Delaware County Daily Times - Nov 14, 2000 Article

Rivera will go to trial

Delaware County Daily Times (Primos - Upper Darby, PA) - Tuesday, November 14, 2000

Author: MARLENE DiGIACOMO ; Of the Times Staff

MEDIA COURTHOUSE -- Robert Rivera will not receive a get-out-of-jail-free card and will stand trial for the forcible abduction and apparent killing of his 20-month-old daughter Katelyn Selena Rivera -Helton.

A three-judge panel ruled yesterday that the case against the 34-year-old Rivera , of Upper Chichester, will move forward to trial on charges he kidnapped and killed his daughter to gain revenge on the child's mother, Jennifer Helton.

Helton and Rivera were locked in a bitter custody fight at the time Rivera is accused of swooping in -- breaking a door and several locks in the process -- and kidnapping the youngster from her day-care providers' home 15 months ago. The baby has not been seen since that Aug. 10, 1999, date.

"The defendant's actions around the time of the seizure of the baby coincide with a motivation and inclination for ( Rivera ) to lash out at people he perceived to be in a league with his ex-girlfriend. All of this leads the court to the conclusion that the very low burden regarding the existence of a prima facie case of the crimes charged have been established," wrote a three-judge panel.

The extraordinary action of having three judges hear arguments in the case was taken because of the unusual circumstances surrounding the case in which there is no body and no testimony concerning how the child was killed. No trial date has yet been set.

The opinion handed down yesterday by Judges Charles C. Keeler, Frank T. Hazel and Joseph Cronin denies motions filed by defense attorney G. Guy Smith to have the charges against Rivera tossed.

Smith contended that insufficient evidence was presented at Rivera 's preliminary hearing and the murder case should not proceed.

"The last sighting of this child, she was alive, well and healthy," Smith argued during the Oct. 24 hearing. "There is no body and nobody to say she was hurt, harmed or suffering."

"It is my position that the Commonwealth should be stopped from proceeding," said Smith.

The court ruled otherwise. The panel also concluded that Delaware County has jurisdiction in the case since the abduction began in the county and that "path led to the child's complete disappearance."

The panel further determined that Rivera should face a kidnapping offense, despite changes in the law that pertain to the specific circumstances of a parent being charged for taking his own child.

"Couched in its simplest terms," the court wrote, "May a parent, by virtue of his or her relationship to the child, be permitted to use any force to seize control of the child and thereafter maintain the child in his or her exclusive control, to the exclusion of all other adults and for any nefarious purpose, without fear of being charged with kidnapping?

"Given the potential for the grave results which might obtain, we find it difficult to assume that the legislature gave parents a ‘Get out of Jail Free Card' for this egregious form of misbehavior."

Deputy District Attorney John Reilly Jr. had argued during a hearing last month that the evidence showed Rivera killed his daughter out of spite because he sought revenge on her mother.

Reilly who recently became county court administration is not able to continue as prosecutor in the case. Assistant District Attorney John F.X. Reilly -- who is no relation -- has been named by District Attorney Patrick Meehan to pick up the case.

Meehan declined comment yesterday citing a judge's order prohibiting comments, because of the potential for tainting prospective jurors.

Judge Keeler, who is handling the case, still has to rule on several outstanding defense motions. Among them are whether a jury is to be selected from outside Delaware County, as well as if statements Rivera allegedly made should be suppressed. Rivera allegedly made statements about his daughter, where she is, and what happened to her to prison inmates and Lt. David Peifer, of the county Criminal Investigation Division.

The three-judge panel based its ruling that probable causes existed on matters that are not related to the statement issues.

"Here, without resorting to any of the statements made by ( Rivera ), the court finds that sufficient facts have been presented (at the preliminary hearing level) to establish the commission of all the crimes charged and that the defendant was the perpetrator."

Reilly is expected to base a large part of his case at trial on statements that witnesses allege came from Rivera 's own mouth. Rivera was quoted as telling Helton she is "never going to see Katelyn again" and that she should "consider Katelyn dead."

Peifer also has stated that when he asked Rivera where Katelyn was, the defendant replied, "If I told you, I would spend the rest of my life in jail."