Ex-Saul Ewing Partner Loses New Trial Bid in Killing of Mistress
A federal judge has refused to grant a new trial to Thomas Capano, a former partner at Saul Ewing in Delaware who was convicted of murdering his mistress in 1996.
Thomas Capano had argued he deserved a new trial because jurors were never given the option of convicting him of a lesser charge such as manslaughter or second-degree murder, the Legal Intelligencer reports. He had testified that Anne Marie Fahey was accidentally shot as he tried take a gun away from a second mistress who was threatening to kill herself.
But Chief U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III of Philadelphia said Capano’s account didn’t support an option of a lesser charge.
“The record is entirely devoid of any evidence supporting a finding that Capano killed Fahey as a result of recklessness, extreme emotional disturbance, or criminal negligence,” Bartle wrote. “While the jury was free to disbelieve the state’s evidence, it was not free to create a scenario with no factual support to convict on a lesser included charge.”
Bartle was assigned the case after three of the district judges in Delaware recused themselves, the Delaware News Journal reports. Bartle also refused to issue a certificate of appealability, which means Capano will have to overcome an additional hurdle to persuade the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case, the story says.
