Naim slaying led to probe
The trial of two men accused of killing the first Aliquippa police officer to die in the line of duty begins Monday with what promises to be a twisting ride through the underbelly of the Beaver County city.
The prosecution's star witness admitted in court that he was smoking marijuana the night an Aliquippa police officer was shot dead only a few steps away from him.
The accused accomplice said he was there but didn't pull the trigger. He's pointing the finger at his buddy.
And the accused shooter denies he was even there. He says he was home watching television with his parents.
The defendants — Jamie Brown, 24, and Acey Taylor III, 18, both of Aliquippa — have been charged with homicide and conspiracy in the execution-style shooting March 15 of Patrolman James Naim, 32, at the Linmar Terrace public housing complex.
The trial may be a preview of what's to come in Beaver County. The slaying touched off a state grand jury investigation into Naim's death, several drug-related shootings and other drug activity in Aliquippa and elsewhere in Beaver and Lawrence counties.
Witnesses who have gone before the grand jury told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that prosecutors questioned them about alleged misconduct by law enforcement officers in the county.
At least two elected officials — Sheriff Felix DeLuca and former Aliquippa Councilwoman Jesse Belle Walker — have appeared before the grand jury. The investigation continues, and prosecutors and investigators remain mum because of the grand jury's secret nature.
The investigation already has led to the arrest of two Aliquippa men in connection with the slaying of another man in a drug deal gone bad. But if more arrests are made, sources said, they won't occur until after the trial of the two men accused in Naim's slaying.
Jury selection for that trial begins Monday and is expected to take about a week. Testimony could take as long as three weeks.
The state Attorney General's Office, which is prosecuting the case, charges that Brown wanted to shoot an officer because he was angry that the police continually harassed him. They allege that Brown shot Naim in the back of the head, while Taylor urged him to shoot the officer again.
The prosecution's main witness, Darnell Hines, 19, lived at Linmar Terrace and knew the defendants from the neighborhood. Prosecutors originally charged Hines with the crime but released him when he accused Brown and Taylor. Hines has been in protective custody since he decided to testify for the prosecution.
Brown has maintained his innocence. Court documents state he said he was home with his parents and family friends.
Taylor told state police investigators that he saw the shooting but that Brown pulled the trigger. He is expected to testify in his own defense.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys would not discuss the case, citing a gag order issued by Common Pleas Judge John D. McBride.
The judge plans on sequestering the jury once it is impaneled. McBride also has ordered tight security during the trial, requesting that sheriff's deputies search everyone entering the courtroom. Deputies have guarded courtroom proceedings since the beginning of the case, when speculation about the killers and the motive for the slaying ran rampant.
The rumors led police down unusual, and sometimes fruitless, paths.
Early on, the police focused on law enforcement officers after learning that Naim feared he would be ambushed by certain Aliquippa officers or county detectives who he believed were involved in corruption.
A source said state police exhausted that angle and discounted any possibility of police involvement.
In April, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court convened a grand jury at the request of the Attorney General's Office. At the time, prosecutors said the grand jury would investigate the Naim killing as well as unsolved shootings and drug-related crime in Aliquippa and Beaver County.
But witnesses who have testified before the grand jury told the Trib that prosecutors also have asked them about alleged police misconduct in the county.
Neither state police nor the Attorney General's Office would comment on the progress of the investigation.
Under state law, prosecutors and investigators are not allowed to discuss a grand jury proceedings, although witnesses can discuss their testimony.
In addition to Aliquippa Councilwoman Walker and Sheriff DeLuca, several inmates from the Beaver County Jail and employees from law enforcement agencies throughout the county have testified before the grand jury.
Walker could not be reached because she is in the hospital recovering from heart problems. Her term ended this month.
Her daughter, Lisa Walker, who also testified before the grand jury, said prosecutors pressed them about the temporary release of her brother in April from a state prison so he could attend his father's funeral. Her brother, Vance Walker, 34, is incarcerated on drug charges at the State Correctional Institution at Pine Grove in Indiana County.
She said prosecutors questioned whether the sheriff's office gave the family special treatment by not charging them or charging an extremely low fee for taking custody of her brother during his release. Walker said they also wanted to know whether sheriff's deputies allowed her brother to spend time alone with his girlfriend.
During an interview, Walker strongly denied both.
She said investigators questioned how much the family paid to have two deputies escort Vance Walker. She said the sheriff, DeLuca, set the cost. She said she could not remember the exact amount but said it was less than $1,000.
DeLuca confirmed that he testified before the grand jury but declined to discuss the details. "I think that's going to stay confidential for right now," he said. He did not respond to repeated requests for the amount his office charged the Walker family.
An order signed by Beaver County Judge Robert C. Reed on April 10 stated that "the costs be paid to the sheriff on behalf of the prisoner in the amount to be determined by the sheriff."
Walker said prosecutors asked whether a commander in the sheriff's office cut the price as a favor to her brother.
Daniel "Pete" Short, the commander she referred to, would not comment on the incident. He directed all questions to the sheriff.
Lisa Walker said she told the grand jury that two deputies brought her brother to the wake and then to her mother's house for dinner. He stayed several hours, she said, always with the deputies. "He left here and spent the night in jail," she said.
The next morning, the deputies brought him to the funeral. After the service, deputies again escorted Vance Walker to his mother's house for a family get-together before returning him to the county jail, Lisa Walker said.
DeLuca would not comment on any aspect of the account.
Antoine Horton, one of the deputies who escorted Vance Walker during his release, said, "That thing with Vance Walker, there was nothing criminal going on with that." He said he was only following orders and would not further discuss the incident.
A spokesman for the state Department of Corrections said inmates who do not pose a security risk and have not been sentenced to a life term or to death are granted temporary releases for family funerals or deathbed visits. But he said the release should be for only the stated visits.
"That's not the way it's supposed to happen," said the spokesman, Michael Lukens, referring to Vance Walker's visit to his mother's house. "That's something really on the sheriff's office. The responsibility is on the sheriff."
Reed's order stated that Vance Walker was allowed to attend only the services. He said nobody asked him about the home visits.
"I might have said OK for the first visit, but probably not the second," Reed said.
In Walker's case, he said, the dinners at the family's house were not a serious breach. "Now, if they took him to the Strip District for the night, that's different."
Although Naim's killing led to the investigation, the Walker incident and many of the other cases investigated by the grand jury will not be part of the trial.
Sources said that only a small part of the wide-ranging inquiry focused on gathering evidence for the Naim case. It is unclear how much of the grand jury evidence gathered in the officer's slaying will be presented during the trial.
McBride has been particularly sensitive about releasing information that could generate pretrial publicity.
Last week, he denied five motions regarding evidence that will be allowed at trial. The Pittsburgh Trib requested access to the motions, which were not made public. The judge agreed to release them, but only after the jury is selected.
