Published: April 09, 2008 11:18 pm      

Court rejects Clark jury secrecy

BEDFORD — The state Supreme Court has denied a request to keep private the name of the county where a jury will be chosen to hear a Bedford County death penalty case.

The high court’s decision denying such secrecy was signed Wednesday, a spokesman for that office confirmed.

Defense attorney Thomas Crawford of suburban Pittsburgh requested the seal March 4.

He argued that, as soon as potential jurors learn they could be chosen for a trial in Bedford, they will go online and gain access to newspaper and TV stories outlining defendant Joseph Clark’s prior bad acts.

“Quite clearly, they don’t care if the guy gets a fair trial,” Crawford said.

Clark, 49, of Everett was charged in 2005 with the 2000 kidnapping and brutal slaying of Holly Christine Notestine, 25, of Clearville, the mother of two.

Bedford County District Attorney William Higgins said he opposed the seal because it would have the effect of closing the door on the courts.

“I think the trial court can take sufficient precautions to make sure the jury is not exposed to undue influence,” Higgins said Wednesday.

“The main issue here is the First Amendment. People have a right to know what’s going on in the court system.”

Notestine’s murder and Clark’s eventual arrest generated a massive number of news stories, and earlier this year a Butler County jury heard the case in Bedford.

That jury couldn’t reach a verdict and Judge Daniel Howsare declared a mistrial.

Jury selection in Clark’s second murder trial is set to begin by June 9, Higgins said.

As of late Wednesday, the county where the jury will be chosen had not been named, said Art Heinz, spokesman for the state Court Administrator.