Commonwealth rests in Sampson murder trial

After one day of testimony, the commonwealth rested in the murder trial of Douglas Grove.

Grove, accused of killing Kitu Sampson June 20, began his involuntary manslaughter trial yesterday at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.

Family and friends of Sampson sat front and center only to dramatically exit the courtroom before Gricar finished his opening statement.

Outside the courtroom, the Rev. Shellie Sampson, father of Kitu Sampson, explained his entourage's motivation for leaving.

"The DA sounds like a defense attorney," Rev. Sampson said. "This is a total fraud, a Mickey Mouse presentation."

Rev. Sampson said he was upset over Gricar's opening statement and that he and his family were leaving Centre County to "strategize" civil action.

Gricar stated later he had not realized the family left until after he was finished presenting his opening statement. Responding to some of Rev. Sampsons' allegations, Gricar said he believed both sides were receiving a fair trial.

"The Sampson family's comments reflect a lack of understanding of the criminal justice system," Gricar said.

Defense attorney Joseph Amendola said the defense did not refute that Grove shot Sampson, but the reason he did so. He said Grove had no intent to kill Sampson, who Grove considered to be a good friend, but rather to protect his own property.

The pathologist who performed the autopsy on Sampson was the first witness testifying to the cause of death, a single gunshot wound. He was followed by several police officers who testified to their involvement in the case.

Laurie Sampson, Kitu Sampson's wife, gave an at times tearful testimony about the events that led up to the death of her husband.

The final witness for the prosecution was Ferguson Township Police Department Detective David Mulfinger. Mulfinger corroborated the testimony of police officers and presented the findings of his investigation.

Centre County President Judge Charles Brown said the trial would resume at 9 a.m. this morning. Amendola said he does not anticipate the defense presentation will be very long, since many witnesses they were planning to call had been called by the prosecution.

"Doug is going to testify. He wants to testify and I think he has the right," Amendola said after the jurors were excused for the day. "He is going to testify that he owns (a rifle and shotgun) and if he went there with the intent to kill someone he would have taken them instead."

Judge Brown said that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the case would be given to the jury sometime early this afternoon.