Packer could face death penalty if convicted, lawyer says
Sara Packer's attorneys expect Bucks County prosecutors to seek the death penalty if she is convicted on charges she raped and killed her adopted daughter, one of them said Wednesday.
Sara Packer's attorneys expect Bucks County prosecutors to seek the death penalty if she is convicted on charges she raped and killed her adopted daughter, one of them said Wednesday.
Prosecutors have not filed any such notice, "but based on the charges," attorney John J. Fioravanti Jr. said, he and cocounsel Keith J. Williams are preparing for the case as if they will.
Following standard procedures in such cases, the court agreed to appoint two lawyers for Packer, who is accused of conspiring with her boyfriend to rape and murder 14-year-old Grace Packer.
Williams will focus on "the guilt phase of the trial," Fioravanti said, and he would handle the penalty phase if Packer is convicted.
Bucks County District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub declined Wednesday to say if he would file a death-penalty notice. He noted that he would not have to do so until Packer is arraigned. But, he said, "there are certain elements of the case which would warrant death-penalty consideration."
Packer is jailed without bail in Bucks County prison and is under a suicide watch, Williams said. The lawyers met with her Tuesday.
"She seemed much better than the first time we met her," Williams said. "Obviously, every day she's got to cope with it and she didn't seem suicidal any more to me, but you know that's a fragile thing."
Packer has a history of mental-health issues dating to childhood, Williams said.
He said she had been "used and manipulated" by her ex-husband, David Packer, who was convicted and sent to prison in 2011 for abusing Grace Packer and another foster child in his home.
Williams said the lawyers would seek to sever Packer's case from that of her boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan, who is jailed on the same charges. Sullivan is represented by a public defender.
Whether Sullivan manipulated Packer is "clearly a possibility," Williams said.
"There's a lot to look into in her past relationships," Fioravanti said.
Packer is "very devastated" by the charges and upset by Grace's death, the attorneys said.
But, Fioravanti added, "she's very easy to represent. Very cooperative."
Packer and Sullivan's preliminary hearing, which had been scheduled for Friday, has been postponed until Feb. 24.
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