BY EDWIN FRUIT

PITTSBURGH - On October 18 Judge David Cashman declared a mistrial in the case of two cops charged with involuntary manslaughter in the beating death of Jonny Gammage one year ago. The pretext was a statement by county coroner Cyril Wecht, who was testifying for the prosecution on the cause of Gammage's death. The coroner's report said the 31-year-old businessman, who was Black, died of suffocation through compression of his neck and chest.

One of the cops' lawyers demanded of Wecht, "You tell me what my client did. Tell me what my client did from A to Z."

The coroner replied, "No. It's not for me to tell you what your client did. It's for the client to tell me, the ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what he did, what he was doing there, and why he was participating in this."

At this point the defense asked for a mistrial and got it from the judge. The justification was that the suggestion by the witness that one of the defendants had to take the stand contravened the law that says defendants are presumed to be innocent and don't have to take the witness stand to reply to any accusations made against them.

The previous day, a surprise witness had been called - a tow truck driver who was at the scene at the time of Gammage's confrontation with the cops. The driver, Frank Belajac, said the cops were the aggressors, repeatedly hitting and kicking Gammage after stopping his car. This contradicted the earlier testimony of one of the cops.

Opponents of police brutality had been attending the trial and organizing the public protest actions demanding the cops be brought to justice.

Dee Hart, a leader of the Coalition of African Americans for Justice, said she was not surprised by Cashman's ruling. "This whole thing was a mistrial from the beginning. The fact that all five officers are not on trial, that they are being charged with involuntary manslaughter instead of first degree murder, and that an all-white jury was obtained from the other end of the state makes this whole case a mistrial." She told this reporter that about 75 people came to the coalition meeting that evening expressing outrage at the decision of the judge.

Pete Shell, an activist with the Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice, said in a phone interview that it is now more important than ever to make an October 26 rally in downtown Pittsburgh a big action. This had been planned for several weeks to coincide with the trial to keep the public protests visible.

The judge said he would reschedule a new trial date within 120 days. The jurors, chosen from Chester County near Philadelphia, were dismissed and a new jury will be picked from another county to be determined by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It has not yet been determined whether the trial of a third cop charged in the case will be held before or after the rescheduling of this one.

Edwin Fruit is a member of International Association of Machinists Local 1976 and is the Socialist Workers Party candidate for the 22nd district for Representative in the General Assembly.  
 
 
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