Judge recuses herself in beating case against 2 cops
A Municipal Court judge yesterday recused herself in the high-profile, hot-potato criminal case of two Philly cops accused of beating a graffiti vandal.
A Municipal Court judge yesterday recused herself in the high-profile, hot-potato criminal case of two Philly cops accused of beating a graffiti vandal.
Prompting a postponement, Judge Marsha Neifield, a 10-year veteran of the bench, said that she didn't feel comfortable presiding over the case because she knows Officers Sheldon Fitzgerald and Howard Hill III from seeing them around the justice complex, including in her courtroom as witnesses for prosecutors.
Fitzgerald and Hill, both 30, are charged with aggravated assault, a first-degree felony, and related offenses in connection with a nighttime encounter with David Vernitsky on Aug. 26, 2007.
Prosecutors allege that Fitzgerald and Hill repeatedly punched and kicked Vernitsky, breaking his jaw, after catching him spray-painting a congratulatory message to a newlywed couple on a wall in North Philly. The officers then released Vernitsky, 36, and falsified their patrol log to make it appear as if they were elsewhere at the time, prosecutors claim.
The judge's recusal came at a scheduled preliminary hearing in which Neifield was slated to decide whether to hold the officers for trial. More than a dozen officers showed up to support Fitzgerald and Hill, both five-year veterans from the 25th District, headquartered at Whitaker Avenue near Erie.
Assistant District Attorney Meriah Russell said that she intends to file a motion seeking an out-of-county judge to hear the case. Neifield set an Oct. 10 status hearing.
John McGrody, a vice president for Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police, said that he was unhappy about the delay.
"We think Philadelphia police officers, when accused of something, should have a speedy, quick and impartial resolution and not be held out to dry for so long," McGrody said.
In May, Fitzgerald and Hill were suspended without pay and later fired. *
