Attorneys in Wilkinsburg mass shooting case allege misconduct, seek dismissal of charge - Tribune-Review

A key witness against one of two men charged in the Wilkinsburg mass shooting will not take the stand when the trial begins next week, prosecutors in the case said Friday.

The announcement came amid a flurry of court filings Thursday night and Friday morning in which defense attorneys for Cheron Shelton and Robert Thomas asked for drastic changes to the case.

Among them were:

• For the entire case to be dismissed,

• For the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office to be removed from the case,

• For Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini to be removed from the case, and

• For the death penalty to be taken off the table.

Shelton and Thomas could face the death penalty if convicted of the six counts of homicide for which they are charged. Both men are accused of opening fire on a backyard party in Wilkinsburg in March 2016, killing five adults and an unborn child.

Attorneys for the men – Casey White and Michael Machen on behalf of Thomas and Wendy Williams and Randall McKinney representing Shelton – jointly filed the petition late Thursday.

White, in a separate motion, asked for the case against Thomas to be dismissed now that the key witness – known as W3 or witness No. 3 – will not testify.

“In short,” White wrote, “the underlying crux of the Commonwealth’s case is that (Thomas) was at or near the scene when five individuals and an unborn child were killed. To date, however, the Commonwealth has failed to produce any physical evidence or eye-witness testimony that (he) committed the crimes charged.”

Allegheny County Judge Edward J. Borkowski, who is presiding over the case, said he will rule on those motions and others in a 2 p.m. hearing.

The high-profile case has been plagued with heated exchanges between the attorneys and prosecutors since jury selection began Jan. 6. The latest motion takes particular aim at Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini, who is trying the case along with Deputy District Attorney Kevin Chernosky.

Defense attorneys said in the motion they had still not received all evidence in the case.

“They cannot be trusted as the gatekeepers of any discovery in this case,” attorneys wrote. “Defendants argue that the prosecution in this case has violated its due process obligation to disclose exculpatory evidence …”

Over the course of several hearings last week, testimony revealed the prosecution’s key witness against Thomas had been promised relocation services and financial assistance by Allegheny County police and had allegedly confessed to the 2013 killing of a 15-month-old toddler. The unnamed witness apparently gave law enforcement information in a dozen other cases.

The witness has not been charged in the May 21, 2013, shooting death of toddler Marcus White Jr., who is not related to attorney Casey White. The child’s family said this week they found out about the alleged confession via social media, and they have called for charges to be filed.

“The significance of the concealed evidence coupled with the capital nature of this prosecution aggravates the nature of the Commonwealth’s flagrant misconduct,” defense attorneys wrote.

Defense attorneys said they received evidence on compact discs that the court ordered prosecutors to hand over Tuesday. More had arrived in the ensuing days. They allege some evidence still has not been turned over.

Last week’s hearings also revealed Pellegrini had met with the witness, along with Neil Carman, an agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Carman testified no promises or guarantees were discussed with the witness, though he conceded the meeting had not been documented.

“The more important fact is the DA’s office has committed profound misconduct and must be recused,” defense attorneys wrote. “Clearly, from testimony elicited on Jan. 24, (Pellegrini) will now be a witness called by the defense and must be removed from the case given the fact that she engaged in secret, undisclosed meetings and serious Brady violations …”

The Brady rule dictates prosecutors must turn over any exculpatory evidence to a defendant and defense counsel.

“The fact that this material and information was not turned over in a timely matter and is now trickling in on the eve of the trial after (the) defense’s motion makes the prosecution’s misconduct even more egregious,” defense attorneys wrote.

If Borkowski, who is presiding over the case, does not dismiss the charges, defense attorneys asked that he take the death penalty off the table and order prosecutors to turn over any and all evidence related to jailhouse informants, their conversations with law enforcement or prosecutors and any other documentation.

The motion asks that the entire DA’s office be removed from the case, saying the perceived wrongdoings outlined in the motion show “those working for the District Attorney’s Office have not been performing the statutory duties of that elected office.”

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, [email protected] or via Twitter .