The attorney representing one woman accused of perjury in the
case of convicted cop-killer Timothy Williams said the charge
against his client should be dismissed because the judge in that
case ruled he believed Becky Lucrezi Olson said she killed the Kane
Borough Police officer.

Marian Nersinger of Kent, N.Y., was charged with perjury after
her testimony last July in a Post-Conviction Relief Act hearing
when she testified that Olson admitted she – and not Williams –
shot Kane Borough Police Officer Steve Jerman in February 1999.
Olson was a passenger in and owner of the car driven by
Williams.

Now, Sam Stretton, the attorney who represents Williams,
Nersinger and Michelle Nelson, another witness charged with
perjury, claims the charge against Nersinger should be dropped.
Stretton reasons that since Clarion County Judge Charles Alexander,
in denying a new trial for Williams, found that Olson did say she
shot Jerman on several occasions, then Nersinger can’t be charged
with perjury.

“Judge Alexander … found that Becky Lucrezi had repeatedly made
statements that she shot the police officer,” Stretton said in his
motion filed in McKean County Court.

“This finding of credibility is the exact issue which Ms.
Nersinger is being charged with,” Stretton wrote. “Based on Judge
Alexander’s finding and the fact that the Commonwealth was a party
to that proceeding, the Commonwealth should be estopped from
charging Ms. Nersinger.”

Stretton contends the Rules of Collateral Estoppel prevents a
question of law or an issue of fact if it was already decided in a
previous case. In this case, since Alexander said he believed
Lucrezi did state on several occasions that she shot Jerman, then
Nersinger could not be charged with perjury, the West Chester
lawyer said.

“The issue in the prior case is identical to the one presented
in the present case, i.e., whether Becky Lucrezi made the admission
that she shot the police officer.

“The Commonwealth was a party in the prior proceeding. There was
a full opportunity to litigate the issue before Judge Alexander,”
Stretton said. “The determination of what Becky Lucrezi said was an
important part of the decision making of Judge Alexander.”

In his December memorandum that accompanied the order, Alexander
wrote, “I do believe that multiple witnesses did hear Becky Lucrezi
say that she shot the police officer or made statements that
inferentially indicated that she had pulled the trigger.”

Alexander, however, did not review the testimony of each
individual witness. He did mention Nersinger in his memorandum to
point out the zeal the district attorney’s office showed in the
case.

“(Nersinger) was not a good witness, but I found her testimony
no more unbelievable than I did the testimony of a Commonwealth
witness who testified in the original trial,” Alexander wrote,
referring to testimony by Kalub Hanchett, who said he heard
Williams say two months before the shooting that he’d like to kill
a cop.

“One thing different about the testimony of Mr. Hanchett as
compared to the testimony of Ms. Nersinger is that there were no
other witnesses to corroborate Mr. Hanchett by saying that they had
ever heard the Defendant make such a statement,” Alexander wrote in
a footnote in the memorandum. “Ms. Nersinger’s testimony has been
corroborated to some extent by the fact that many witnesses have
reported a similar statement, albeit at a different time and
place.”

No date has been set to hear Nersinger’s motion to dismiss.

Williams was convicted of third-degree murder, recklessly
endangering another person and illegally possessing a firearm. He
is currently serving a 22 to 47 year sentence in state prison.

A preliminary hearing for Nelson is set for March 15 before
District Judge William Todd.