Published: October 07, 2009 12:01 am      

Convict’s request for DNA test rejected

EBENSBURG — Senior Judge Eugene Fike has rejected a defense motion seeking DNA testing, which a death-row inmate contends would prove his innocence in the rape and murder of a young girl in 1988.

The DNA testing is being sought by Stephen Rex Edmiston, 51, a Huntingdon County man who is on death row at State Correctional Institution-Greene in the kidnapping, rape and murder of 21/2-year-old Bobbi Jo Matthew of Clearfield County.

Edmiston was convicted of first-degree murder in a nonjury trial before Judge Gerard Long. Then, in a separate proceeding, he was sentenced to death by a jury brought in from Northampton County in 1989.

The girl was kidnapped from a crib at her grandmother’s home in the early hours of Oct. 5, 1988, near Beccaria, Clearfield County. Her body was found two days later at a remote site in Reade Township in northern Cambria County.

At his trial, it was brought out that DNA testing of blood taken from Edmiston’s truck proved inconclusive.

His appellate attorneys, including Craig Cooley of the Innocence Project in New York, said modern testing techniques can detect an assailant’s DNA from the blood sample.

Cooley could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but he is expected to appeal Fike’s decision.

Fike, a retired Somerset County judge, was assigned to the case after Long removed himself at the request of both the defense and prosecution.

Fike, in an eight-page ruling filed here Oct. 2, appeared to suggest that he might have granted the DNA request but for state appellate court rulings.

But, Fike noted that under “still governing (state) Superior Court panel opinions,” the defendant is barred from the testing because of his confession to the crime.

Under the prevailing opinions – one of which is under review by the state Supreme Court – a “finally litigated, knowing and voluntary confession, by itself, disqualifies a defendant from DNA testing,” Fike said.

During the investigation – and as brought out in his trial, Edmiston confessed to police by making a series of incriminating statements and drawing a map showing the location of the girl’s body.

The judge also questioned whether there is a “reasonable possibility” of establishing the defendant’s actual innocence given evidence against him, including a map leading to the discovery of the body. The victim’s shorts also were found in the cab of Edmiston’s truck.

Kevin Harley, spokesman for the state attorney general’s office, said, “We’re pleased with the judge’s ruling because he reached the correct decision based on the evidence and the law.”

Deputy attorneys general have been handling the case instead of the Cambria County district attorney’s office because of a conflict of interest.

David Kaltenbaugh, the chief deputy district attorney, formerly was a public defender who represented Edmiston.

Fike has not ruled on other defense motions seeking a new trial. The defense contends that newly discovered evidence, including dozens of autopsy photos, would prove the child died in a traffic accident and not in a homicide.