The attorney for two New York women convicted of perjury in
relation to the Timothy Williams murder case is asking for the
cases to be dismissed, citing a “breakdown in the court system” for
the lengthy wait for transcripts related to the case.

Sam Stretton, the West Chester attorney representing Marian Kay
Nersinger and Michelle Lynn Nelson, filed a motion Tuesday in
McKean County Court to dismiss the cases against both women.

In the motion, Stretton says that the two women stood trial from
May 1 to May 5; a hearing was held in June on a motion for
extraordinary relief “due to allegations of the serious issue of
trial error;” and despite repeated requests, the transcripts have
yet to be available.

“As a result, the case cannot proceed forward,” Stretton argues.
“The court reporter has left the county and was ordered to submit
the notes by Dec. 8, 2006, but the notes of testimony for either
the trial or the post-trial hearings have not been submitted.”

And the right of Nersinger and Nelson to a speedy trial
continues, Stretton said. In a phone conversation with The Era
Wednesday, he explained, “Even though (Nelson and Nersinger) had
their trial, they haven’t been sentenced. The right to a speedy
trial continues.”

The long delay in sentencing counts towards that, he said.

“We have motions that are pending … everyone’s waiting for those
notes,” Stretton added.

Expressing some frustration about the delay, Stretton said that
unfortunately, he’s seen it happen before.

“There’s some Third Circuit cases where they’ve dismissed cases
because of what they call a breakdown in the court system,” he
said. “So yes, it’s happened before, but it’s quite rare.”

In Stretton’s motion, he goes on to say that the failure of
former court reporter Diane Cheatle to complete her work before
relocating from the area suggests that the transcripts in this case
“will never be prepared on a timely basis.”

Cheatle was ordered to appear before President Judge John
Cleland in November and show cause why she should not be held in
contempt of court for failing to complete outstanding work. She was
ultimately held in contempt and ordered to complete all outstanding
work, providing the court with a time line of when that work would
be completed.

It was not immediately clear Wednesday when the transcripts in
the Nersinger and Nelson cases are supposed to be turned in.

“There has been a total breakdown in the court system as a
result of the court reporter’s inability to prepare the notes of
testimony, even under the threat of Court order and contempt,”
Stretton wrote in his motion, adding the delay is an injustice to
his clients.

He asked for a dismissal of the charges in both cases.

Stretton said a hearing is scheduled for Feb. 2 in the
matter.

Nelson and Nersinger were both convicted of perjury for lying
during a Post Conviction relief Act hearing for Williams, who was
convicted in 1999 of killing Kane Borough Police Officer Steve
Jerman during a traffic stop. Both women had said that Becky
Lucrezi-Olson, who was in the car with Williams during the traffic
stop, had said she shot Jerman and that Williams was convicted of
the crime instead.

The subsequent hearing held in June was in regards to testimony
by several people present at the trial that a prosecution witness
may have communicated with a member of the jury while the attorneys
were speaking to Judge John Yoder.

The attorneys – Stretton and District Attorney John Pavlock –
were to have filed briefs arguing their cases within 15 days after
the transcripts in the case were filed with the court.