Freedom may have seemed close to Andrew Rogers on Monday afternoon, as a Centre County judge decided how much to charge for the State College man's ticket out of prison.
The price of bail -- $500,000 -- proved too heavy to pay for the man formerly convicted of the 2006 murder of Penn State student Youngcheol Park. Centre County Judge Bradley Lunsford set Rogers' bail Monday afternoon at the full amount suggested by District Attorney Michael Madeira.
Such a sum, although not entirely unexpected, puts freedom out of reach for the 31-year-old, Chief Public Defender David Crowley said.
"Do you have half-a-million dollars?" Crowley said. "Not too many people do."
Still, there was a silver lining for Rogers -- his defense attorneys received rulings from Lunsford that may help their efforts to change the outcome of Rogers' new trial.
The judge ordered the prosecution to turn over new materials, releasing information defense attorneys believe could help prove the existence of a mysterious third party. And to the defense's delight, Lunsford also released funds for a new medical investigation into the death.
"It's very pleasing to get just about everything we asked for," Crowley said.
Rogers was convicted in 2007 of the bludgeoning death of Park.
Police said Rogers beat Park with a baseball bat, a rolling pin and a beer bottle in February 2006, after the two did cocaine together earlier in the evening.
Absent from Monday's hearing, Rogers maintains a third man known only as "Sweet" instigated the fight, forcing him to kill Park in self-defense.
His story alone wasn't enough to convince the jury, which convicted him of third-degree murder -- but new evidence surfaced after Rogers' trial, suggesting a similarly described man called "B" had sold Park's $5,000 Rolex watch soon after the murder.
Lunsford ruled Dec. 10 the prosecution had illegally withheld this evidence from the
defense and subsequently granted Rogers a new trial.
Hoping "B" will lead to "Sweet," Crowley is on the offensive, and his efforts received a boost Monday when Lunsford ruled the defense should have access to all discovery files from the Rolex theft case.
Crowley had also asked for the release of any police reports that included men who fit the description of "Sweet," a cocky, stocky Italian man in his mid 20s with brown or black hair.
Madeira called the request a "fishing expedition," and Lunsford agreed to a point. He said it would be unreasonable to expect the commonwealth to keep a database of men fitting this description.
However, the judge ruled Crowley should have access to several more specific requests, including any audio tapes created during Park's autopsy, if such tapes were made and have not yet been discarded.
The autopsy tapes could play a key role in attempts to prove Rogers' account of his actions is consistent with the injuries suffered by Park.
To this end, the defense was also granted $4,000 for consultation with a new pathologist after Crowley filed a motion accusing the former examiner of changing his testimony on the eve of Rogers' trial.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Harry Kamerow, who examined Park's body, first testified at a pretrial hearing the injuries suffered by Park were consistent with Rogers' account of the sequence leading to Park's death. However, he later changed his testimony and said Rogers's account was inconsistent with Park's injuries, according to a motion filed by the defense.
The defense has had discussions with Dr. Jonathan Arden of the office of the chief medical examiner in West Virginia, Assistant Public Defender Casey McClain said.
Despite Lunsford's decisions, Madeira said there was "nothing unexpected" at Monday's hearing.
"My position on this case, on who was present, and what happened hasn't changed," Madeira said.
Rogers will likely not be tried until this summer, Crowley said.
