Today's death penalty hearing for the confessed killer of Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy was canceled after the close friend of one of the defense lawyers died over the weekend.
Steven G. Laver, 68, a criminal defense attorney and former assistant district attorney, died Saturday of a heart attack.
Mr. Laver, according to court system sources, was a close friend and associate of Bernard L. Siegel, the defense attorney representing John "Jordan" Lewis in the death penalty phase of his murder trial.
Services for Mr. Laver are set for 1 p.m. today at Goldstein's Rosenberg's Raphael-Sacks Inc. at 6410 N. Broad St., Philadelphia.
When the parties in the Lewis case return to the Criminal Justice Center tomorrow, the jurors are expected to begin deciding if Lewis should be put to death by lethal injection or sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Defense and prosecution lawyers will make their closing arguments to the jurors on the death penalty question and then Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart will instruct jurors about Pennsylvania's death penalty statute and the decision will be left to them.
On Friday, the jury of eight women and four men heard testimony during the penalty phase of the murder trial of Lewis, 23, in the Oct. 31, 2007 shooting of Cassidy, 54, a 25-year veteran of the police department.
On one side were Cassidy's widow Judy, his two daughters and former police partner, who testified emotionally about how his death has affected their lives.
On the other were Lewis' mother, Lynn Dyches, a Philadelphia prisons correctional officer, his grandmother and sister, all of whom pleaded for his life. All three said they cannot understand what led Lewis to embark on a series of six armed robberies in the fall of 2007.
The final robbery, of a Dunkin' Donuts at 6620 N. Broad St. in West Oak Lane, was interrupted by Cassidy, who was making a routine patrol stop. Lewis turned and shot Cassidy once in the forehead.
Lewis pleaded guilty to an open count of murder and six armed robberies on the first day of trial, leaving it to the jury to decide if the killing was first-degree murder - intentional, malicious and premeditated - or second-degree, a killing during another felony.
On Thursday the jury found Lewis guilty of first-degree murder, which resulted in the need for the penalty phase hearing.
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