Three plead guilty in fatal Citizens Bank Park beating

The three Northeast Philadelphia men accused in the July 2009 beating death of a man outside Citizens Bank Park pleaded guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter and conspiracy charges.

Common Pleas Judge Shelley Robins New accepted the "open" guilty pleas and warned Francis Kirchner, James Groves and Charles Bowers that they each could be sent to prison for up to 40 years and fined $50,000 - though state sentencing guidelines call for much less time.

New set sentencing for Dec. 20.

The guilty pleas were a surprise to many, as Tuesday's hearing before a Criminal Justice courtroom packed with supporters of the defendants and victim David Sale, 22, was supposed to be for motion hearings on whether the case should be retried.

Last month, New declared a mistrial after disclosure rules were breached when a prosecution witness, without prior knowledge to the defense, indentified two of the defendants as Sale's attackers.

Defense attorneys Jack McMahon, for Kirchner, 30, Brian McMonagle, for Bowers, 37, and Scott DiClaudio for Groves, 48, had said that they would argue that the case should not be retried and that their clients should be set free.

The lawyers could not explain the turn of events because New has imposed a gag order, which prevents the case's attorneys from talking to media outlets.

Kirchner has the most to benefit from the plea. He was facing a first-degree murder charge for allegedly landing the death kick to Sale's head while the Lansdale man was on his knees vomiting blood. A first-degree conviction carries a mandatory life in prison without parole sentence.

Bowers and Groves were both facing third-degree murder charges.

Assistant District Attorney Richard Sax told the jury during last month's trial that the three defendants brutally attacked Sale and were responsible for his death.

The defense attorneys said their clients were not guilty.

The incident occurred after Sale and his friends and the defendants' and their friends had been tossed out of a ballpark restaurant for fighting.

Video cameras outside McFadden's Restaurant & Saloon captured bouncers ejecting both groups. The actual beating was not recorded. Kirchner remains jailed without bail and Bowers and Groves remain free on bail.