Receiving stolen goods or homicide?

In his last act as the attorney representing a woman in the triad of family members who were convicted or pleaded guilty in the murder or homicide conspiracy of 92-year-old Evelyn Stepko in July 2011, Brian Gorman argued in Washington County Court Monday that the jury’s verdict should be overturned or that the judge should grant her a new trial.
Diane McClelland, 50, formerly of Coal Center, has been an inmate at Washington County jail since a jury returned guilty verdicts March 1.
Her court appearance Monday was much less dramatic than June 6, when she fainted while apologizing to Stepko’s survivors and had to be attended to by paramedics during a recess in her sentencing, when Judge John DiSalle ordered her to be imprisoned for 24 1/2 to 49 years for her role in burglaries at the home of her elderly neighbor, who kept thousands of dollars hidden because she mistrusted banks. Documented proceeds of the burglaries totaled more than $215,000, and cash deposits into the bank account of Diane McClelland and her husband followed closely the dates of break-ins at Stepko’s home.
Gorman argued the prosecution failed to establish that Diane McClelland agreed in advance to commit any burglary, including the break-in that occurred July 17 or 18, 2011, or prove that a conspiracy existed to kill Stepko. He also claimed that prosecutors had no evidence on which to convict Diane McClelland beyond receiving stolen property.
Gorman told DiSalle that the charge of dealing in unlawful proceeds of a crime was designed to catch those engaged in organized crime, circumstances that he said did not fit Diane McClelland or her co-defendants, husband David A., 58, or David A. McClelland’s son, David J., 38, a former part-time police officer in Monongahela and Washington Township, Fayette County.
Although Gorman said Diane McClelland “merely possessed, spent and deposited proceeds of burglaries in the manner of a thief and not more,” DiSalle asked if there weren’t similarities, such as using cash to purchase properties.
Should the judge not reverse the jury’s convictions, Gorman is seeking a reduced sentence or a new trial for his client, due to “hearsay evidence” from the deceased victim.
First Assistant District Attorney Michael Lucas noted Stepko had reported burglaries and other suspicious activity at her home, including the cutting of telephone lines at her home over the course of nearly two years, and that police were permitted to relay this information to the jury along with personal observations of pry marks on a door frame and a loose basement screen.
When a neighbor failed to see Stepko in her yard the morning of July 18, 2011, he called police, who found her lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of her basement stairs. She had been stabbed, Lucas told jurors in the two trials, probably when confronting a burglar.
Gorman also made part of Diane McClelland’s court record seven letters from friends and family members who wrote on her behalf. Her goddaughter, a Massachusetts resident, noted that after McClelland lost her job as manager of health and beauty products at the Rostraver Township Shop ‘n Save store, she worked as a chambermaid “and was praised often by her co-workers and management for her dedication.” A friend said McClelland reared two young children when their parents were unable to care for them.
Gorman, who is now Washington County deputy public defender, has turned Diane McClelland’s case over to Tom Agrafiotis, a court-appointed conflict attorney. The public defender’s office already represents David A. McClelland.
Also on June 6, DiSalle sentenced David J. McClelland to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus 14 to 48 years. His court-appointed attorney, Joshua Camson, also is seeking a new trial for his client.
David A. McClelland pleaded guilty Oct. 15, 2012, and was sentenced to life without parole plus 21 years, four months to 42 years, eight months in prison. State police found David A. McClelland’s DNA on a glove in a bucket in Stepko’s kitchen.