Warco could face criminal charges over falsified death certificate
Warco could face criminal charges over falsified death certificate
Before Washington County Coroner Timothy Warco could testify about his claims that District Attorney Jason Walsh coerced him into falsifying a death certificate in 2022, he was read his Miranda rights and informed by a prosecutor that he could face criminal charges, bringing the proceeding to a screeching halt.
“He may have committed a crime and he is entitled to know his rights,” Deputy District Attorney John Friedmann said before Warco could answer his first question.
Warco was set to testify in a hearing Thursday morning at the Washington County Courthouse before Judge Michael Lucas, who is being asked to determine whether key aspects of the homicide case against Jordan Clarke should be thrown out over alleged prosecutorial misconduct.
The main aspect revolves around Warco’s claims in a written affidavit last July that Walsh coerced him into finding that Clarke’s 11-week-old son died by homicide from injuries suffered at his Peters Township home while in the care of his father. Clarke, who claims he slipped on a plastic bag and fell with the child in his arms, was charged with homicide in Sawyer’s death in May 2022 and could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.
While Warco ruled the death a homicide, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office, which has jurisdiction because the child died at a Pittsburgh hospital, could not determine the manner of death. Warco accused the district attorney of compelling him to file the bogus death certificate because he allegedly told the coroner “you know that I need this to be a homicide,” according to court filings. Walsh has previously denied telling Warco to make such a ruling and noted that filing a false document is a crime.
“Are you aware criminal charges are a possibility?” asked defense attorney Bill Difenderfer, who is representing Clarke and called Warco to testify in the pre-trial proceeding.
“I’m aware of it,” Warco responded.
Difenderfer then explained Warco’s rights to him while the coroner was sitting on the stand, going as far to give him the Miranda warning police officers must read to criminal suspects upon their arrest.
“I’m a bit confused,” Warco interjected in the middle of Difenderfer explaining his legal rights. “Am I a witness or am I being charged?”
That prompted Lucas to tell Warco he could take five minutes to consult his row office solicitor, Timothy Ulrich, and the two men went into a private meeting room to speak about how to proceed. When Warco returned to the stand, Lucas asked him if that time was sufficient to make a decision on whether or not he should testify.
“It is not,” Warco said.
Lucas then excused Warco, who left the stand and walked out of the courtroom. After Warco left, it was revealed that the coroner would be consulting with a criminal defense attorney to determine whether he should testify in a future proceeding.
“Apologies to the court, but that was unexpected,” Difenderfer told Lucas, asking if the record could remain open since he hoped Warco would agree to testify at a later date.
Difenderfer and Clarke’s other defense attorney, Wendy Williams, filed a motion for extraordinary relief in October asking Lucas to dismiss the capital homicide case against their client, claiming the prosecution has been “contaminated” over the falsified death certificate. Thursday’s hearing was expected to help move that process along, but just raised more questions about where the case stands after Warco left the courtroom.
Matthew Yancosek, who is Warco’s chief deputy in the coroner’s office, testified about how hours after Sawyer’s death at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh on May 24, 2022, he received an email from First Assistant District Attorney Leslie Mylan with a court order from Judge John DiSalle asking Washington County to take custody of the boy’s body from Allegheny County. The order erroneously said the child’s death happened in Peters Township, and that the Allegheny County Medical Examiner would “relinquish jurisdiction” to Washington County’s coroner for the purposes of an autopsy.
“Is that something that’s unusual?” Difenderfer asked about why one county would give up jurisdiction to another where the death did not occur.
“I would say that’s atypical,” Yancosek said.
Yancosek said it was “false” to list the child’s death as happening in Peters Township – even though the injuries occurred there – and also incorrect that Allegheny County relinquished jurisdiction.
Friedmann fired back, asking if the state Coroner’s Act allows counties to work together, to which Yancosek said there can be “cooperation” at times. Friedmann also noted that the body was returned to Washington County for an autopsy, and it was up to the coroner’s office to send the results to Allegheny County to make a final determination on the cause and manner of death.
Friedmann also pointed to an October 2022 email from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office asking Washington County for the autopsy report, indicating they wanted to make a ruling while also insinuating that the district attorney’s office did not intend for Warco to be the one to rule.
The only other person to testify Thursday was Dr. Jennifer Hammers, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy. She said the injuries Sawyer suffered could have come from Clarke tripping and falling with the child in his arms, although she also couldn’t exclude other possibilities.
The prosecution intended to call three witnesses Thursday to refute Warco’s testimony, but they did not take the stand after the coroner declined to testify on advice from his counsel. Walsh attended the proceeding, but sat in the row behind Friedmann and Mylan as they handled the questioning.
Lucas left the record open and asked Difenderfer to notify him if Warco decides to testify so the hearing can resume.
Clarke was shackled and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit while listening to the proceeding with more than a dozen family members and other supporters seated in the courtroom’s gallery. Clarke, 40, has been held without bond at the Washington County jail since his arrest in June 2022 two weeks after Sawyer’s death.
In addition to Clarke’s attorneys asking Lucas to dismiss the homicide case, they are also requesting that the death penalty be removed as an option and to disqualify Walsh from prosecuting the case, among other issues that they say must be settled before trial.