Rick Dean
Registered
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http://www.detnews.com/2004/metro/0406/18/b08-187735.htm
Friday, June 18, 2004
Retrial possible in 1993 slaying
LANSING --A lower court must determine if a man convicted of killing a Grand Rapids millionaire should be granted a new trial, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.
The court, in an opinion released Wednesday, affirmed the first-degree murder conviction of Pietro Terrell for fatally shooting Robert Fryling, 65, in 1993. But it also remanded the case to a trial court, citing Terrell's claim that a witness had recanted his testimony.
Eddie Crump was
in jail with Terrell and testified that Terrell, a pimp, told him of a plan to rob a millionaire client, the appeals court said. The court said Terrell did not learn of Crump's recantation until May 1.
A manifest injustice results when a defendant c
annot move for a new trial just because he has not learned of a recantation before a time limit has passed, the court wrote.
Several witnesses testified during Terrell's four-week trial that Fryling regularly cruised the city's seediest areas for prostitutes. That was how he met Terrell.
Terrell's attorneys appealed his conviction on the grounds that jury selection was unfairly conducted, citing a study that found minorities were underrepresented on Kent County juries. They also argued that the judge should have changed the trial's venue because of pretrial publicity.
The appeals court rejected both arguments.
Fryling's in-laws, Clarence and Emma Ley of White Cloud, discovered his body on the floor of his breakfast nook ear
ly on Aug. 18, 1993.
He was shot once in the abdomen and once in the back of the head, execution-style. His dog, Whitney, was shot four times and found dead near Fryling's bedroom.
L
ife
in prison without parole is the mandatory sentence for a first-deg
ree murder conviction in Michigan.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1...02&nav=0RceNqh7
Robert Fryling
Pietro Terrell
Eddie Crump
Ch
ristina VanMeter
A retrial is possible in Fryling murder case
(Grand Rapids, June 11, 2004, 12:40 p.m.) An appeals court says there ought to be a hearing where a judge
will de
cide whether to retry Pietro Terrell for the 1993 murder of Robert Fryling. That, as a witness says the suspect never confessed to the crime. But a couple of people involved in the case say it won't make a difference.
Eddie Crump swore to tell the truth when he took the stand in 2002. Crump, w
ho was behind bars for kidnapping, carjacking, drugs, and rape, shared a cell with Pietro Terrell at the Kent County Jail. He told the jury Terrell confessed to killing Robert Fryling. Defense attorneys accused him of making it up, as did other inmates, who told the jury that Crump was looking out for himself.
Now, Crump says they were right. He says prosecutors offered him a shorter sentence if he would help make their case.
The foreman of the jury, Ed Ross, remembers Crump. But even if Crump changed
his story, Ross says it's not enough to make him change his mind. "The fact of the matter is it wasn't his testimony that sealed the deal for us. It was Christine and so
me of the o
ther people there," says Ross.
"Christine" is Christina VanMeter, the prosecution's star witness. She told the jury she served as the lookout when Terrell killed Fryling.
Prosecutors say they're not surprised and not worried about a judge ordering a retrial, because before ruling on whether it might have made
a difference, the judge will decide whether Crump's new story is even true.
Prosecutors deny any wrongdoing and say Crump is changing his story now because he isn't happy with his deal. Crump eventually pled guilty to kidnapping and rape. He will be behind bars until at least August 2011 or as late as August 2021.
http://www.detnews.com/2004/metro/0406/18/b08-187735.htm
Friday, June 18, 2004
Retrial possible in 1993 slaying
LANSING --A lower court must determine if a man convicted of killing a Grand Rapids millionaire should be granted a new trial, the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.
The court, in an opinion released Wednesday, affirmed the first-degree murder conviction of Pietro Terrell for fatally shooting Robert Fryling, 65, in 1993. But it also remanded the case to a trial court, citing Terrell's claim that a witness had recanted his testimony.
Eddie Crump was
in jail with Terrell and testified that Terrell, a pimp, told him of a plan to rob a millionaire client, the appeals court said. The court said Terrell did not learn of Crump's recantation until May 1.
A manifest injustice results when a defendant c
annot move for a new trial just because he has not learned of a recantation before a time limit has passed, the court wrote.
Several witnesses testified during Terrell's four-week trial that Fryling regularly cruised the city's seediest areas for prostitutes. That was how he met Terrell.
Terrell's attorneys appealed his conviction on the grounds that jury selection was unfairly conducted, citing a study that found minorities were underrepresented on Kent County juries. They also argued that the judge should have changed the trial's venue because of pretrial publicity.
The appeals court rejected both arguments.
Fryling's in-laws, Clarence and Emma Ley of White Cloud, discovered his body on the floor of his breakfast nook ear
ly on Aug. 18, 1993.
He was shot once in the abdomen and once in the back of the head, execution-style. His dog, Whitney, was shot four times and found dead near Fryling's bedroom.
L
ife
in prison without parole is the mandatory sentence for a first-deg
ree murder conviction in Michigan.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1...02&nav=0RceNqh7
Robert Fryling
Pietro Terrell
Eddie Crump
Ch
ristina VanMeter
A retrial is possible in Fryling murder case
(Grand Rapids, June 11, 2004, 12:40 p.m.) An appeals court says there ought to be a hearing where a judge
will de
cide whether to retry Pietro Terrell for the 1993 murder of Robert Fryling. That, as a witness says the suspect never confessed to the crime. But a couple of people involved in the case say it won't make a difference.
Eddie Crump swore to tell the truth when he took the stand in 2002. Crump, w
ho was behind bars for kidnapping, carjacking, drugs, and rape, shared a cell with Pietro Terrell at the Kent County Jail. He told the jury Terrell confessed to killing Robert Fryling. Defense attorneys accused him of making it up, as did other inmates, who told the jury that Crump was looking out for himself.
Now, Crump says they were right. He says prosecutors offered him a shorter sentence if he would help make their case.
The foreman of the jury, Ed Ross, remembers Crump. But even if Crump changed
his story, Ross says it's not enough to make him change his mind. "The fact of the matter is it wasn't his testimony that sealed the deal for us. It was Christine and so
me of the o
ther people there," says Ross.
"Christine" is Christina VanMeter, the prosecution's star witness. She told the jury she served as the lookout when Terrell killed Fryling.
Prosecutors say they're not surprised and not worried about a judge ordering a retrial, because before ruling on whether it might have made
a difference, the judge will decide whether Crump's new story is even true.
Prosecutors deny any wrongdoing and say Crump is changing his story now because he isn't happy with his deal. Crump eventually pled guilty to kidnapping and rape. He will be behind bars until at least August 2011 or as late as August 2021.