The case against a Harborcreek Township teenager accused of fatally shooting his grandmother will proceed in adult court, but without the teen's recorded confession to police, a judge has ruled.
The defendant, 16-year-old Hunter R. Reeser, did not understand the consequences of his decision to speak to police without a lawyer, Erie County Judge Joseph M. Walsh wrote in a 17-page opinion.
Walsh in the same order denied a defense request to transfer Reeser's case to the juvenile system, where Reeser could only be incarcerated until he is 21 if convicted in the death of his grandmother, 60-year-old Sandra Orton.
The ruling means prosecutors cannot use Reeser's statement to police, in which Reeser confessed to shooting Orton because he did not want to go to a school meeting, as they try Reeser's case in adult court.
"It is clear to the court that [Reeser] was not fully aware of both the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences of the decision to abandon it when he agreed to submit to a recorded statement without an attorney, and ultimately confessed to shooting Mrs. Orton," Walsh wrote in the opinion, issued Wednesday.
The defense also argued that the statement should be suppressed because Reeser's step-grandfather Bob Orton, Sandra Orton's husband, was present during the interview as Reeser's adult representative. Reeser was 14 when the interview took place on Aug. 23, 2016.
"Mr. Orton could not possibly be protective of the Defendant's interests when it was such a close family member (his wife) who was the Defendant's alleged victim," Reeser's court-appointed lawyer, James Pitonyak, wrote in a motion to suppress the statement.
Walsh agreed.
"It's not apparent from the record whether Mr. Orton understood, even on the most basic level, that he was expected to put [Reeser's] welfare ahead of his own grief," Walsh wrote.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office gave Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Eric Rogers approval to conduct Reeser's video-recorded interview with Reeser's step-grandfather serving as his representative, according to Walsh's opinion. Reeser's step-grandfather was not home at the time of the shooting.
Although Walsh wrote that his ruling was not intended to criticize Rogers' interrogation tactics, the judge wrote that Reeser confessed under "intense psychological pressure" and repeatedly stated misconceptions about the interview that Rogers did not correct.
"When the trooper was reading the Miranda warnings, ... [Reeser] interrupted to say he recognized the words from watching 'CSI'" on television, Walsh noted. "In response to later questioning, [Reeser] naively reasoned that he was not being 'interrogated' because there were no bright lights shining in his eyes. Trooper Rogers did not correct [Reeser's] obvious misperception."
Assistant District Attorney Paul Sellers said Friday that he is still reviewing the decision.
"We haven't concluded yet whether or not we're going to ask for reconsideration or appeal," Sellers said.
Walsh found in favor of the prosecution with the ruling that Reeser should be tried in adult court. If convicted of first-degree murder as an adult, Reeser could face life in prison.
At a hearing in May on the request to decertify Reeser, or transfer his case to juvenile court, each side presented evidence related to Reeser's mental health.
A defense expert testified that Reeser's grandparents were considering institutionalizing him because of his aggressive behavior shortly before the homicide. Reeser shows signs of paranoid schizophrenia and may be on the autism spectrum, the expert said at the hearing.
The expert for the prosecution argued that Reeser's chances of being rehabilitated in the juvenile system were "negligible," and that Reeser was more likely being deceptive than showing signs of psychosis.
Walsh found that Reeser will pose "a significant ongoing threat to public safety if he is not maintained in a secure facility under the Commonwealth's jurisdiction until he receives adequate mental health treatment and rehabilitation."
The judge found it unlikely that Reeser can be sufficiently rehabilitated by the time he turns 21, when he would have to be released from supervision under the juvenile system.
"The record is replete with evidence that this young man has deep-seated emotional and psychological issues for which the experts suggest he has yet to receive proper diagnosis and treatment," Walsh wrote. "Thus while the trial court has great sympathy for him, it cannot ignore the deadly manner in which his mental illness manifested against his caregiver-grandmother."
Police said Reeser shot Orton from the porch of their residence while she sat in her vehicle waiting to take Reeser to school. Reeser used a rifle he took from a locked gun cabinet inside the residence by unscrewing the cabinet's hinges, investigators said, and then hid the gun there after the shooting.
Pitonyak said Friday that he is studying the judge's opinion to decide how to proceed in the case.
Reeser has been held at the Erie County Prison without bond since he was arrested two years ago on charges of homicide, aggravated assault and possession of the instrument of a crime. A trial date has not been scheduled.