes' private Children's Bureau records.

    Hathaway ordered the child welfare agency to turn over a sealed copy of Smyrnes' protective service records pertaining to his son's custody to the prosecution's expert by Nov. 28.

    "These records shall not be shared with any member of the district attorney's office. The court will address the defendant's objection to the commonwealth's reviewing said records at the appropriate time," Hathaway wrote.

    http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt...#ixzz1ecCQs53Q

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    Trial date pushed back in disabled woman death

    A judge has pushed back the murder trial for a western Pennsylvania man accused in the torture killing of a mentally disabled woman more than two years ago.

    Twenty-two-year-old Melvin Knight had been scheduled for trial later this month in the Feb. 2010 killing of Jennifer Daugherty but a judge on Wednesday agreed to push jury selection in the case back to Aug. 13.

    Prosecutors say Knight and five other roommates brutally tortured Daugherty, forcing her to drink human waste mixed with bleach before fatally stabbing her and dumping her body outside a school tied in Christmas lights and garland.

    The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (http://bit.ly/HjKKV7) reports prosecutors also told the judge they also want more time to prepare.

    Prosecutors say they'll seek the death penalty for Knight and two others.

    http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.co...xt|FRONTPAGE|s
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    Greensburg torture, slaying suspect surprisingly pleads guilty, faces death penalty

    GREENSBURG, Pa. — A man accused of being involved in torturing and killing a Greensburg woman in February 2010 pleaded guilty to first-and-second-degree murder charges on Thursday.

    Channel 11's Courtney Brennan reported that Melvin Knight now faces the possibility of the death penalty in the killing of Jennifer Daugherty.

    Knight was in court on Thursday and took the stand. Brennan was there when Knight told the judge, "It's the right thing to do because I have to fess up to what I did."

    Brennan reported that Knight also said he was sorry.

    The penalty phase of his trial will begin in August. A jury will decide if Knight will get the death penalty or life in prison.

    Daugherty's bound and tortured body was found in a garbage can in the Greensburg-Salem Middle School parking lot on Feb. 11, 2010.

    A taped interview with Knight was played in previous court hearings. In the tape, Knight told officers that the incident began when two of the suspects became upset with Daugherty, who had been sleeping with Ricky Smyrnes, 25.

    Knight then detailed how the defendants forced Daugherty to drink urine and feces before using garland and holiday lights to bind her. According to Knight, Smyrnes then told him to get a knife.

    According to police, Daugherty's body was found with her hair either cut or shaven off. She was bound with holiday lights and clothing in a black plastic garbage bag stuffed inside a residential rubber garbage can, which was rolled underneath a truck.

    Last year, Angela Marinucci was convicted of murder in the case. The murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Marinucci could not face the death penalty because she was 17 at the time of the killing.

    District Attorney John Peck said Marinucci instigated the 36-hour ordeal in a dingy apartment in Greensburg that was shared by five other defendants, including Knight.

    Peck charges they beat Daugherty with a vacuum hose, a crutch and a towel rack -- as well as their fists -- and forced her to undress while pouring water, oatmeal and spices on her -- including onion powder thrown in her eyes. She was then forced to drink a cocktail of human waste, laundry bleach and prescription drugs, which the defendants reportedly thought would kill her.

    When it didn't, Peck said she was stabbed by Knight, 22, apparently on orders from Smyrnes, the alleged focus of the deadly romantic rivalry.

    Peck is pursuing the death penalty against both as well as Knight's girlfriend, Amber Meidinger, 21, who testified against Marinucci and acknowledged mixing and forcing Daugherty to drink the concoction.

    Peggy Darlene Miller and Robert Loren Masters also faces charges in the case

    http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/...uilty-f/nMXrW/

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    Attorney wants jury sequestered in Daugherty slaying trial

    The attorney defending a Greensburg man who could face the death penalty for his role in the slaying of a mentally challenged woman wants the jury to be sequestered throughout his sentencing trial next week.

    Defense attorney Jeff Miller, on behalf of 21-year-old Melvin Knight, filed a court motion on Monday asking that the jury be sequestered.

    If the request is granted by Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway, the jury would be isolated until a verdict is reached, meaning they would be lodged in a hotel if the trial extends beyond a day, rather than going home at the conclusion of testimony each day. Taxpayers would pay for the accommodations and jurors’ meals.

    “The potential for jurors to be exposed to media accounts and other opinions and influences is nearly certain,” Miller wrote.

    In addition, Miller has requested that those jurors not be told that Knight’s victim, 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty of Mt. Pleasant, suffered from a mental disability because it would create undue prejudice against Knight.

    Knight and five of his roommates in a Greensburg apartment were charged with the Feb. 11, 2010, torture and slaying of Daugherty. Police said Daugherty was held captive for more than two days, tortured and stabbed in the heart before her body was discarded in a trash can in the parking lot at Greensburg Salem Middle School.

    Knight pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in April.

    District Attorney John Peck is seeking the death penalty. Jurors will be asked to determine whether Knight should be sentenced to death or life imprisonment after hearing evidence of aggravating circumstances presented by prosecutors and mitigating circumstances presented by the defense.

    Jury selection is slated to begin in Knight’s penalty phase trial on Aug. 13.

    In the motion, Miller contends Daugherty’s disability is not relevant to determine Knight’s sentence.

    “Any mention of victim’s alleged mental health condition and/or deficiencies would only serve the purpose of arousing passion or sympathy in the jury and therefore would be inadmissible because any possible probative value would be outweighed by the immense danger of unfair prejudice,” Miller wrote.

    Knight is the second of the six defendants to be convicted in connection with Daugherty’s death.

    Angela Marinucci, now 20, was convicted last year of first-degree murder and is appealing her sentence of life imprisonment.

    District Attorney John Peck will seek the death penalty against Ricky Smyrnes and Amber Meidinger.

    Meidinger, the mother of Knight’s child, testified against Marinucci and is expected to take the stand against Knight. She previously testified that Knight and Smyrnes killed Daugherty after she was beaten and forced to swallow concoctions of bodily fluids and cleaning liquids.

    At Smyrnes’ urging, Knight took a knife into the bathroom where Daugherty was being held captive, Meidinger said. Knight stabbed her in the chest, side and stomach. He slashed her throat. Smyrnes stabbed her wrists, but Daugherty still didn’t die, Meidinger said.

    “Melvin and Ricky grab Christmas lights, put it around Jennifer’s throat. With Melvin on one side and Ricky on the other, they pulled and they choked her,” Meidinger told jurors in the Marinucci trial.

    Peggy Miller and Robert Masters have agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and are trying to negotiate plea bargains to lesser charges.

    http://triblive.com/news/2356658-74/...-trial-defense
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    Jury selection to begin in torture slaying

    Westmoreland County jurors have imposed the death penalty against just two defendants since Pennsylvania reinstated capital punishment in 1978.

    Starting on Monday, county prosecutors and defense lawyers will for the first time in seven years seek to seat a jury to consider the death penalty against a Greensburg man for his role in what local investigators have described as one of the most brutal crimes in recent memory.

    Jury selection will begin for the sentencing trial of Melvin Knight, who in April pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the Feb. 11, 2010 torture-slaying of Jennifer Daugherty, a 30-year-old mentally disabled woman from Mt. Pleasant.

    Knight, 22, along with his five roommates, are accused of holding Daugherty captive for more than two days, beating her and torturing her before she was fatally stabbed in the heart.

    One of the accused has testified of horrific brutality against the trusting woman by those she considered “friends.” The victim was beaten with a towel rack and a vacuum hose while held captive in a bathroom. She was forced to ingest concoctions of cleaning liquids and bodily fluids and prescription medications.

    Her body was stuffed into a trash can and left under a truck in a local school parking lot. The victim was wrapped in Christmas lights.

    District Attorney John Peck contends Knight should be executed. In court documents, he cites two aggravating circumstances: Knight tortured and raped Daugherty.

    The defense will present mitigating evidence seeking to give jurors a reason to spare Knight’s life. That evidence is expected to focus on Knight’s mental health and his decision to accept guilt by virtue of his plea.

    Peck will also seek the death sentence against Ricky Smyrnes, 26, and Amber Meidinger, 22, for their roles in Daugherty’s death.

    Smyrnes’ trial is slated to begin in August.

    Meidinger, who had a child with Knight and claims they were engaged, has cooperated with prosecutors but is still awaiting trial.

    She testified against Angela Marinucci, now 20, who was convicted last year of first-degree murder. Peggy Miller, 29, and Robert Masters, 38, have agreed to help prosecutors and are attempting to negotiate plea bargains to lesser charges.

    St. Vincent College law professor Bruce Antkowiak said the jury in the Knight case will have a difficult time weighing the evidence that was brutally described by Meidinger and Masters, who testified during a preliminary hearing.

    “The underlying facts of the crime can never be divorced from the jury’s consideration,” Antkowiak said.

    The Knight jury will be the first death-qualified jury seated in Westmoreland County since 2005, when jurors condemned convicted cop killer Michael Travaglia to death.

    Travaglia was originally convicted and sentenced to death in 1981 for shooting Apollo police officer Leonard C. Miller. Travaglia and John Lesko were both sentenced to die for the Miller killing but appeals required new juries to again condemn them to death.

    Lesko was resentenced by a Westmoreland County jury in 1995.

    Both men are on death row, along with 229 other men and women throughout the state.

    Only three people have been executed in Pennsylvania since the death penalty was reinstated.

    “Pennsylvania is a great state for imposing the death penalty but a lousy one for carrying it out,” Antkowiak said.

    In Westmoreland County cases:

    • March 24, 1989: A jury spared the life of Steven Mignogna, then 21, of Trafford. Mignogna was convicted of raping and killing 12-year-old Melissa Baker and 12-year-old Penny Ansell on Aug. 2, 1988. Mignogna received two consecutive life prison terms and two consecutive terms of five to 10 years in prison for the rapes.

    • June 6, 1995: A jury sentenced Colin Bortz, then 27, of East Huntingdon to life in prison a day after it convicted him of killing his girlfriend Erma Lynn Tempest, 35; 14-year-old daughter Tonya; and neighbor Norma Sestock, 41, by setting fire to their Mt. Pleasant apartment building on Aug. 2, 1993.

    • Oct. 10, 1995: The life of James Young, then 28, of Jeannette was spared by jurors after he was convicted of setting his house ablaze on June 9, 1993. Killed in the fire were Young’s wife, Gina Marie, 26, stepson Shaun Holden, 3, and son Joshua, 7 months.

    • Feb. 24, 2000: Jurors sentenced Denard Galloway, 35, of New Kensington to life in prison. Galloway was convicted for his role in the Feb. 2, 1999 fatal shooting of 43-year-old Terry Anderson outside a New Kensington bar. Galloway was later retried, and again convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

    Brian Aston, Galloway’s first lawyer, said Knight’s trial will exact an emotional toll from the jury and the attorneys involved in the case.

    “Everybody understands the gravity of the case. You will see the jurors struggle with their answers during the selection,” Aston said.

    He said that while Knight’s guilty plea might enable him to argue to the jury that he is sorry for his actions, the strategy could backfire.

    He suggested that jurors might be willing to spare a defendant’s life if they have already convicted him of murder.

    “You need a place for the jury to vent and in this case the jury does not have a guilt phase to vent in,” Aston said.

    Public Defender John Sweeney was on the defense team that successfully convinced a jury to spare Young’s life.

    Sweeney said the defense’s ability to humanize Young, by presenting jurors with evidence of his childhood from family members, helped to save his life.

    “The death penalty is a real heavy burden for people. I think they want to be assured they can reconcile it with their own morals and beliefs,” Sweeney said. “In the Knight case, the thing that takes it over is there is an evilness about it.”

    About 400 prospective jurors will be summoned to the courthouse in Greensburg for the case against Knight this week.

    Before any jurors are questioned on Monday morning, Westmoreland County Judge Rita Hathaway is expected to rule on a defense request to have the jury sequestered for the duration of the trial.

    http://triblive.com/news/2374335-74/...unty-john-case
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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