Trial date set for defendant in death penalty case

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, hundreds of potential jurors will be receiving notices to appear in Washington County Court this fall for the case of a man accused in a 2013 homicide in Washington.
Scheduled for trial is Brandon Wolowski, 23, of Washington. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty in connection with the shooting death Jan. 8, 2013, of Matthew Mathias, 37, of Fayette Street.
Mathias’ girlfriend, Michelle Powell, 38, was shot in the cheek, chin, chest and arm but survived after undergoing surgery.
In addition to criminal homicide, Wolowski is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and robbery. Police said he was trying to steal guns from the victims.
Wolowski, who is being held in Allegheny County jail, was not present in court Monday when his court-appointed attorney, Noah Geary, and Assistant District Attorney Leslie Ridge went before Judge John DiSalle to handle some new matters that the defense raised.
Geary is claiming Washington police did not have probable cause to arrest Wolowski based on information from Powell and a 911 caller, who named “Brandon” as a suspect without further description or identification.
Ridge said after she left the courtroom that she was taken aback by Geary’s attempt to keep this aspect of the case from a jury. “This is not an out-of-the-blue tip that we received,” she said.
Geary also is attempting to have the case thrown out because it has taken so long to come to trial. Ridge maintains that “the commonwealth has been ready for years to go in this case.”
Since January, Wolowski has had a petition for review before the state Superior Court, which the prosecution has filed a request to quash. This and a variety of other developments, such as a mental health evaluation and changing attorneys, have resulted in delays, according to the prosecutors.
“If something has merit, I’m obligated to raise it,” Geary told the judge.
Wolowski’s purported lack of a proper upbringing and the effect of fetal alcohol syndrome are potential mitigating factors that the defense intends to introduce at trial.
Ridge and Geary will have a chance to present witnesses or argue about the suppression of evidence in an appearance next month before DiSalle.
Potential jurors who are opposed to the death penalty must, by law, be excluded from the panel, so individual questioning is a lengthy process. Selection is set to begin Sept. 24 and could take as long as 11 days over the course of four weeks.
The trial, which could last a month, is slated for Oct. 29.