Aug 20, 2025 By Mike Jones 4 min read

Attorneys for two men facing capital murder charges who are trying to restrict Washington County’s district attorney ability to pursue the death penalty against their clients want the state Supreme Court to remove the special counsel lawyers representing him in their challenge.

The Atlantic Center for Capital Representation filed a motion Monday asking the high court to boot from the case the two private attorneys requested by District Attorney Jason Walsh to help respond to the Philadelphia organization’s “king’s bench” petition.

The center is representing defendants Jordan Clarke of Peters Township and Joshua George of Smith Township, both of whom are facing the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the separate cases involving the deaths of their infant sons. In its July 22 filing, the center asked the high court to place restrictions on Walsh’s ability to pursue the death penalty, claiming he has used it in the past as a political tool or to hold it as leverage over defendants.

The motion claims eastern Pennsylvania attorneys Joshua Voss and Shohin Vance cannot respond on behalf of Walsh because it is a criminal matter reserved for the prosecutor’s office to handle. It adds that the Washington County commissioners, who hired the two attorneys as special counsel at a rate of $480 per hour during an Aug. 1 special meeting, erred in that decision since outside lawyers can only assist county solicitors with civil matters.

“This representation should be rejected by this Court, as private attorneys have no authority to represent the Commonwealth in criminal matters,” the center wrote in its most recent motion. “Mr. Vance and Mr. Voss were not appointed according to the provisions of the Commonwealth Attorneys Act. Nor can the Washington County Commissioners appoint Special Counsel, even if simply to get advice, without the approval of the Court of Common Pleas.”

Instead, the center suggested that if Walsh wanted outside help, he should refer the cases to the state Attorney General’s office, although it’s unlikely he would agree to do so.

“But a District Attorney cannot abdicate his prosecutorial function to a private attorney,” the center wrote in its filing.

Instead, the center claims the appointment of Voss and Vance by the commissioners violates the Commonwealth Attorneys Act since they are not “empowered” to hire special counsel to represent Walsh in the petition. The filing states that the Supreme Court should “reject any filing made by private counsel that purports to represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Washington County solicitor Gary Sweat said he had not read the center’s most recent filing, so he could not form a legal opinion on its argument that the commissioners should not have been permitted to hire special counsel to represent Walsh.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the court says,” Sweat said.

Last week, Devell Christian, who is another capital homicide defendant in Washington County, joined as an intervenor and echoed the center’s claims that special counsel should not be afforded to Walsh as he defends himself against the petition. The center’s motion Monday acts in support of Christian being admitted as an intervenor in the case while also asking the court to immediately remove Voss and Vance.

Vance did not return a phone message Tuesday while Voss said he had not reviewed the center’s most recent filing, so he could not comment on it.

The special counsel attorneys have until Friday to submit a response to the Supreme Court outlining their reasons as to why Walsh should not be stripped of his ability to seek the death penalty against the homicide defendants participating in the petition. It’s not known if the high court will rule on the request to remove the special counsel before the attorneys respond by Friday’s deadline.