Floyd, Warner convicted of first-degree murder in Liczbinski's killing

By Joseph A. Slobodzian, Troy Graham, and Kia Gregory

Inquirer Staff Writers

Neither Eric DeShann Floyd nor Levon T. Warner fired a shot the day Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski had his fatal encounter in Port Richmond with a trio of fleeing bank robbers.

But applying conspiracy law to reach two first-degree murder verdicts, a Philadelphia jury on Wednesday ruled that Floyd, the driver of the getaway car, and Warner, a backseat passenger, were as culpable as triggerman Howard Cain, 33, who was killed by police after Liczbinski's murder on May 3, 2008.

On Monday, the same Common Pleas Court jury will return to the city's Criminal Justice Center to decide whether Floyd, 35, and Warner, 41, deserve to share Cain's fate - but at the hands of a state executioner.

In Pennsylvania, a jury that delivers a first-degree murder verdict must decide whether the person should be executed by lethal injection or spend life in prison without parole.

With Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes' gag order still in place, the verdicts got a muted reaction from principals on both sides of the courtroom.

Through a spokesman, the Liczbinski family declined to speak to reporters. Warner's wife, Denise, and his mother, Dolores, also did not comment.

Among police and law enforcement personnel, however, the verdicts - and findings of guilty on a long roll of accompanying charges - were celebrated with smiles, handshakes, and hugs.

"I look forward to the day when these two gentlemen once again hook up with Howard Cain in hell," Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey told reporters afterward. He had attended the trial several days a week since testimony began June 29.

"My personal opinion," Ramsey said, "is they should die."

District Attorney Seth Williams said Floyd and Warner had joined Cain's bank-robbery scheme and agreed to kill anyone who got in their way.

"Howard Cain was held accountable that day on the streets," Williams said. "The other two defendants were held accountable today by the jury."

Liczbinski, 39, a 12-year veteran of the department, was shot and killed four months after Ramsey was appointed head of the 6,500-member police force.

At the time, the department still was in shock from the killings of one officer in 2006 and another in 2007. In the next nine months, four more police officers would be killed in the line of duty.

Beginning Monday afternoon, the jury of seven men and five women deliberated about eight hours, returning with the verdicts shortly before 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to a courtroom filled beyond its 171-person capacity.

Warner was the first up. The tall, muscular, onetime heavyweight boxer stood and faced the jury forewoman, who intoned: "We find him guilty of murder in the first degree."

Warner's wife sobbed, "Oh, God," and buried her face in her hands.

Her weeping became steady and louder, and a sheriff's deputy told her she would have to leave. She was led out crying, "Please, please."

Warner, who did not appear to react to the verdicts, eventually turned to peek at his wife as she was escorted from the courtroom. His mother, who had been in court every day of the trial, sat quietly.

Michelle Liczbinski, widow of the officer, wiped tears from her eyes. Sons Matthew and Stephen and daughter Amber were on one side of her, Ramsey on the other.

Floyd - banished from court June 9 for disruptive behavior that culminated in his punching one of his lawyers - watched the verdict on closed-circuit television in a holding cell. Defense attorney Earl G. Kauffman stood and faced the jury in his stead.

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