Before I go to work, I'm throwing these updates at ya- catch!!

I'll comment later. (Yup, these aren't mine...)

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Saturday, April 28, 2007
Times Leader Local News
Selenski & Weakley want witness’s testimony out

Attorneys say they can’t further question Michael Kerkowski Sr. because he died in September.

By DAVID WEISS

WILKES-BARRE – Attorneys for homicide suspects Hugo Selenski and Paul Weakley said they have a host of new inquiries they need to pose on a key witness.

But because that witness, the father of slain pharmacist Michael Kerkowski, has died, the attorneys have no way of getting answers to those questions.

That, they said, is enough reason to stop prosecutors from using the elder Kerkowski’s testimony from a past hearing at the upcoming homicide trial for the duo.

But prosecutors said that past hearing gave the attorneys the necessary opportunity to ask their questions. It’s the attorneys’ faults, First Assistant District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll said, if they failed to ask the questions.

“If they sit there and they don’t open their mouth, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “(They) were given the opportunity.”

And because they had that opportunity, it means the past testimony can be used at the suspects’ homicide trial, she said.

Court of Common Pleas Judge Chester Muroski on Friday said he could decide within two weeks whether prosecutors can use a transcript of that testimony at the duo’s trial.

Selenski and Weakley are charged with homicide in the deaths of Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett. They went missing in May 2002 before Kerkowski was to be sentenced in Wyoming County Court on charges including illegal distribution of drugs and fraud.

Police found their bodies buried behind Selenski’s Mount Olivet Road residence in Kingston Township when they executed a search warrant on the house in June 2003.

The elder Kerkowski testified against the men at a preliminary hearing, saying Selenski bilked him out of tens of thousands of dollars. Selenski once fired a bullet past the elder Kerkowski’s head, too, he said.

Selenski and Weakley are awaiting trial and the elder Kerkowski was expected to testify, but he died in September.

Now, attorneys for the suspects want a judge to stop prosecutors from using a transcript of that past testimony. They say using a transcript will prevent them from having a full and fair opportunity to cross-examine the witness.

At a hearing on the issue Friday, Musto Carroll said Kerkowski’s testimony at trial would be the same as it was at the past hearing. And the defense attorneys were able to cross-examine him on that testimony at that hearing.

But a Weakley attorney, Joseph Nocito, said he was forbidden from asking certain questions at that hearing because rules at a preliminary hearing are not the same at the trial level. For instance, he was forbidden from questioning the elder Kerkowski on issues of credibility at that hearing. He would be allowed to ask those questions at trial, he said.

A Selenski attorney, John Pike, said prosecutors also objected to many questions at the past hearing, claiming the questions were being asked too early in the trial process. They claimed the questions being asked were more relevant to issues that arise during the evidence discovery phase, which comes after the preliminary hearing. That leaves Pike unable to get answers to those questions.

Muroski will also decide whether prosecutors can use evidence from a Monroe County robbery in the homicide trial.

District Attorney David Lupas said he wants to show the similarities between that robbery, allegedly committed by Selenski and Weakley, and the Kerkowski and Fassett slayings.

A Selenski attorney, Stephen Menn, argued against using the evidence, claiming there are more differences in the two cases than similarities. That makes using the items prejudicial against Selenski. Menn also noted how the Monroe County robbery victim did not identify Selenski as one of the assailants until two years after the incident.

Muroski will also decide whether the charges should be dismissed because of the delay it took in arresting the men.

David Weiss, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7397.

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Friday, April 27, 2007
Newswatch 16
Tighter Courthouse Security for Selenski and Weakley

By Sarah Buynovsky

Accused murderers Hugo Selenski and Paul Weakley were in Luzerne County court Friday and it was anything but business as usual.

The two are already considered high profile prisoners. They are accused of murdering two people and burying their bodies in Kingston Township in 2003.

Selenski broke out of the Luzerne County jail that same year and Weakley is accused of trying to do the same in Lackawanna County earlier this week.

Officials at the Luzerne County courthouse said they're stepping up security after Weakley's escape attempt.

"My concern was, if Mr. Weakley was going to escape, were there other people outside the facility waiting to assist Mr. Weakley? So therefore not being able to be aware of that we didn't want to take a chance, so we increased our levels of security," explained Luzerne County Sheriff Barry Stankus.

Weakley's co-defendant, Hugo Selenski broke out of his Luzerne County jail cell in 2003 using bed sheets dangled from a window.

He talked to reporters Friday about Weakley's attempted jail break. "I just found out about it this morning. I don't know. I mean, I, what do you expect me to say? I have no idea. That's on him," Selenski.

Weakley had nothing to say about his alleged escape attempt, but the Luzerne County sheriff's department said from now on, whenever Weakley or Selenski are brought into the courthouse, security will be tight, with dogs, extra screening, and more deputies.

"It allows us to take look at other people and other things that we have to, observing different people here, the different people so now we're more aware of what's going on," Sheriff Stankus added.

At Friday's hearing a county judge heard more arguments leading up the Selenski and Weakley's murder trial.

There is no word yet on when that trial will start or whether the defendants will be tried together or separately.

Selenski remains at a state prison in Dallas and Weakley is at the Lackawanna County jail.

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More News

BY JAMES CONMY, CITIZENS VOICE STAFF WRITER
04/28/2007

WILKES-BARRE — Evidence in a 2003 Monroe County home invasion allegedly committed by Hugo Selenski and Paul Weakley also proves they are guilty of two murders, Luzerne County District Attorney David Lupas believes.

Selenski and Weakley are accused of storming into Samuel Goosay’s Chestnuthill Township home in 2003, binding his hands with plastic flex ties and covering his eyes with duct tape in order to rob him. Flex ties and duct tape also were found on the remains of Selenski and Weakley’s alleged Luzerne County murder victims Tammy Fassett and Michael J. Kerkowski.

Lupas said another similarity is the motive for both crimes — robbery.

“Proof of one tends to prove the other,” Lupas told Luzerne County Judge Chester Muroski on Friday morning.

Muroski has to decide whether testimony and evidence from the Monroe County case can be used against Selenski and Weakley in their upcoming double-murder trial. The judge is expected to rule on that and other pre-trial issues in the case in about two weeks.

Attorneys for both suspects made their cases by arguing there are many differences between the home invasion and the murders and, as a result, the Monroe County case should not come into play. For example, in Monroe County, assailants forced their way into the home and used handcuffs to restrain Goosay. There was another major difference.

“Mr. Goosay obviously was not murdered,” Galante said.

One of Selenski’s attorneys, Steve Menn, pointed out Goosay told investigators he did not get a good look at his attackers in 2004. Two years later, Goosay identified Selenski as one of the assailants. Lupas disagreed, saying Goosay’s credibility was an issue for trial, not a pre-trial motion.

“We don’t want the jury trying to decide two different cases,” Menn responded.

Another issue debated Friday was the preliminary hearing testimony of the late Michael S. Kerkowski, Michael J. Kerkowski’s father. In June, before he died, the elder Kerkowski said Selenski threatened him by firing one shot past his head while Selenski robbed him of $40,000. The elder Kerkowski also testified in June that Selenski extorted $60,000 by claiming he was in contact with his missing son.

Weakley’s attorney Joe Nocito argued his ability to cross examine the elder Kerkowski was limited at the preliminary hearing because he could not ask questions outside of what the prosecution asked.

Selenski’s lead counsel John Pike said he too wanted to ask the elder Kerkowski questions, including why the money was in bags from a local bank and why the elder Kerkowski ended his employment at the bank.

First Assistant District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll countered Nocito and Pike’s arguments by pointing out Michael S. Kerkowski was asked 146 questions at the preliminary hearing, but the defense raised only eight objections.

“Even if they don’t take that opportunity, that’s all they need,” Carroll said.

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Oooooh, what deduction abilities our astute DA has!! Yeaaaah, Davey, I don't think your logic holds aaaaaaaaaany weight!!! And Jackie's little line at the end makes me laugh- I bet she'd be crying "injustice!!!" if someone tried to say that to her!