Cornelius attorney requests second jury

An attorney for a homeless man charged with killing a North Side boy asked an Allegheny County judge Friday to have a separate jury hear the penalty phase if his client is convicted of first-degree murder.

Defense attorney Jack Conflenti asked Common Pleas Judge John Zottola to empanel a second jury to determine if Joseph Cornelius, 47, should be sentenced to death or life in prison because of the gruesome nature of the slaying of Scott Drake, 11.

Conflenti said trial testimony will reveal Drake was mutilated after he was strangled.

While the evidence would be relevant to the guilt phase, 'it will be impossible for any jury to disassociate the testimony as to the mutilation' in the penalty phase, Conflenti wrote.

Cornelius, a Uniontown native, was arrested Sept. 27, two days after Drake's body was found in a grassy area near East Ohio Street on the North Side.

Zottola said he would rule on the request next week. Jury selection is scheduled for July 9.