Defense seeks to bar retrial in killing of Beaver Co. man
BEAVER (AP) – A Western Pennsylvania judge must now decide whether prosecutors committed misconduct that should bar the retrial of two men accused of killing an elderly man who authorities say died weeks after he was tied up and beaten during a robbery.
Twenty-six-year-old Joseph Arlott and 23-year-old Beau Chermer are charged in Beaver County in the death of 82-year-old Daniel Santia following the April 2012 break-in in Hopewell Township. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if they are convicted of first-degree murder.
Their first trial ended in a mistrial after a detective testified about hospital photos of the victim that were actually taken by another detective. The Beaver County Times reports that defense attorneys asked a judge Monday to bar their clients’ retrial on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct.