Thread: Man (illegal) charged with killing three at after-hours club

It is great to see everyone keeping up to date on the happenings here in Altoona. With the trail and the anniversary just around the corner, it's good to know there are so many others on our side.

http://www.altoonamirror.com/articles.a ... cleID=2411

Tuesday, June 13, 2006 — Time: 1:48:26 AM EST

Blair judge cracks down at hearing

By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com


HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County Judge Hiram Carpenter laid down the law Monday for spectators at the triple homicide trial of Miguel A. Padilla.

The judge told more than 20 family members and friends of the victims that his responsibility to ensure Padilla receives a fair trial takes precedence over everything else, including the grieving process that family and friends are going through.

Emotions spilled over during Padilla’s preliminary hearing Oct. 27 and led to a courtroom outburst.

‘‘I need for you to be perfect on Day 1 and then get better,” he told the spectators.

“ There really will be zero tolerance. I can’t go anywhere else, or I risk the trial,’’ Carpenter told spectators Monday.

He said no memorial badges, flowers or ‘‘national logos’’ will be permitted in the courtroom, and he handed out a list of rules for spectators.

Those rules ban cameras, tape recorders, cell phones and other recording devices; prohibit contact with jurors; and restrict access to some areas of the lobby outside the courtroom.

Carpenter’s comments came at the start of a more-than-two-hour pretrial hearing that included defense challenges to the death penalty and a request that a firearms charge against Padilla not be tried along with counts of homicide and assault because the felony gun offense is based on Padilla’s status as an illegal alien.

Padilla, a native of Mexico, came to the United States with his mother, father and brothers nearly 15 years ago. He lived in Gallitzin and graduated from high school.

Public Defender Don Speice said he doesn’t want the jury to become ensnared in the nationwide debate about ‘‘how to prevent Mexican nationals from entering the country illegally.’’

Padilla is charged in the shooting deaths of three men outside the United Veterans Association on Union Avenue Aug. 28.

Killed were Alfred Mignogna, owner of the building, Fred Rickabaugh Sr., an employee of the club, and Stephen Heiss, a patron.

Court-appointed defense attorney Ed Blanarik of Centre County launched a multi-pronged attack against the death penalty for Padilla.

He cited two studies: ‘‘Aggravation and Mitigation in Capital Cases: What Do Juries Think’’ by Yale professor Stephen P. Garvey and ‘‘They Know Not What They do: Unguided and Misguided Discretion in Pennsylvania Capital Cases” by Wanda D. Foglia, an associate professor at Rowan University.

The studies were submitted as evidence that some death-qualified jurors make up their minds about imposing death at the guilt phase of the case, not during the penalty phase.

In addition, the studies claim, many times death-qualified jurors don’t understand concepts like aggravated or mitigated circumstances and often believe a life sentence in Pennsylvania doesn’t mean life.

Blanarik has asked the judge to rule out the death penalty for Padilla, calling it cruel and unusual punishment.

District Attorney Richard Consiglio and Chief Deputy Jackie Bernard argued that Blanarik’s criticisms of the death penalty have no basis in law.

Consiglio lashed out at the studies presented by Blanarik, contending the were written by ‘‘liberal, left wing’’ law school professors who want to get their names in the law books.

‘‘I think these are worthless.’’ Consiglio said of the studies.

Blanarik asked that the judge order separate juries for the guilty phase of the case and the death penalty phase, a request the prosecutors said was not part of Pennsylvania law.

Onlookers Monday included representatives of the victims and as well as Padilla’s mother, stepfather and girlfriend and a representative of the Mexican government.

Padilla was wearing a gray suit with a protective vest underneath.

Jury selection is to begin Aug. 21 in Carisle.

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.

First, let me say, that intellectually, I understand the need for fair trials.

a fair trial takes precedence over everything else, including the grieving process that family and friends are going through.

Padilla was wearing a gray suit with a protective vest underneath.

It's just a shame that, 1. Padilla was here at all (illegally), and 2. that the victims didn't have warning that they should be wearing vests.

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/l ... ndarystory

Published: June 13, 2006 12:09 am

Suspect opposes death option

By KATHY MELLOTT
The Tribune-Democrat

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Defense attorneys in the triple homicide case of a Cambria County man argued Monday that the death penalty should be taken off the table, saying it is cruel and unusual punishment.

Amid a flurry of other motions, lawyers for Miguel Angel Padilla of Convent Street, Gallitzin, also asked a judge to sever a handgun charge from the homicide counts he is facing.

Padilla was not permitted to possess a gun at the time of the shooting of Alfred Mignogna, Fredrick Rickabaugh and Stephen Heiss, all of Altoona, because he was in the country illegally, police claim.

Illegal possession of a handgun is a felony and considered an aggravating circumstance opening the door for the death penalty if Padilla is convicted of first-degree murder.

Padilla’s lawyers argued in Blair County Court that his immigration status should not be part of his upcoming trial.

Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio announced in December that he will seek capital punishment if he wins the first-degree conviction.

Consiglio said the gun used in the killings is part of the case.

“The facts of the case are going to come in to a jury, a gun was possessed and used in the killings,” he said. “The case needs to be based on what you have.”

Padilla, 26, born in Mexico, moved to the United States at age 9. He is a graduate of Penn Cambria High School and lived in Cambria County for most of his life.

He was arrested Aug. 28 hours after the shooting death of the men outside of the United Veterans Association club on Union Avenue, Altoona. Police said he began shooting after he and two acquaintances were denied entry to the club.

The defense motions were argued by Blair County Public Defender Donald Speice and court-appointed death penalty lawyer Ed Blanarik of State College.

His client could face substantial prejudice because of the nationwide debate over illegal aliens, especially those of Mexican descent, and how to prevent them from entering the country, Speice told the court.

“It’s a national issue at this time creating a lot of controversy and a lot of prejudice against our client,” Speice said.

Meanwhile, Blanarik asked the court to rule that execution will not be an option should a sentencing hearing be needed.

He also asked Judge Hiram Carpenter to emphasize as part of the trial that a life sentence in Pennsylvania is life in prison without the chance of parole.

Carpenter warned the half-dozen victims’ family members in attendance that they must abide by his rules during the two-week trial set for August or they will not be allowed in court.

“When I list my priorities, your closure falls pretty far down on my list,” he told the families. “I have a zero tolerance level: To allow anything else I risk the trial.”

Chaos broke out at Padilla’s preliminary hearing in November when a brother of one of the deceased tried to attack the accused murderer.

Carpenter is expected to rule on the motions within a few weeks.



Kathy Mellott can be reached at 539-5328 or kmellott@tribdem.com.

http://www.altoonamirror.com/articles.a ... cleID=2517

Saturday, June 17, 2006 — Time: 2:12:59 PM EST

Mexico appeals Padilla ruling

By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The Mexican government has appealed a decision by a Blair County judge excluding it from the trial of one of its citizens who faces the death penalty for a triple homicide at the United Veterans Association in Altoona last summer.

The notice to appeal to the state Supreme Court was filed Friday in the Blair County Courthouse by attorney Michael P. O’Conner of Tempe, Ariz.

O’Connor claims that under two separate treaties, the Mexican government should have an oversight role in Miguel Padilla’s case, but Judge Hiram A. Carpenter repeatedly has denied the request.

“This is a domestic homicide case subject to administration under the procedures employed by the County of Blair and governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Carpenter wrote in an opinion issued May 18. “It involves no international issues, and the government of Mexico is not a party to the action.”

Carpenter anticipated that Mexico might appeal his decision.

“We would hope any reviewing court would confirm that this intervention by Mexico is inappropriate and unjustified under any standard [treaty or otherwise],” he stated.

Padilla is represented by Blair County Public Defender Donald E. Speice and court-appointed attorney Ed Blanarik of Centre County, who will handle the death penalty phase, if necessary.

But the Mexican government contends that the public defender and the courts did not appoint an attorney for Padilla.

For the first time Friday, Mexico charged that Padilla went seven weeks without an attorney and that the government was told Padilla would have to defend himself at his preliminary hearing.

Mexico said the delay in appointing an attorney meant that physical and mental health evidence to be used in Padilla’s defense was lost.

It claims that under two international treaties, Mexico has a right to be involved when one of its citizens faces criminal charges.

Padilla is a Mexican national who was raised in Gallitzin and graduted from Penn Cambria High School.

District Attorney Richard Consiglio said while he is not part of the dispute now surging around Padilla, he could end up defending the way Padilla has been treated since his arrest.

He said he agreed with Judge Carpenter’s opinion excluding Mexico from the case.

Consiglio saidHe said Speice had a right initially to question whether Padilla met the financial requirements for the public defender’s office and said Speice also thought Mexico was going to provide an attorney.

Mexcio says it was clear from the start that it was not going to assume Padilla’s defense.

“It’s a fight between them we may have to take on,” Consiglio said Friday.

He said Padilla has been treated like any other person arrested for homicide. He said Padilla has all the rights of a citizen but does not have rights that other citizens don’t have.

Consiglio does not believe the international treaties cited by O’Connor, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the Consular Convention between the United States of Mexico and the United States of America, allows Mexico to say the Padilla case should be handled differently than other cases.

Padilla is set to go on trial in August for the killings of Alfred Mignogna, the owner of the building where the UVA Club is located, a club employee, Frederick Rickabaugh Sr., and patron Stephen Heiss.

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.

Consiglio does not believe the international treaties cited by O’Connor, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and the Consular Convention between the United States of Mexico and the United States of America, allows Mexico to say the Padilla case should be handled differently than other cases.

Here we go with an effort to overrule USA law, internationally.

Im speechless, simply speechless.

http://www.altoonamirror.com/News/artic ... cleID=2857

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Jury won’t know Padilla’s status
To avoid prejudice, judge decides panelists will not be told accused triple killer is an illegal alien.
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG — The out-of-county jury that will hear the Miguel Padilla homicide case in September will not know he is an illegal alien unless the case reaches a death penalty phase, a Blair County judge ruled Friday.

“The possibility of prejudice to the defendant is apparent,” Judge Hiram A. Carpenter said.

Public Defender Don Speice and Ed Blanarik of State College, Padilla’s lawyers, had argued that the possession or use of a firearm by an illegal alien charge should be severed from homicide and other charges against Padilla.

Carpenter granted the request for a trial on the gun offense.

He said separating a gun charge is not unusual in cases in which a suspect has a prior record and is charged with illegal possession or use of a gun because he is a conconvicted felon.

The purpose is to bar prejudice against a suspect because he has a past criminal record.

“While the defense concedes this defendant is not a felon but an illegal alien, they offer that the likelihood of prejudice is actually greater because of the currently existing nationwide debate regarding illegal aliens, and especially individuals of Mexican descent entering the country illegally,” Carpenter ruled.

District Attorney Richard Consiglio and his chief deputy, Jackie Bernard, called the possibility of prejudice “pure speculation.”

Carpenter said the prosecution’s argument was not sufficient to deny severance.

Consiglio and Bernard were not available late Friday for comment.

Carpenter ruled that if Padilla is found guilty of first degree murder, the prosecution will be permitted to reveal Padilla’s immigration status in the penalty phase where aggravating circumstances must be shown before a jury can impose death.

Padilla, 26, has been charged with the murders of three men Aug. 28 outside the United Veterans Association Club on Union Avenue.

The owner of the building, Alfred Mignogna, a club employee Frederick Rickabaugh Sr., and a patron, Stephen Heiss, were shot dead after an argument at a side door of the club.

Jury selection will be held Aug. 21. and the trial is scheduled to start in September.

The jury will be selected in, Carlisle, Cumberland County.

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.

I wish our government could be held liable for these 3 lives that were lost!!!!! He has been here since he was 9 and now he wants Mexico to come in and help him out? This is just wrong; mexico needs to keep this stinkin' nose out of it. Just one more NO GOOD FOR NOTHING illegal alien that we will have to shelter and feed while in our prison system. I would rather pay to keep him there than pay for him to be on social services. I hope he rotes in jail and somebody make him their b--ch!!!!!

I suggest that if the courts don't want it known that the jerk is an illegal alien that the people should picket outside the courthouse all through the trial with signs asking why. After all, it is the court system that didn't deport all these people that has helped to create these problems.