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Mahoney turns up for Pettit testimony
Mary Barton Mahoney, a key witness in a 2005 double homicide trial, resurfaced Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Pittsburgh.
A warrant for the Washington woman's arrest was issued last month on bad check charges after Mahoney failed to appear for a preliminary hearing.
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Mahoney's testimony lasted for about three hours. She refused to comment on her testimony or the line of questioning by federal investigators.
"I'm not allowed to say anything," she stated.
Mahoney was a key prosecution witness in the Gerald Gregg murder trial for the Nov. 4, 2002, deaths of two men inside a North Strabane Township bar. One of the men killed was Fred Brilla of Canonsburg.
At the time of his death, Pettit owed Brilla about $100,000 in punitive damages after a jury found Pettit guilty in a federal court for refusing to return possessions to Brilla seized during drug raids in 1989.
Pettit then came under scrutiny for his role in the murder case that resulted in the acquittal of a lead defendant and for allegedly giving preferential treatment to favored defendants and deals to "jailhouse snitches." There also have been other allegations of wrongdoing by Pettit during his 24 years in office.
During the trial, Mahoney denied receiving any special favors from Pettit in return for her testimony. But it was later disclosed that Mahoney had received assistance totaling $12,500 through the district attorney's office and state victim and witness assistance programs, even though she still owed money for past criminal convictions.
Pettit has been under federal investigation for some time now. Among the allegations is that he offered special treatment to criminal defendants in exchange for their testimony in other criminal cases.
Following lunch, the grand jury heard testimony from another prosecution witness from the Gregg trial.
Karen Lockoski was Brilla's girlfriend. She testified during the trial that the two were planning to marry when he was killed.
Lockoski also testified that she refused to talk to police the day of the murders because she was intoxicated. But when she talked to police the following day, she said she was elusive because she didn't want them to focus on her and on Brilla's drug involvement.
She didn't mention Gregg's name in connection with the murders or a previous robbery of her home. Instead, Lockoski said she told police that Brilla had told her if anything happened to him, it would be due to Pettit.
Lockoski, however, connected Gregg with the murders about a month before the trial, during a meeting with a state police investigator and Pettit. It was the first time she ever mentioned Gregg's name.
Lockoski was crying when she left the grand jury room after testifying for about 45 minutes. She, too, refused to comment on her appearance.
James "Noochie" Gregorakis, owner of Noochie's Grill in Canonsburg, was the third and final person to appear before the grand jury Tuesday. He appeared with his attorney, Frank Arcuri.
Neither Gregorakis nor Arcuri would comment on the proceeding. Gregorakis was in with the grand jury for about an hour.
A new grand jury was seated in January as part of the Pettit investigation. The members have met every month since.
mahoney reappears : 5/15/2008
If she showed up to testify, why was she not arrested for the outstanding warrant after?
