LEWISTOWN - The judge overseeing a post-trial motion for a Lewistown man convicted of attempted homicide has denied the request for a new trial or acquittal of the charges.
President Judge Timothy S. Searer issued a 25-page ruling on Derek Wilt's request. Wilt was convicted by a jury in May of attempted homicide and aggravated assault stemming from an incident that took place on Oct. 9, 2007, in which the defendant allegedly attacked Ashley Eby with a hammer as she sat at the defendant's computer desk at his house in Highland Park. He was sentenced to serve six to 12 years in a state correctional facility.
In the ruling issued by Searer, each of the issues in the post-trial motion brought forth by Wilt's attorney, Lee S. Cohen, were rejected by Searer.
Cohen made a spirited oral argument during a hearing in September, whereby he claimed his client was entitled to an acquittal of the charges or a new trial based on several issues, including among other things, ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct by the district attorney, a less-than-thorough investigation by law enforcement and the lack of sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude the defendant was guilty.
Cohen said he plans to file an appeal with the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
"We felt we had a good argument that Mr. Wilt didn't receive a fair and impartial trial," Cohen said.
According to court documents, on the day of the incident, Wilt came to Eby's house to inquire if she was having problems with her water. Eby said she was not, at which point some small talk ensued between the two and Eby mentioned she was dissatisfied with her job. Wilt offered to let Eby use his computer at his house to search job listings on the Internet, and Eby accepted the offer.
During the trial, the jury heard two conflicting accounts of the assault. Wilt claims he dropped the hammer while approaching Eby at the computer desk, which she mistook as an act of aggression.
Wilt testified at the trial that while falling, he put a hand on Eby's back to brace himself. He testified that a struggle ensued and he was forced to take the hammer away from Eby several times.
Eby testified at the trial that while she sat at the computer on that day in October 2007, she suddenly felt "intense pain in the back of the head" but wasn't sure what happened, and felt stunned and dazed. She said she spun around in the computer chair and saw Wilt standing, gripping a hammer with both hands and holding it at chest level.
Eby testified that she made several attempts to get away and could not recall exactly how many times Wilt struck her with the hammer.
During the course of the assault, Wilt threw her down several times and also choked her, she said. Eby said she was scared and thought Wilt was trying to kill her.
Post-trial arguments in September
During the September hearing, Cohen began by focusing on the accusation that Wilt's trial attorney, Bruce Manchester, did not do all he could have for his former client.
Cohen said testimony provided by the executive director of the Lewistown Borough Municipal Authority, Craig Bubb, during the first part of the post-trial hearing held on Sept. 2 would have played to Wilt's credibility because it backs up the defendant's story about the dirty water.
Bubb testified that there could have been dirty water coming from Wilt's tap because at the time, the water authority was flushing the system in the Highland Park area.
During the trial, Mifflin County District Attorney Steve Snook claimed that the dirty water issue was a "ruse" Wilt used to speak with Eby.
Cohen said there was no corroborating testimony at the trial about the dirty water issue and that his client's credibility was damaged "in the eyes of the jury." In addition, Cohen said law enforcement never bothered to follow up on Wilt's version of the events that led up to the assault, including the defendant's claim that he went to another neighbor's house before he went to Eby's to inquire about the dirty water.
"The police and the commonwealth had all the power in this case," Cohen said of the lack of follow-up on Wilt's version of the events.
Cohen also said that Manchester's reluctance to call other witnesses, such as Wilt's mother who would have corroborated her son's statements about dirty water at their house, again contributed to damaging his credibility even further.
More importantly, Cohen said, Wilt's mother would have corroborated her son's statements about how he was returning the hammer to her and that the desk where Eby was sitting at the time of the assault was where he was supposed to leave the hammer for her.
Cohen also believes that statements made by Snook during the trial played to the jury's emotions and only served the purpose of "angering and infuriating the jury," which, in turn, damaged Wilt's credibility.
Cohen said the statements made by Snook and Eby during the trial do not show what Wilt's intent was, and were irrelevant and should not have been allowed to be heard by the jury.
"She is the victim in this case and she is entitled to talk about relevant injuries," Snook said as a retort.
"The injuries are more extensive than just what happens that day," Snook said of Eby's testimony during the trial, in which she said she remains fearful of crowds and has episodes of vertigo as well as periodic pain in the area where she was struck.
Cohen also took issue with a statement Snook said at the trial regarding forensic evidence at the scene of the assault in the form of blood splatter.
Cohen said the blood proves nothing except that Eby was bleeding.
"It doesn't show who the aggressor was," Cohen added.
Other prejudicial issues brought up by Cohen were the use of a photograph at trial that depicted Eby in a very disheveled state with blood all over her. Cohen said photographs should have been taken after Eby had been cleaned up, so it would not improperly influence the jury.
Cohen also believes that the emergency room doctor from Altoona Trauma Center, Dr. Simon Lampard, improperly testified as a "toolmark examiner and wound ballistic expert" when he said that Eby's wounds were consistent with her story.
As the hearing began to wrap up, Cohen closed out his arguments and said that it "makes no sense whatsoever" that Wilt intentionally meant to harm Eby because "if he was trying to kill her, he would not have let her leave the house."
Cohen also was quick to point out that Wilt was the one who called 911 and summoned emergency responders to the scene.
Cohen said that at the very least, "Mr. Wilt should be given a new trial."
Snook then gave his closing remarks and said, "I believe Mr. Wilt had a fair trial ... the jury simply believed the testimony of the victim."
