Published Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002
SHENANGO TOWNSHIP
Admitted murderer attempts to take back his guilty pleaBy Hal Johnson
Herald Writer
A 22-year-old former Brookfield man was in Mercer County Common Pleas Court on Monday trying to withdraw his guilty plea in the murder of his great uncle.
Russell K. Root is claiming that he was ill-advised by assistant public defenders when he pleaded guilty in April 1999 to second-degree murder in the Feb. 14, 1998, bludgeoning death of 70-year-old Harold V. Root.
Harold Root was killed in his Pullam Drive home in Shenango Township. Russell Root is serving a life sentence without chance of parole.
The younger Root admitted to demanding money for drugs before beating his great uncle with a tire iron.
On Monday, Root was in court with court-appointed attorney Deborah Durniok to try to take back that guilty plea. In the post-conviction hearing, Root alleged his former defense lawyers:
Root also alleged that he did not understand the judge's instructions to him or the consequences of his guilty plea because he was under the influence of prescribed drugs when he pleaded guilty.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Francis J. Fornelli postponed testimony in a post-conviction hearing. Witnesses would have included assistant public defenders Timothy Blatt and Douglas Straub.
The hearing was postponed when Miss Durniok asked for a "discovery packet" of the police evidence against Root. The packet included Root's statements to police.
The judge also ordered Root be returned to the state penitentiary as soon as possible.