Poplawski jurors took special tour
On their one day off from hearing gruesome details about the deaths of three Pittsburgh police officers at the hands of Richard Poplawski, the jury deciding the case took a sightseeing tour that included Heinz Field, the Heinz History Center and a ride on the Monongahela Incline.
"They loved it. Some of them said they're coming back," said Lt. Jack Kearney, of the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office, who accompanied the jury of 12, plus two alternates. "They were taking pictures of each other on Mt. Washington."
The jury, selected from Dauphin County because of intense local publicity, arrived in Pittsburgh the night before the trial opened on Monday, June 20. Members heard testimony for six straight days before convicting Poplawski, 24, of all 28 charges against him, including three counts of first-degree murder, for the April 4, 2009, shootings of the officers.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning then gave them the next day, a Sunday, off.
Some of the jurors began their day by attending church, including a Catholic Mass in the North Side, a Lutheran service Downtown and AME Zion services in the Hill District. The jury then toured the Steelers' offices in the South Side, where they saw the locker room, the draft room and the fields where the team practices, Kearney said.
The jury rode the incline up to Mt. Washington and took in the city's skyline before heading to Heinz Field. At the stadium, they saw the Great Hall and looked in on some luxury suites, Kearney said.
At the Heinz History Center in the Strip District, they took in the Ben Franklin exhibit and the sports museum, Kearney said.
"The sheriff's office contacted us, and we agreed to let them in after 5 p.m.," said Brady Smith, a spokesman for the center.
After the tour, the jury ate a dinner that Damon's restaurant catered, Kearney said.
Kearney, who also works as Steelers team security manager, said tours related to the Steelers' facilities were free, as was the History Center. He said the DoubleTree Hotel, where the jury stayed, transported the jury for no additional cost.
