HARRISBURG -- Gov. Tom Wolf must decide whether to commute the sentence of an Allegheny County man serving life without parole in a 1975 killing, now that a state board has unanimously recommended that he be pardoned.
Robert Wideman, 68, has been in state prison since he was convicted of second-degree murder in a Pittsburgh shooting — a case that nearly changed course after the defense learned that doctors treating the victim had been successfully sued for malpractice.
Wideman is the brother of acclaimed author John Edgar Wideman, who wrote the award-winning book “Brothers and Keepers: A Memoir,” about the case and its consequences.
The state Board of Pardons recommended clemency for Wideman following a hearing Thursday that featured testimony from a judge who, earlier in his career, prosecuted the case, and from the victim’s sister, who opposed the clemency request.
Now, Wideman and his attorney, Mark Schwartz, will be “sweating bullets” while they await a decision from Mr. Wolf, a Democrat, who has promised to review every petition for clemency individually but also tends to give weight to the board’s recommendation.
“I think he’ll be elated,” Mr. Schwartz said of his client, who was not present.
For just shy of 20 minutes, pardons board members asked questions of people on both sides of the issue.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, who prosecuted the case when he served as an assistant district attorney, outlined some of the facts.
According to police, Wideman and two other men, Michael Dukes and Cecil Rice, claimed to have a truckload of stolen televisions that they intended to sell to three men, Nicola Morena and his cousins James and Kenneth Slaby, who planned to sell them.
They met at Morena's used-car lot on Saw Mill Run Boulevard on Nov. 17, 1975. But when the doors to the truck were opened, it was empty and Rice ordered the men, at gunpoint, to drop their money.
Morena ran, and Dukes shot him in the back. Morena was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital on the South Side and then to Mercy Hospital, where he died.
Dukes and Wideman were convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. Rice was convicted of third-degree murder and released after serving a 10- to 20-year sentence.
In the years after his trial, Wideman learned that Mr. Morena’s family had settled a malpractice lawsuit against St. Joseph’s Hospital. Wideman sought a new trial on the grounds that the jury never heard what he thought was crucial evidence that Mr. Morena could have survived had he received proper medical care.
"The gunshot put things in motion, but what was the death a result of?" Mr. Schwartz said in an interview. "The death was a result of the medical malpractice.”
He argued to Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge James R. McGregor in 1998 that jurors should have heard there was a potential contributing cause of death.
"You may not buy our argument, but at least you should hear it," he said.
Judge McGregor agreed and granted Wideman a new trial. He also was granted bail pending the retrial. But the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office appealed and blocked Wideman’s release from prison on bail.
At the time, Mr. Schwartz filed a motion to hold the prosecutors in contempt, but he stopped the effort at the request of John Edgar Wideman, who wanted to pursue his release another way. Because of the difference of opinion, Mr. Schwartz withdrew from the case.
Wideman never did get a new trial, and he has sought clemency several times.
On Thursday, Judge Manning spoke in favor of Wideman’s release, though he focused more on technicalities in the law than on the malpractice suit. He has long been critical of the state’s felony murder law and the mandatory life prison sentence that comes with it, saying it leaves no room for consideration at sentencing.
“I am of the opinion, for many years, that it is unjust,” he said during the hearing.
At least one member of the Board of Pardons, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, appeared to agree, saying he, too, understood the judge’s concern and hoped the state Legislature would address the matter.
After Manning’s remarks, the five-member board heard from Morena’s sister, Christine Morena, 55, who opposed the request for leniency.
Ms. Morena said she was 12 years old when her brother died. Given that he was twice her age, she never got the chance to form a full relationship with him. “That opportunity was stolen from me,” she said.
“My family will forever be serving the life sentence of mourning my brother’s death,” she said. “We will never be paroled.”
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., too, opposes the request. He submitted a letter to the board.
Mr. Zappala wrote that Wideman was the mastermind of the robbery attempt and ordered Dukes to shoot the victim.
“Irreversible actions should have lasting consequences,” he wrote, noting the Morena family’s pain.
The board had spoken Wednesday to Wideman himself, conducting a nearly hour-long interview at the state prison in Camp Hill, where he had been moved specifically for the hearing. In a statement he submitted to the board, Wideman said he had repeatedly expressed remorse for the crime and had taken responsibility for his actions.
He called himself a “changed man” and noted he had gotten an education, taught other inmates, served as a sponsor for Narcotics Anonymous, and participated in a Duquesne University program, Inside/Out, which matches inmates with law enforcement cadets.
"This has been the joy of my existence for the last 10 years. It has kept me believing what my old NA sponsor used to say: 'Have you helped somebody today?' And I know that I have with the result that I can find peace within myself."
Wideman called the plan to rob Mr. Morena and his cousins "the worst decision" of his life. "At the time, I was a heavy drug user and drinker, which are not an excuse," Wideman said.
After a break, board members voted unanimously to recommend clemency for Wideman. Ms. Morena shook her head. One of Wideman’s supporters shot her hand in the air in excitement.
Mr. Schwartz waited for a call from his client, who was being transported back to his permanent prison in Mercer County.
“I think it’s time: 43 years.”
Paula Reed Ward: pward@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2620 or on Twitter @PaulaReedWard. Liz Navratil: lnavratil@post-gazette.com or @liznavratil.
First Published: May 30, 2019, 8:32 p.m.
