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TMCNet: Cassidy killer's apology disrupts trial

[November 19, 2009]

Cassidy killer's apology disrupts trial

Nov 19, 2009 (The Philadelphia Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- "I apologize, Mrs. Cassidy." With the widow of Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy on the witness stand, his admitted killer yesterday stunned the crowded courtroom with a teary, impromptu apology that stopped the trial for five minutes until order was restored.

Judy Cassidy and her family immediately left the courtroom in tears, followed shortly by a distraught John "Jordan" Lewis, 23, who has pleaded guilty to killing the officer. With tears rolling down his cheeks, he was escorted by sheriff's deputies to a courtroom holding cell.

The emotional scene occurred near the end of Judy Cassidy's testimony for the prosecution. She was the prosecution's final witness -- the jury will begin deliberations today -- and was supposed to give limited testimony as what is known as a "life in being" witness.

Basically, as a technical part of proving the prosecution's murder case, Cassidy was to testify that her husband was alive and healthy before Oct. 31, 2007, when Lewis shot him during the robbery of a North Philadelphia doughnut shop.

Instead, under questioning by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Selber, Cassidy digressed into what was more akin to a victim-impact statement -- testimony given during the sentencing hearing.

Defense attorney Bernard L. Siegel objected, but Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart refused to interrupt Cassidy by ruling on the objection.

Cassidy testified for about 10 minutes, talking about her 26-year marriage to the veteran officer, their three children, family traditions, and how Halloween was her husband's favorite holiday.

As she spoke, the heavyset, baby-face Lewis removed his glasses, and his head sank to the table.

Cassidy described a last cell-phone call to her husband, about 40 minutes before he was shot, and then the "sick feeling" when she heard a newscast about an officer "shot in the head at Broad and 66th." "I knew that was Chuck's area," Cassidy said.

Lewis suddenly sat upright and called out his apology.

The courtroom dissolved, with the families of victim and accused in tears and some of the large audience of police angry that Lewis had interrupted his victim's widow.

"Thank you, John," sobbed Lynn Dyches, Lewis' mother and a Philadelphia prisons correctional officer. "You did the right thing." Lewis' outburst was a final surprise in a trial that began last Thursday with his unexpected guilty plea to a general charge of murder, six armed robberies, and gun charges.

After about five minutes, the courtroom doors opened and the crowd divided as Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey escorted Cassidy and her family to their seats.

When the trial resumed, Assistant District Attorney Edward Cameron announced the end of the prosecution case in a murder trial that could end in the death penalty.

Cameron was followed by defense attorney Michael Coard, who opened and closed his case with no witnesses and three words: "The defense rests." This morning, Coard and Cameron will make their closing arguments to the jury of 12 and four alternates, who were picked over four days after affirming they were willing to consider imposing the death penalty if they found Lewis guilty of first-degree murder.

A verdict of first-degree murder -- a premeditated, malicious killing -- would take the trial into a new phase, in which both sides would present evidence about whether Lewis should be put to death or sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole.

A verdict of second-degree murder -- a killing during another felony crime -- carries an automatic term of life in prison without parole.

Jurors also heard from eyewitnesses in the six armed robberies Lewis committed two years ago.

The first was the Sept. 18, 2007, robbery of the Dunkin' Donuts at 6620 N. Broad St. in West Oak Lane. Chuck Cassidy was among the officers who responded to the employees' 911 calls.

The last was Oct. 31, 2007, at the same doughnut shop. Cassidy, 54, a 25-year police veteran, had stopped by during a routine patrol stop.

Jurors watched the security video of the killing, which shows Lewis in the midst of the holdup when he turns, spots Cassidy, and shoots him once in the head.

Though Cassidy was not pronounced dead until 9:40 a.m. Nov. 1, 2007, Philadelphia Assistant Medical Examiner Edwin Lieberman testified yesterday that Cassidy's brain had ceased functioning the moment Lewis' hollow-point 9mm bullet pierced his forehead.

"There was no brain function on his arrival" at the emergency room, Lieberman told the jury. "He was barely breathing and on a respirator." Contact staff writer Joseph A. Slobodzian at 215-854-2985 or jslobodzian@phillynews.com.

To see more of The Philadelphia Inquirer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.philly.com/inquirer. Copyright (c) 2009, The Philadelphia Inquirer Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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