Mistrial Declared in Police Death Case

A Pennsylvania judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case of two white police officers charged in the October 1995 suffocation death of black motorist Jonny Gammage, who died after a routine night traffic stop near Pittsburgh turned violent.

Allegheny County Judge David Cashman, citing combative, improper testimony from Allegheny County Coroner Cyril Wecht, halted a trial that has been conducted amid allegations of police brutality and racism. A new jury could be selected within two months for a new trial.

On Thursday, Wecht, testifying for the prosecution, angrily responded to defense requests that he explain what the accused police officers had done in the Oct. 12, 1995, confrontation with Gammage, who died of asphyxiation after the Jaguar he was driving was pulled over. The car was owned by his cousin Ray Seals, a defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“No, it’s not for me to tell you what your client did,” Wecht fired back to defense attorneys. “It’s for your client to tell me, the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what he did, what he was doing there and why he was participating in this.”

Defense attorneys said Wecht had clearly implied something improper had taken place and immediately demanded a mistrial. The judge agreed to the request Friday morning after chastising the prosecution and Wecht. Cashman was also apparently upset with Wecht for appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to discuss the case despite a gag order imposed by the judge.

Defendants have a constitutional right not to testify in their own defense; the burden of proof is on the prosecution.

Wecht was a private coroner when hired by Gammage’s parents to conduct a second autopsy on their son last year. He was later elected Allegheny County coroner.

“I am so personally affronted by what he did . . . I think it’s almost intentional,” said defense attorney Patrick Thomassey, who noted that Wecht has a law degree and has testified in hundreds of trials.

Through his office, Wecht refused to comment, citing the gag order imposed earlier in the case.

Gammage, 31, of Syracuse, N.Y., died of suffocation while in the custody of five officers, including some from the town of Brentwood, an overwhelmingly white community of 10,823 that has 14 blacks, 65 Latinos and 33 Asians. One of the officers stood on the back of Gammage’s neck and pressed down with a metal club after, police alleged, Gammage attacked them when he was stopped for driving erratically about 2 a.m. Oct. 12. The officers maintain that they were merely acting to restrain Gammage.

Wecht had testified that Gammage had suffocated after “he was compressed in a prone position on the pavement.”

The two officers in the mistrial, Brentwood Lt. Milton Mulholland, 57, and Baldwin Patrolman Michael Albert, 32, were facing one charge each of involuntary manslaughter in the incident. A third officer in the case is to be tried separately.

Local black activists had complained about the lack of diversity on the jury, which is all white.

Local civil rights leaders expressed concern Friday about the judge’s decision to end the trial and the prospect of taking months to impanel a new jury.