Mistrial sought again in ballpark slaying

A PHILADELPHIA judge is expected to rule this morning on whether to declare a mistrial in the case of three men who are facing charges that they beat a man to death in the parking lot of Citizens Bank Park.

The trial of Francis Kirchner, 30; Charles Bowers, 37, and James Groves, 48, came to an abrupt halt yesterday afternoon when a witness to the July 2009 beating blindsided defense attorneys by identifying Kirchner and Bowers as attackers of victim David Sale, 22.

After emerging from a closed-door meeting with Common Pleas Judge Shelley Robins New, attorneys for the three defendants filed a motion for mistrial because the prosecutor had failed to disclose that the witness was going to make identifications.

Ryan Tulino, the witness, said while being cross-examined by Bowers' attorney, Brian McMonagle, that he was trying to push Bowers away from his stepbrother, Daniel Curran, when he saw Kirchner kick Sale in the neck.

Upon hearing this, the defense attorneys asked for a meeting with the judge.

Sale, Tulino and Curran were part of a bachelor party that clashed with the defendants' larger group, first in the stadium and then at an adjacent bar, McFadden's. Sale was killed in a final fight in the parking lot.

It's the second request for a mistrial for the same reason. On Friday, Kirchner's attorney, Jack McMahon, asked for a mistrial after Curran testified under cross-examination that Kirchner had landed the fatal kick. Like in the case of Tulino, McMahon argued that the prosecutor had failed to disclose that the witness would make an identification.

The judge quickly denied Friday's motion and the trial continued.

"There's a cumulative effect - twice now," McMonagle said of the trial's latest development. "It's very distasteful. Trials are supposed to be up-front, fair, full disclosure and let the chips fall where they may. But it's not happening here."

Assistant District Attorney Richard Sax told reporters that both Curran and Tulino identified the defendants while being questioned by the defense attorneys and that he never asked them to make identifications.

Sax said he merely told the witnesses to tell the truth.

"It's our position that identification has never been an issue in this case," Sax said, noting that several witnesses already identified the three defendants as those who punched and kicked Sale.