MEADVILLE —
A judge will decide if color photographs of a local man shotgunned to death in his home are too graphic for a jury to see.
Lawyers defending accused murder Patricia Oliver say the pictures of her dead husband will be so upsetting to the jurors that they will be unable to render an unbiased verdict.
Prosecutors claim the photos are not that upsetting.
Crawford County Court of Common Pleas Judge John Spataro heard from both sides on Thursday. He must also determine how much, if any, information about 63-year-old Anthony D. Oliver’s record as a sex offender the jury will be allowed to hear during his wife’s trial.
Spataro issued no ruling Thursday, but must do so soon if the trial is to proceed next week as planned.
Pennsylvania State Police allege Mrs. Oliver, 54, shot her husband in the chest just before 10 a.m. Oct. 5, 2010, with a single-barrel 12-gauge shotgun during a domestic dispute at their Hayfield Township home on South Norrisville Road.
Police allege Mrs. Oliver shot her husband in the bedroom of their home after, she allegedly told them, Mr. Oliver had gone into the bedroom and called her derogatory names. Police allege Mrs. Oliver reached under the couple’s bed, pulled out a shotgun that was kept under the bed, and then shot him once.
As part of their investigation, police took pictures of the scene and of Mr. Oliver.
Jeff Misko, an assistant county public defender representing Oliver, argued the admission of photographs were irrelevant and the admission of color photographs of Mr. Oliver at the scene would “inflame the passions of the jury,” prejudicing the jury against his client. Misko argued diagrams of the home, its layout and where Mr. Oliver was found could be used instead.
Doug Ferguson, the assistant district attorney who will prosecute the case, argued the photos are relevant, and not inflammatory since they show nearly no blood and only the final position of the victim.
Judge Spataro also will have to rule on how much of a previous conviction of Mr. Oliver’s to allow at trial.
Mrs. Oliver’s husband was a convicted sex offender, according to the Pennsylvania State Police Megan’s Law website — a public registry of convicted sex offenders.
He was convicted on a charge of sexual abuse in July 2004 in New York, according to the website.
In early October 2010 following the shooting incident, The Niagara Falls, N.Y., Gazette, reported Anthony D. Oliver was a retired traffic officer for the Niagara Falls Police Department. After retiring from the force around 16 years ago, according to the Gazette, he took a management position with a western New York-based solid waste disposal service and was tried in 2004 following reports of sexual improprieties.
Mr. Oliver pleaded guilty that year to a charge of sexual abuse stemming from the employment incident, according to the Gazette.
Last month, Judge Spataro denied a defense motion to suppress Mrs. Oliver’s alleged confession to police.
The ruling by Spataro found Mrs. Oliver did knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waive her rights to be interviewed by police following her arrest and fully comprehended the nature of her actions, “despite her extreme emotional state.”
Mrs. Oliver remains in the Crawford County jail where she has been held without bond since her arrest on Oct. 5, 2010.
Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.
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Death scene photos may be kept from jury in Oliver trial
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