Delaware County Daily Times - Oct 6, 2000 Article

Three-judge panel weighs case against Katelyn's dad

Delaware County Daily Times (Primos - Upper Darby, PA) - Friday, October 6, 2000

Author: MARLENE DiGIACOMO ; Of the Times Staff

MEDIA COURTHOUSE -- The unique legal issues surrounding the disappearance and apparent death of 20-month-old Katelyn Selena Rivera -Helton will go before a three-judge panel of the Delaware County Court. Judge Charles C. Keeler confirmed that judges Frank T. Hazel and Joseph Cronin will sit with him to hear pretrial arguments tentatively set for 9 a.m Oct. 24. The arguments will center on whether the prosecution has sufficient grounds to bring Rivera to trial on charges he killed his daughter 14 months ago. Her body has not been found. A handful of murder convictions in Pennsylvania have been brought in by juries across the state in cases where a victim's body was not discovered, including the 1977 conviction of Robert Nauss, now 47, of Upper Darby. A Delaware County jury found Nauss, a member of the Warlocks motorcycle gang, guilty in the hanging death of 21-year-old Elizabeth Lande, whose remains were never found. However, in that case testimony was presented from a witness who saw Lande's body hanging in a loft. Media attorney G. Guy Smith, who is representing Rivera , has filed motions contending there is no evidence that Kateyln is dead – let alone how she died. Smith is seeking to have the murder charges tossed, alleging the commonwealth has failed "to establish even pirma facie evidence that the alleged victim was deceased, much less the cause of the victim's alleged death, the means by which the victim was alleged to have died, the method, the intent or the premeditation.'' Deputy District John Reilly has charged there is sufficient evidence to prove the commonwealth's case, including statements from Rivera to jailhouse witnesses that the child is dead. The defendant has also given conflicting statements about Katelyn 's whereabouts and has long frustrated police. During an earlier pretrial hearing, Reilly presented testimony from a Chadds Ford gas station attendant who testified he saw Rivera roll in about 7 p.m. Aug. 10, 1999 with a child in the passenger seat. About two hours later the witness said Rivera returned looking "sweaty" and bartered $2 worth of gas for his wristwatch. But this time the toddler was not in the car. Rivera is also accused of kidnapping the child earlier that day from her day care provider's home in violation of a court order. Authorities said they searched five states and Puerto Rico with everything from helicopters to cadaver-sniffing dogs and have not found any evidence that Katelyn is alive. Reilly has said that the searches will continue. Keeler said he wants his colleagues to hear the legal arguments from Smith and Reilly, who are under a gag order and cannot comment. "Any time you decide an important issue, you would like to have the advice and expertise of your fellow judges,'' said Keeler. "The best way to do this is to have them sit and listen to the arguments.'' Court observers said this is an unusual but not unprecedented move. Keeler said when he first came on the bench in the 1970s it was normal procedure to have a three-judge panel decide post-sentencing motions. However, he said because of the increased caseload it has not been done in recent years. Attorneys such as Arthur Donato said by convening a three-judge panel the court is taking a "thorough and cautious'' look at all the issues in the case.