Poplawski, sentenced to death for killing three police officers in Pittsburgh, raises new questions about jury behavior

Richard Poplawski, who was convicted 15 years ago of killing three Pittsburgh police officers, claimed in a recent court filing that the jury that sentenced him to death may have died during a field trip they took on an off day of the trial were unduly influenced.

Poplawski, 38, is asking an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge to provide additional funding so investigators can interview the Dauphin County jury that tried the case.

The court has so far prohibited the defense from even contacting the jury, the filing says.

The panel, selected from the Harrisburg area because of pretrial publicity, voted for the death penalty in 2011 after finding that Poplawski killed officers Eric G. Kelly, Stephen J. Mayhle and Paul J. on April 4, 2009. Sciullo II was ambushed and killed in his home in the Stanton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh. They were responding to a domestic dispute between Poplawski and his mother.

The state Supreme Court upheld Poplawski's sentence on appeal in 2015.

He is now pursuing an appeal under the Post Conviction Relief Act, which allows defendants to appeal their convictions.

The case, now assigned to Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski, is scheduled for Nov. 18.

In a Sept. 27 motion, Poplawski's appellate attorneys, Douglas Sughrue and Corrie Woods, requested additional funding and time to file an amended motion.

The motion states that Vickie Piontkowski – who is investigating Poplawski's background to find evidence that could mitigate his guilt – has done a significant amount of her work but still needs to be funded for another 500 hours over a period of one to two years to complete their investigation.

Piontkowski wrote in a court filing that the mitigating investigation conducted for Poplawski before trial was inadequate.

For example, she said it did not include interviews with his mother's psychotherapists, people he served with during basic training in the Marines and other relatives.

As part of the defense's ongoing investigation, Poplawski's lawyers also said they had received information that the jury in his case may have been exposed to outside influence.

Although the jurors were staying at the DoubleTree Hotel in Pittsburgh throughout the trial and were guarded by the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office, the motion says the officers took them on an outing on a day off.

That day, June 26, 2011, jurors visited several locations, including houses of worship on the North Side, downtown and the Hill District. They also drove through the South Side and Mt. Washington, visited the Pittsburgh Steelers offices and what was then Heinz Field, and took an after-work tour of the Heinz History Center.

The defense motion notes that public opinion and commentary surrounding Poplawski's trial “was in full swing and was directed almost exclusively against him.”

The filing mentions a letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in which the author said Poplawski deserved the death penalty. It also mentions a sign in a South Side bar: “Free Fries if Poplawski Fries.”

“It is unknown whether the jury passed the sign urging plaintiff's death on their 'field trip,'” the motion said.

Poplawski is currently housed at the State Correctional Institution in Somerset