Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has made no bones about wanting leniency for criminals.
He’s made clear he wanted to ban the death penalty and, just before his recent hospitalization, even invited a convict to the State of the Union.
But Fetterman is quiet as a mouse after an alleged cop killer just got spared in his neighborhood.
Justice now looks to be delayed further because of a mishap in the case that has sparked outrage in western Pennsylvania.
A mistrial has been declared in the case of an alleged cop killer in Senator John Fetterman’s (D-PA) neighborhood.
It’s all related to a man charged in the death of an off-duty Pittsburgh police officer who was shot and killed in a street confrontation nearly four years ago.
The prosecution, judge and defense all agree that what led to the mistrial wasn’t deliberate, but the jury heard something it wasn’t supposed to hear.
Mistrial in Christian Bey case. Witness inadvertently mentioned his having previously been in prison. He will face a new trial. #WTAE pic.twitter.com/GihaKQcmKr
— Bob Mayo (@BMayo_WTAE) March 15, 2023
Christian Bey stands accused of homicide, but his criminal history was revealed to jurors by a prosecution witness.
The witness was deemed to have accidentally testified in passing that Bey had previously served time in prison.
Witness revealed to jurors that Bey was previously incarcerated – a big no, no
Because of a gag order imposed by the court, attorneys involved in the case cannot comment to the news media.
Blaine Jones is a Pittsburgh attorney and says, “In the legal world, you have to be careful about certain things that you say. And in the real world, it really doesn’t work like that. Like I always say, we operate in two parallel universes — the real world and the legal world. In the real world, a person can say what was allegedly said. In the legal world, you can’t say those types of things because it may prejudice the jury.”
Phil DiLucente, another Pittsburgh attorney, says, “When a mistrial is requested by the defendant, the judge has to rule on it. In this case, Judge Kevin Sasinowski, who’s a very seasoned judge decided, okay, we’re going to give you the option. Do you want me to cure this by giving an instruction to the jury or by an absolute mistrial? And a mistrial means that essentially, they’ve got to start all over again, both sides.”
Nearly four years ago, off-duty Pittsburgh police officer Calvin Hall was allegedly shot and killed by Bey while Hall was trying to break up arguments at a block party near his cousin’s home.
Investigators say that Bey shot Hall three times in the back while Hall was intervening in a neighborhood dispute in Homewood.
Hall died of his injuries several days later.
A Deputy District Attorney asked the witness at trial how long she was acquainted with Bey as her neighbor and the witness said she’d been acquainted with him since Bey had moved onto her street after he’d gotten out of prison.
After the witness’ comment, the defense asked to speak with the judge and then asked for a mistrial.
The prosecution didn’t oppose it and the judge agreed.
A new jury will soon be picked for a new trial.
But the entire incident is just a reminder of how elected leaders may be enabling future killers.
Freshman Senator John Fetterman, a native of the area where the police officer was killed, all too often takes the side of violent criminals.
Fetterman infamously brought a convicted killer as a guest to the January State of the Union address just before going into the hospital for depression-related issues.
Both sides will now start picking a new jury, with the hope the new trial will start Tuesday.
Stay tuned to Blue State Blues for any updates to this ongoing story.
