Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules in favor of evidentiary hearing in Sheldon Jeter trial
Sheldon Jeter, the man convicted of shooting and killing his close friend in Aliquippa in 2021 could go before a judge again after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in favor of an evidentiary hearing appeal.
Jeter was convicted of shooting and killing Tyric Pugh in 2021, but his lawyers had raised concerns about a juror in the case.
The attorneys asked the trial judge for an evidentiary hearing to look into whether that juror had an undisclosed bias or had done things jurors aren't allowed to do. The judge denied the request for a hearing.
Jeter's appeal lawyers then escalated their request to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, who ruled in their favor last week.
Attorney Michael Santicola, who represented Jeter in his first case, says it's a big win, but that it does create some problems.
"One of the difficulties is it's been three years," Santicola said. "If we'd had that hearing in the moment when everything was going on and happening, I think we would've been better off finding out what actually happened. Now we have to recreate it and find out what went on three years ago."
Jeter was also named a person of interest in the 2018 murder of Rachael DelTondo, but was never charged in that case.
