A murder case that’s more than 20 years old was back in court last week as two defendants continues to attempt to prove their innocence.
Court of Common Pleas Judge Rose Marie Defino-Nastasi held an evidentiary hearing Sept. 10-14 to consider the appeals of Giovanni Reid and Carlton Bennett.
Reid and Bennett were convicted in the 1991 murder of gay University of Pennsylvania medical student Robert Janke, who was gunned down in a robbery outside his apartment at 17th and South streets.
Reid, who was 16 at the time, was found guilty of second-degree murder and conspiracy, as was Bennett, then 20.
Bennett’s cousin, Dwayne, also then 20, was the gunman and was convicted of first-degree murder.
Dwayne told the court last week that he acted alone and that Reid and Bennett were 30 feet away from him when he pulled the trigger, which he said was accidental and a result of his use of cocaine, marijuana and alcohol.
Legal advocate LaTasha Williams said Dwayne testified that he is illiterate and had signed a confession implicating Reid and Bennett without knowing what it said.
Reid and Bennett also took the stand and maintained they were not with Dwayne when the shot was fired.
Defense witness and Tennessee resident Wayne Richman testified via Skype. Richman, the former roommate of the victim, was in the apartment at the time and said he witnessed the murder.
He didn’t come forward at the time, he said, because Janke was closeted and because of the shock of the incident.
However, in 2006, after learning that three people were convicted in the murder, he told police that he witnessed one person shoot Janke, and that two others were walking in the opposite direction.
Richman reiterated that statement in court. Williams said Richman held up well under his 14-hour cross-examination.
“He was very consistent,” she said. “The overall consensus of the lawyers and the defendants was that he did really well. He was consistent about what he saw that night: That one person, and only one person, committed the crime and that the other two people were some distance away.”
Williams, who also testified last week, said prosecutors suggested that she coached Richman into that admission, but both deny that allegation.
“He stands to gain nothing by lying,” Williams said. “Over the years he could have just said that it was a lie or that I came up with this plan and he went along with it. He made it clear that this is what he saw that night and that, even if he didn’t want to be there testifying, he felt compelled to do what was right.”
Attorneys will return to court Oct. 9 for oral arguments. At that time, prosecutors may call Lorraine Hill to the stand, the lone witness who said she saw two men restraining Janke while one shot him.
Williams said she’s confident the defense presented a solid case.
“I can’t make predictions if we’ll win or not, but I know that if we do lose, it won’t be because we didn’t put forward the best case possible,” she said.
Williams does not expect an immediate ruling in the case, as the judge is also considering Reid’s claim for a new sentence based on this summer’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life sentences without parole for youth found guilty of murder are unconstitutional.
