Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — An Allegheny County judge erred in overturning the conviction of Greg Brown on charges of setting a 1995 fire at his Brushton home that killed three Pittsburgh firefighters, the Allegheny County district attorney’s office argued before a panel of state Superior Court judges on Monday.
Assistant District Attorney Rebecca G. McBride argued that Allegheny County Judge Joseph K. Williams III should not have granted Brown a new trial in February because his petition for post-conviction relief was not filed in a timely manner. Moreover, she told the Superior Court judges, even if his claim were true — that newly discovered evidence showed two key prosecution witnesses lied about being paid for their testimony — it would not have been enough to have changed the jury’s opinion to find Brown guilty.
Defense attorney David B. Fawcett said after the hearing that he told the panel such arguments were specious.
“If the jury had heard the real facts, they would never have convicted,” he said he told the judges. “You cannot have confidence in a jury verdict where witnesses are being paid and the jury doesn’t know of it.”
Brown was found guilty in 1997 of second-degree murder, arson and conspiracy and sentenced to three consecutive life prison terms.
In 2010, attorneys for Brown filed a petition for post-conviction relief, alleging they had newly discovered evidence that two key witnesses lied on the stand by testifying they were not promised any financial benefit. They were subsequently paid a total of $15,000 by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The Superior Court panel of judges Chistine L. Donohue, Cheryl Lynn Allen and John T. Bender will issue a ruling based on briefs and the oral arguments.
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