Attorneys representing a man accused of setting a fire in 1995 that killed three Pittsburgh firefighters called prosecutors' attempt to get a new judge “pure gamesmanship” in a motion filed Friday.
Gregory Brown, 38, is awaiting a retrial based on evidence that prosecutors didn't share with jurors and the defense that a federal agent and a prosecutor promised two key witnesses cash rewards in exchange for their testimony.
Last month, the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office sought to have Common Pleas Judge Joseph K. Williams III, who granted the retrial, recuse himself because of accusations that he'd written an angry letter when questioned by an ATF agent investigating a carpet store fire in 2004 when Williams was an attorney representing the store's owner. The same agent later attended a 2012 post-conviction hearing for Brown, and Williams asked attorneys to make sure notes the agent was taking wouldn't be shared with other witnesses.
Defense attorney Dave Fawcett said the prosecution's motion to have Williams recused couldn't meet the high legal standard required for a judge to step away from a case, nor was it filed in a timely manner.
“The law is clear that you can't wait to suffer one bad ruling, then come back to ask for recusal,” Fawcett said.
Brown had been serving three consecutive life sentences on three second-degree murder convictions for setting his East Hills home on fire Feb. 14, 1995, to help his mother collect insurance money. Firefighters Patricia Conroy, 43, Marc Kolenda, 27, and Capt. Thomas Brooks, 42, died when an interior stairwell collapsed.