The man found guilty of killing Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Joseph R. Pokorny in 2005 told a judge this morning that he wanted to testify at his 2007 trial but that his attorney discouraged him.

Leslie Mollett, 42, is serving life in prison without parole for the Dec. 12, 2005, shooting death near the parking lot of the Extended Stay America hotel in Carnegie just off the Parkway West.

In a Post Conviction Relief Act appeal claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, Mollett said that had he testified, he would have told the jurors that Cpl. Pokorny sprayed him with Mace, and that he would not have been able to see to shoot him. In the filing, he said he would have identified the real killer.

During a brief appearance this morning before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Lawrence J. O'Toole, Mollett, shackled and dressed in a red jail jumpsuit, said his attorney at trial, John Elash, swore at him when he told him he wanted to testify.

"It got real heated," Mollett said. "'You shouldn't [expletive] do that,'" Mr. Elash told him.

Mr. Elash testified on Wednesday that his client waived his right to testify before Judge O'Toole on the record during the trial.

During his examination this morning, Mollett agreed that did occur.

"His words were 'Don't do it,' so I just went along with it."

Testimony on that aspect of the appeal is concluded.

The judge could still take additional testimony on the other claims in the petition, including that Mr. Elash failed to object to the "extensive uniformed state trooper presence" in the courtroom and courthouse hallways and that he did not argue that Mollett was unable to see to shoot Cpl. Pokorny or drive home because of being sprayed with Mace, meaning that someone else had to be the shooter.

Paula Reed Ward: pward@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2620 or on Twitter @PaulaReedWard.

First Published: November 17, 2016, 6:10 p.m.