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Judge hopes to find Philly jurors for Einhorn trial
More articles on this topic: Ira EinhornAP, Sep. 11, 2002
http://www.reporter-news.com/
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A judge hopes to find unbiased city jurors to hear the murder case against former hippie guru Ira Einhorn, but will sequester the panel during the weeks-long trial.
Common Pleas Judge William J. Mazzola on Tuesday denied a request by prosecutors to bring in outside jurors because of pretrial publicity, which has included Einhorn-themed tomato-throwing and photo-caption contests sponsored by local media.
Einhorn, 62, is charged with the 1977 murder of girlfriend Holly Maddux, a 30-year-old Bryn Mawr College graduate from Tyler, Texas. Her mummified remains were found stuffed in a steamer trunk in the couple’s West Philadelphia apartment 18 months after she disappeared.
Einhorn vanished on the eve of his 1981 trial and was discovered in France in 1997.
Also Tuesday, prosecutors said they no longer have the fingerprint, palm print and hair samples that were found on the trunk and tested at the time. However, they might introduce results of the tests, according to prosecutor Joel Rosen.
The defense wanted samples to conduct its own forensic tests.
“I think it’s kind of woeful for the commonwealth to report that they don’t know where the physical evidence is, and the FBI doesn’t know where it is,” defense lawyer William T. Cannon said.
The state does have the trunk — and may show it to jurors, Rosen said.
Mazzola reviewed 109 articles on the case published in Philadelphia newspapers in 2001 and 2002 and found that only seven discuss evidence relating to the homicide case, he said. More dealt with Einhorn’s extradition from France in July 2001, he said.
The judge said he would reconsider the prosecution’s motion for outside jurors after individual questioning of the jury pool, set to start Sept. 24.
Defense lawyers oppose the motion, in part because they think rural jurors are more conservative and less accustomed to violence.
“It’s (also) based on Mr. Einhorn’s wish to have a Philadelphia jury hear his case,” Cannon said.
Rosen pushed for outside jurors.
“The defendant made statements in France that he couldn’t get a fair trial in Philadelphia,” said Rosen, who is prosecuting the case for the second time.
Einhorn was convicted in absentia during a 1993 trial and sentenced to life in prison. As part of the state legislation that ensured his return from France, the conviction was thrown out and Einhorn was granted a new trial.
Einhorn, who was not in court, remains housed at the state prison at Houtzdale. He is expected to be in court Tuesday for a hearing to resolve the remaining pretrial issues, including whether his wife, Annika Flodin Einhorn, can testify via satellite from France. Prosecutors have refused to guarantee that she won’t be arrested if she comes to the United States.
The trial is expected to take at least three to four weeks, excluding jury selection. Rosen won’t say how many witnesses he plans to call, but defense lawyers have listed 42 character witnesses and seven expert witnesses.
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