Judge to decide on insanity plea in trooper shooting case

By Anya Tikka
MILFORD — The atmosphere was tense in the Pike County Courthouse on Dec. 23, as defense attorneys Michael Weinstein and William Ruzzo argued for an insanity plea in the case of accused trooper killer Eric Frein.
They also asked Judge Gregory Chelak to suppress certain evidence before the jury is selected. They said this evidence — Frein’s initial comments, made immediately after his capture — should be suppressed because the comments were not obtained legally.
Moving the hearing on the evidence could affect how the jurors are chosen, if it is known in advance whether certain statements made by Frein will be allowed.
“The defense is seeking to move that hearing to a time earlier than previously agreed to, before the jury selection,” said District Attorney Ray Tonkin, who argued against both requests made by the defense attorneys.
The judge’s decision is yet to come. But Ruzzo said that hearing in Pike County that he's not planning an insanity defense for Frein.
Tonkin said after the court session that he had not received notice on the mental health issue from the defense team by the stipulated deadline, as required by Pennsylvania law. Given the timeline for the start of the trial, he said, prosecution would have very little time to find experts of its own to examine Frein.
Weinstein and Ruzzo did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
The group jury selection will start in Chester County, near Philadelphia, on March 9 and 10, with individual selections to be made on March 13. The trial will start in April.
The jury will be drawn from out of the county because of the intense press coverage locally. The trial itself will be held in Pike County.
Frein, 33, is charged with killing Cpl. Bryon Dickson and seriously wounding Trooper Alex Douglass in a September 2014 shooting ambush at the Pennsylvania State Police's Blooming Grove barracks. He lived in Canadensis at the time, and hid in the woods for almost two months before he was captured in an extensive manhunt.