Philadelphia prosecutors said Wednesday they do not plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the state’s use-of-force law for police — potentially clearing the way for former city officer Ryan Pownall to be tried for murder this fall.
The decision, announced in court Wednesday, came several weeks after Pennsylvania’s high court rejected a challenge by District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office to the state statute governing how and when on-duty officers are permitted to use their weapons.
Prosecutors said they believed Pennsylvania’s law violates the state constitution and the Fourth Amendment because it permits officers to shoot fleeing suspects even if there is no threat of imminent death or serious injury.
But in a 4-2 decision last month, the high court said it believed Krasner’s office had chosen the wrong venue — Pownall’s trial — to try to upend a portion of the state criminal code, which is written by the legislature.
Assistant District Attorney Clarke Beljean did not explain why the office had decided against appealing the ruling. Had prosecutors chosen to appeal, their filing would have come before a court with a conservative block that is newly ascendant.
Pownall faces charges including third-degree murder for the fatal shooting of 30-year-old David Jones, who had run from Pownall after being stopped while riding a dirt bike and illegally carrying a firearm in North Philadelphia in 2017.
Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara A. McDermott on Wednesday set Pownall’s trial date for Nov. 7.
Still, the case faces potential hurdles before it might reach a jury.
One of Pownall’s attorneys, Fortunato Perri Jr., said in court Wednesday that he planned to ask that Pownall be tried before jurors from another county because publicity about the case might make it impossible for Pownall to receive a fair trial before Philadelphia jurors. McDermott previously rejected a similar request.
The judge, in a recent hearing, said she anticipated that Pownall’s attorneys might also argue that prosecutors had violated his right to a speedy trial by challenging the state’s use-of-force law — an effort that took more than two years to resolve.
She asked prosecutors and defense lawyers to file any pretrial motions within 30 days. If Pownall’s case does reach a jury this fall, it would be the first murder trial in more than two decades to center on actions taken by an on-duty Philadelphia police officer.
