Sheldon Jeter's attorneys argue before Superior Court judges that some jurors were tainted
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — For four years, Sheldon Jeter Jr. has been a suspect in the killing of Rachael DelTondo, but earlier this year a jury convicted him in the killing of another man.
On Tuesday, his attorneys were in appellate court trying to revisit that conviction and sentence, arguing the jury was tainted and Jeter did not get a fair trial.
Jeter's attorneys argued before a panel of Superior Court judges that multiple jurors were tainted by outside influence in voting to convict him in the murder of Tyric Pugh.
Attorney Corrie Woods had nothing to say outside the court on Tuesday but inside said Jeter had been convicted by a tainted jury.
KDKA-TV has previously reported the defense's objections to one juror who was found to have lived next door to the DelTondo family, but Woods argued the entire jury could have been tainted when two spectators in the courtroom loudly discussed the DelTondo case.
He also cited one juror who struggled with voting on a verdict and prayed about it with her father. Woods said Beaver County Judge Kim Tesla did not hold a hearing about whether the jurors had been improperly influenced and Jeter did not receive a fair verdict as a result.
But the judge seemed unswayed. Judge Judith Ference Olson told Woods, "I can see every jury being challenged in every case. I think you're applying this very broadly."
Judge James Gardner Collins said the judge properly instructed the jury not to consider outside influence.
"The judge instructed the jury to weigh the case based on what was presented in the courtroom," Collins said. "What have you presented to us to say the jurors disregarded that?"
The panel will decide in the coming weeks or perhaps months whether to send the matter back to Beaver County. Meanwhile, Jeter is serving his life sentence and there has been no arrest in the DelTondo killing more than four years ago.
