Testimony ends in trial of accused cop killers

Testimony in the trial of two men charged with murder in the May 3, 2008 killing of Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski ended Thursday with four prosecution witnesses recounting the criminal past of defendant Eric DeShann Floyd.

Assistant District Attorney Jude Conroy called them to rebut Floyd's testimony the previous day, when he denied any involvement in the officer's shooting or the bank robbery that led up to it.

Floyd, 35, of North Philadelphia, and Levon T. Warner, 41, of West Philadelphia, could face the death penalty if the Common Pleas Court jury convicts them of first-degree murder.

Howard Cain, 33, mastermind of the bank robbery and the person who actually shot Liczbinski, was himself killed by police later that day.

On Friday, the jury is to return to the Criminal Justice Center to hear closing arguments by Floyd's attorney, Earl G. Kauffman; W. Fred Harrison Jr., one of Warner's attorneys, and Conroy.

Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes told the jurors they will begin deliberations Monday after she instructs them in the law regarding homicide, conspiracy and robbery.

On Thursday, the four prosecution rebuttal witnesses included three victims of Floyd's previous crimes and a former girlfriend who was an accomplice in a 2000 robbery. All challenged the credibility of Floyd, who, unlike Warner, chose to testify in his own defense.

The Constitution gives a criminal defendant the right not to testify, or present any evidence. The judge instructs jurors not to draw adverse inferences from the decision.

However, by testifying Wednesday in his own defense - his one and only appearance before the jury - Floyd opened himself to questioning by the prosecutor. Conroy also got the opportunity to tell the jury of Floyd's criminal record and conduct.

Floyd had been barred from his trial since the start of jury selection on June 9. Angry because the judge would not let him represent himself, he had punched out Kauffman's co-counsel, William L. Bowe. Floyd has watched the trial on closed circuit television in a nearby holding cell.

Floyd spent a contentious 30 minutes on the witness stand Wednesday - balking at answering Conroy's questions, and denying being present when Liczbinski was killed or during the preceding armed robbery of a Port Richmond bank.

On Thursday, Conroy introduced into evidence Floyd's criminal record, which included a five-to-10-year prison term for three armed robberies and one theft at Lancaster County convenience stores in 2000 and 2001.

The jury also heard an additional part of the statement Floyd gave homicide detectives after he was arrested May 8, 2008 in the Liczbinski killing. Along with admitting his role in the bank robbery and shooting of Liczbinski, Floyd said that he "wanted to get it all over with and tell everything I did."

Among the crimes he admitted were an April 10, 2008 home invasion in Germantown with Cain and a May 1, 2008 armed robbery with Cain of a Southwest Philadelphia real estate office.

In the latter robbery, Floyd and Cain dressed in women's Muslim robes and veils identical to those worn by the bank robbers minutes before Liczbinski's shooting.

Floyd had told the jury he never made those confessions and that detectives manufactured them.