News Summary News Summary - Pennsylvania Council of Chief ...

News Summary
January 22 – February 4, 2011
Marinucci and Ricky Smyrnes, 24; Melvin Knight, 21; Amber Meidinger, 21, Robert Loren Masters,
37; and Peggy Darlene Miller, 28, are charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 11 stabbing of
30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty.
Police said Daugherty was held captive for more than two days in a Greensburg apartment shared
by her assailants, where she was tortured and killed. Her body was stuffed into a trash can and left
under a vehicle in the snow-covered parking lot at Greensburg Salem Middle School.
The prosecution is seeking the death penalty against Smyrnes Knight and Meidinger. Because
Marinucci was a juvenile at the time of the killing, she is ineligible for capital punishment.
"I've made a decision. Marinucci will be the first trial," Hathaway said yesterday as all six
defendants and their lawyers appeared in court to discuss proceedings in the cases.
The judge previously ruled that Smyrnes and Knight cannot be tried together.
Marinucci is expected to appear in court on April 11 for a hearing to determine if her case should
be transferred to juvenile court. Defense attorney Michael DeMatt said because Marinucci was 17
at the time of the slaying, she should be prosecuted in juvenile court.
Marinucci could not be held in custody beyond age 21 if she is convicted of murder in juvenile
court. A first-degree murder conviction in adult court carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Hathaway ordered that trials for Smyrnes Knight and Meidinger won't be held until at least
September, but a number of issues still need to be resolved.
Attorneys for all the defendants have asked that the judge bar prosecutors from seeking the death
penalty and have questioned the legality of some of the police evidence.
Hathaway said yesterday that she will decide many of the outstanding issues shortly after
prosecutors submit legal arguments to her by Feb. 18.
Defense attorneys told her they are still working to compile reports about their clients' mental
health status, because all the defendants contend they cannot be executed because they have low
intelligence.
The process of finding mental health experts has been slowed because Hathaway has refused to
allow the defense to spend more than $5,000 to hire mitigation experts, who could be used to
persuade jurors the defendants should not be sentenced to death.
"There is no one we found who will work for $75 an hour or a $5,000 cap," said Smyrnes' lawyer,
Terrance Faye.
District Attorney John Peck told the judge that plea bargain deals are still being discussed with
Masters and Miller. Masters testified against his former roommates during a hearing in November
about how and why Daugherty was killed.
38