Trial Update 915pm

The lights are burning late at the Schuylkill County Courthouse this Friday night as the jury moves into its 6th hour of deliberations in the Shenandoah beating case. The all white jury of 6 men and 6 women got the case around 3pm, after 2 hours of instructions from Judge William Baldwin, who meticulously went through each charge against Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak, who are implicated in the death of 25 year old Luis Ramirez on July 18th.

One alternate juror we spoke to after they were released told WPPA News that "Derrick Donchak shouldn't have worn the Border Patrol shirt" and that Colin Walsh accepted responsibility for his actions and showed remorse on the stand during testimony"

The closing arguments took 3 hours, as the defense, and then the prosecution, made their case. Jeff Markosky and Frederick Fanelli went on the offensive as they tried to discredit the testimony of the other teenaged boys who were with Piekarsky and Donchak that night, specifically Colin Walsh and Brian Scully. Walsh pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges and will do jail time. Scully was trying to save himself, according to Fanelli. Scully is still facing juvenile charges in the case. Fanelli also hammered at the investigation techniques of Tony Carroll, the chief detective in the DA's office, and his failure to collect the shoes of those who allegedly kicked Ramirez in the head while he lay on the ground. The defense also questioned the validity of Elizabeth Schlack's testimony, who viewed the events from her bedroom window. In Fanelli's words, "the prosecution created their own version of the truth and made it a case of race."

The prosecution's closing arguments were given by Assistant DA Rob Frantz, who said that the Commonwealth did not rush to judgement before charging the defendants, but said the case was clear, that Dr. Barbara Bollinger, forensic pathologist, said that Luis Ramirez died as a result of blunt force trauma and the cause was homicide. Of particular significance to their case was the testimony of Mrs. Schlack. Overall, Frantz said that the believability of the prosecution witnesses and stated that Ramirez had a right to defend himself.

About 135 people packed the courtroom today for the closing. The jury got the case at 3pm. They are still deliberating at this time.

Jay Levan, WPPA/T102 News
Schuylkill County Courthouse