Blystone resentencing delayed
The attorneys representing a convicted murderer looking to have his death sentence reduced want to delay a hearing in the Fayette County case, potentially delaying his sentencing hearing for six months.
Scott Wayne Blystone, 56, formerly of Fairchance, was sentenced to death for fatally shooting Dalton Smithburger Jr. in 1983.
He was granted a new sentencing hearing in January 2012, when a federal judge found his trial attorney should have presented mitigating testimony during the penalty phase of his trial, despite Blystone testifying that he did not want such evidence presented.
However, the court upheld Blystone’s first-degree murder conviction, so jurors who are seated for the sentencing hearing will only determine if Blystone should spend life in prison or die by lethal injection.
Attorneys from the Washington, D.C., firm Steptoe and Johnson, as well as attorney Michael Wiseman, filed a motion to stay the proceedings until several other pending motions are decided. If that is not possible, they asked to delay the sentencing for six months “in order to enable the defense and the commonwealth, as well as the Court, to prepare adequately.”
Westmoreland County Senior Judge William Ober was recently assigned to the case because all of the judges in Fayette County have recused themselves. Judge Nancy D. Vernon was initially assigned to handle the case, but stepped down after Blystone’s attorneys filed court papers making allegations against the conduct of former prosecutors Gerald R. Solomon and Ralph C. Warman, both of whom are now senior judges, and have recused themselves from the resentencing.
The county’s other judges — President Judge John F. Wagner Jr., Judge Steve P. Leskinen and Senior Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi — followed suit and also declined to preside over the hearing.
According to Court Administrator Karen Kuhn, Ober has agreed to take the case and mailed an order to the court saying he would cancel or postpone tomorrow’s hearing.
Before the court are five unresolved motions, including a motion to compel the commonwealth to produce discovery materials filed Sept. 17, 2012, a sealed motion with no caption filed May 23, a supplemental motion to compel discovery filed June 12, a motion for limited courtroom closure filed July 10 and a motion to suppress evidence obtained from a wiretap filed July 16.
Additionally, the Herald-Standard has filed a motion to intervene in the case, an initial step in compelling the court to articulate the reasoning for the sealed motion and a motion for limited courtroom closure. That motion remains unresolved as well, due to the recusal of all the judges.
“The outcome of these pending motions will have a significant bearing on how (defense) counsel prepare for trial,” Blystone’s attorneys wrote.
“Potential key witnesses still need to be interviewed, and records need to be found or otherwise turned over by the commonwealth,” they added. “Discovery has not concluded.”
Blystone’s attorneys indicated that once Ober takes over the case, it may take some time to review the case file in its entirety, including the pending motions. According to the defense attorneys, the commonwealth, represented by Deputy Attorney General Anthony Krastek, is unopposed to a stay or continuance.
“There is simply too much at stake to rush after 30 years to judgment, with so many ‘balls’ currently ‘in the air’,” wrote Blystone’s attorneys.