Attorneys for former police officer Ryan Pownall, who is charged with murder in connection with a 2017 on-duty shooting in Feltonville, are pushing to move his trial out of Philadelphia or bring in an out-of-town jury.
Fortunato “Fred” Perri Jr. and Charles Gibbs, who are representing Pownall, claimed during a hearing last week that the volume of the case’s news coverage and its “sensational” nature has made it impossible for the ex-cop to have a fair trial in Philadelphia.
They presented Court of Common Pleas Judge Barbara McDermott with a binder full of reports from national and local media outlets, including the Northeast Times.
Assistant District Attorney Tracy Tripp objected to the change-of-venue motion. She said the DA’s Office also conducted a survey of the news coverage surrounding the Pownall case.
“I think it’s balanced,” Tripp said. “I don’t think it’s a problem.”
Pownall’s legal team said the court could conduct a poll to see how the media reports have influenced city residents. Random panels would be called in and asked if they have heard about the case and whether they have a fixed opinion on it.
Similar polls have been conducted in Allegheny, Clinton, Beaver and Schuylkill counties in high-profile cases, Gibbs said, but never in Philadelphia.
“I’m open to that… but I haven’t in any way made a decision,” McDermott said.
Tripp said the panels may not be necessary if the court reviews the articles and determines that they are not slanted.
She also suggested a non-disclosure order could be issued to negate any effect of news reports during Pownall’s proceedings.
“I am reluctant to do any type of gag order at this point,” McDermott responded. “I think there’s a fundamental right to a public trial.”
McDermott did not rule on the motion for a change of venue or out-of-town jury and asked Tripp and Pownall’s legal team to return May 24 to argue the matter in full. Pownall’s trial is scheduled for January 2020.
Pownall, 36, who attended the hearing, is facing a third-degree murder charge and other counts for the June 8, 2017, killing of David Jones, 30, near the intersection of Whitaker and Hunting Park avenues.
The case has been highly-publicized. Black Lives Matters protestors demonstrated outside Pownall’s Bustleton home and the 15th Police District, where he was stationed, in the aftermath of the shooting.
In October, a judge, in front of a courtroom packed with Pownall supporters and members of the Jones family, downgraded his murder charged from first degree to third degree. Pownall has been free on bail since.
Pownall was in the process of transporting a man and two children to the Special Victims Unit when he stopped Jones, who was riding a dirt bike.
He frisked Jones and felt a gun, according to a grand jury report leading to the murder charges. During a physical altercation, Pownall reportedly tried to fire his gun but it jammed. Jones, who threw his gun away during the confrontation, was able to break free, and he ran away from Pownall, the report says.
The report found that Pownall fired his gun at least three times and hit Jones twice in the back. Jones’ gun was found about 25 feet from Pownall in the opposite direction from where Jones was running, according to the grand jury.
In September 2017, Police Commissioner Richard Ross announced Pownall’s suspension with intent to dismiss.
Pownall’s attorneys and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 President John McNesby have maintained that the shooting was not a crime. ••
Jack Tomczuk can be reached at [email protected].
