PA appeals court orders new trial for Centre County man, blasting former judge, DA
A Pennsylvania appeals court on Wednesday ordered a new trial for a man convicted of attempted homicide in a 2009 shooting, issuing a scathing rebuke of a former Centre County judge and prosecutor over undisclosed text messages during his trial.
A divided three-judge state Superior Court panel found the text messages between former Centre County Judge Bradley Lunsford and District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller undermined the integrity of Randall D. Brooks’ trial and amounted to a structural constitutional violation.
“In light of the absolute prohibition against ex parte communications, the blatant disregard for the ethical rules governing the conduct of the two parties whose responsibility it is to ensure a trial that comports with due process is both abhorrent and violative of due process,” state Superior Court President Judge Anne E. Lazarus wrote on behalf of the majority.
“This Court cannot allow a verdict reached under these circumstances to stand; to do so would render us complicit in the bad acts of both the prosecutor and the trial judge.”
Brooks’ case was one of several that touched of years of controversy in Centre County’s legal community. Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna succeeded Parks Miller after an intense campaign centered on restoring public trust in the office.
Prosecutors are weighing whether to appeal, Cantorna told the Centre Daily Times. He expressed confidence the convictions of Brooks, 53, of Howard, would have stood had Lunsford and Parks Miller not violated his right to due process.
“Ethics and fairness are fundamental to what a prosecutor does,” Cantorna told the CDT. “... This was overturned for one reason only.”
A text message left with Parks Miller was not immediately returned and an attempt to reach Lunsford was unsuccessful.
A jury found Brooks guilty in 2012 of attempted homicide and other charges for the shooting of his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. He was accused of firing three shots into the man’s vehicle, one of which struck him in the shoulder.
Other charges alleged Brooks stalked and harassed the couple prior to and after the shooting. He was sentenced to 27 1/4 to 54 1/2 years in prison and is incarcerated at Huntingdon state prison.
A Centre County court reporter later signed an affidavit alleging Lunsford told her he and Parks Miller were texting one another during the trial. The majority on the state Superior Court panel said there was evidence Parks Miller complained to Lunsford during the trial about his handling of objections.
Even without the specifics of the messages, Lazarus wrote the probability of unfairness and bias is “simply too great under the circumstances.”
Defense lawyer Julian Allatt told the CDT the evidence supporting Brooks’ claims was developed with the help of attorneys and witnesses who were willing to speak openly, often at “significant personal and professional cost.”
“This decision is a vindication of those efforts and an important reaffirmation that criminal convictions must be obtained in a system that is not only fair, but visibly fair,” Allatt said in an email. “The opinion speaks for itself, and we are gratified that, after years of litigation, the appellate court addressed these issues and the conduct involved directly.”
In her dissent, Superior Court Judge Mary Jane Bowes said Lunsford and Parks Miller “violated public trust and dishonored the legal profession and their respective offices.” Still, she found that Brooks failed to show the messages affected the outcome or influenced Lunsford’s decisions.
Parks Miller ultimately had her law license suspended for a year and a day. Lunsford retired in 2015.