(Pike County, PA) February 10, 2009---Lawyers for Jennifer and Reginald Spearman, siblings convicted of aggravated assault, burglary and possession of an instrument of crime in 2004 in Pike County, PA, will appeal the denial of their motion for a new trial in March.
“After taking the matter under advisement and reviewing supplemental briefs, the trial judge denied our petition for a new trial,” said Attorney Patricia McKinney of McKinney and George law firm.
Jennifer and Reginald were convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison after a brawl occurred at a 2004 New Year’s Eve party. The complainants in the case were identical twins and US Marines, Christopher and Michael Jahn. No participants in the fight other than Jennifer and Reginald Spearman were convicted.
“We are seeking a new trial because we don’t feel Jennifer and Reginald’s last lawyer defended them properly,” McKinney explained. “They both shared the same counsel so at times there was a conflict of interest. We feel the outcome of the trial would have been different with appropriate counsel for each of them.”
“There and two million Americans in jail and half of them are African-Americans,” said Rev. Jesse Jackson, president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. “And this is how it happens - one bad case at a time. We acknowledge the serious injuries suffered by the Jahns, but thankfully they have fully recovered. We believe the sentence was extraordinarily excessive, given the lack of evidence, the lack of prior serious criminal history, and the young age of these defendants.”
During the initial trial, no character witnesses were called and both Reginald and Jennifer were advised not to testify themselves.
Janice L. Mathis, Vice President of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and counsel to Jennifer and Reginald, indicates that the appeal will be filed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in March, 2009. “We are optimistic that the Court will grant these young folk a new trial because their initial trial was not fair and the sentence was excessive. There was so little evidence to connect them to the crime – no eyewitnesses or forensic evidence. The victims themselves did not see who attacked them and did not know they had been hurt until after they left the scene. The fight broke out at a New Years Eve Party and was really a brawl that involved several dozen people. It just so happens that of all the people involved, only Jennifer and Reginald were African Americans.”
“Even the prosecutors concede that Jennifer did not injure the Jahns – she was merely charged as an ‘accomplice’. According to testimony from their prior lawyer, a plea was being negotiated for sentences of five years or less. As is typical in criminal courts across the country, the defendants were punished for insisting that they were innocent and going to trial. But these long sentences are shocking under the circumstances of this case. They do nothing to protect the public, deter crime or rehabilitate Jennifer and Reginald.”
Pike is located east of New York and South of Philadelphia, in one of the fastest growing counties in Pennsylvania.
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a progressive organization devoted to protecting, defending and expanding civil rights to improve economic and educational opportunity. The organization is headquartered at 930 E. 50th St. in Chicago. To learn more, please visit www.rainbowpush.org or call (773) 373-3366. To arrange an interview with Rev. Jackson, please call the numbers listed above.
Contact the Governor's Office
Governor Edward G. Rendell's Office
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Phone: (717) 787-2500
Fax: (717) 772-8284
E-mail the Governor's Office
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