STATE COLLEGE - Senior Deputy Attorney General David C. Gorman said his office plans to appeal last week's ruling by Northumberland County President Judge Robert B. Sacavage to acquit former Northumberland County Prison guard Kazimir C. Growhowski of felony drug-related charges that he was convicted of in 2006.
Reached at his State College office Wednesday afternoon, Gorman stated, "At this point, our plan is to appeal the ruling to the state Superior Court. The appeal must be filed within 30 days of when the order was issued by the judge."
Gorman said he disagreed with Sacavage's ruling to acquit Grohowski. He said his reasons for disagreeing will be presented in the appeal.
When asked to respond to comments made by defense attorney Edward J. Kopko, of Ithaca, N.Y., who described Gorman as an "overzealous and inept prosecutor" who "tainted the jury with inappropriate comments," Gorman replied, "I disagree with those statements, but it's a free country and people can say what they want."
The 39-year-old Grohowski, a resident of Mount Carmel, was acquitted June 23 in a ruling by Sacavage, who cited ineffective defense counsel at the trial, a prejudicial remark by Gorman in his closing argument in the case and insufficient evidence as the primary reasons.
Sacavage's ruling came three months after he heard arguments by Kopko and Gorman regarding a post-sentence motion filed by Kopko requesting the judge to acquit his client or grant a new trial.
The judge had the option of overturning Grohowski's 2006 conviction, upholding the conviction or granting him a new trial.
Sacavage's order filed with the county prothonotary's office states, "The court finds that trial counsel (Attorney Richard Feudale) was ineffective by failing to object or make a request for either a curative instruction or a new trial during the commonwealth's closing argument when the prosecutor (Gorman) utilized language asking the jury to consider 'sending that message.'"
Sacavage ruled Grohowski was prejudiced by the "sending that message" remark and found that the evidence supporting the guilty verdict was insufficient.
In an e-mail sent to The News-Item Wednesday morning regarding the acquittal, Feudale stated, "My heart goes out to him (Grohowski) and to his family. I would not want any human being to spend a day in jail for anything that I may have failed to do."
Grohowski was among seven current or former county prison guards charged on April 14, 2004, as the result of a two-year grand jury investigation into offenses allegedly committed between 2000 and 2002 at the prison. Charges against one of the other guards were withdrawn. Another guard was acquitted of drug charges during a 2005 trial and allowed to return to work at the prison. The other four guards entered guilty pleas and received various sentences, but avoided spending time in prison.