Published Thursday, Jan. 14, 1999 "He shouldn't have to be in jail for two years waiting on this trial," said Alexander Lindsay Jr., defense attorney. Presiding Judge Thomas Doerr "disagreed," Lindsay said.
However, it was Doerr's decision that allowed Samuel Brown a chance at a bond hearing in the first place.
After being convicted in March of first-degree murder as an accomplice in the 1967 slaying of 16-year-old Ada Darlene "Katie" Lumley, Doerr granted Samuel Brown a re-trial.
The re-trial was based on faulty trial testimony given by his older brother, Donald Brown. In a hearing this summer, Lindsay argued that the elder Brown made two statements which could have influenced jurors to convict his client.
Donald Brown alluded to his brother's past criminal history and also suggested that he had taken a lie detector test, strengthening his own credibility.
Doerr agreed that the statements were overly compelling, granting the younger Brown another chance before a jury. Butler County District Attorney Tim McCune appealed to the state Superior Court. A ruling on McCune's appeal is still pending.
Until the decision by the higher court, Samuel Brown will continue serving his life sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon.
Donald Brown has been serving a life sentence for Lumley's murder since 1967. His testimony in March that Samuel Brown participated in the murder helped put his younger brother behind bars.
Doerr said he could not grant bail to someone convicted of first degree murder.
Lindsay argued that Doerr annulled that charge when he overturned the original trial, he said.
The judge disagreed. "The granting of a new trial does not render the conviction of nullity," he wrote.
Furthermore, the Court of Common Pleas has no say in granting an immediate trial to Samuel Brown, Doerr wrote. The case is in the hands of the high court because of the pending appeal, he says.
Lindsay said he will press on. "We were disappointed with the court's position," he said. "We are evaluating all courses of action to see what recourses we have available."
