The Trials of Terrible Tom

It was two years ago that the death sentence was overturned by the Delaware Supreme Court, No More Capano Capers, and nearly a dozen years since Anne Marie Fahey was murdered by lawyer Thomas Capano. And yet the case lives on in many ways.

The Delaware News Journal reports on the latest legal ruling on the matter, in Capano will get hearing on new trial bid:

A federal judge has agreed to hear arguments next month about why Tom Capano's 1999 conviction for the murder of Anne Marie Fahey should be overturned.

Such a hearing is unusual, said Professor Thomas J. Reed of Widener University School of Law. Most such "habeas corpus" petitions are resolved, and usually denied, without oral arguments. That the judge will hear arguments in this case indicates he must believe Capano has raised a significant issue, Reed said.

Still, Reed said, the standard Capano must overcome to win a new trial is "extremely high."

I hadn't realized there was a federal appeal of the trial pending until I saw this piece. Apparently, the appeal has been in limbo because of problems finding a judge to hear the case. In Two years later, Capano appeal in limbo, the New Journal reported:

Thomas Capano's federal appeal of his 1999 conviction in the murder of Anne Marie Fahey remains in limbo.

After nearly two years in the federal court system -- both sides have completed their arguments about whether or not Capano's conviction was flawed -- the appeal has no judge assigned to make a final ruling.

This month District Judge Sue L. Robinson recused herself from the case, so the final decision on the appeal will now likely come from a federal judge outside Delaware.

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His federal appeal of the conviction -- in which he argued, among other things, ineffective counsel and mistakes by the trial judge -- was filed Jan. 30, 2006.

The appeal was assigned to District Judge Kent A. Jordan, who oversaw several months of briefings but left the District Court in December 2006 to take a seat on the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case was then assigned to "vacant judgeship" -- Jordan's unnamed replacement in the Delaware federal district.

As I observed in Honor Thy Father & Mother, the case is one of those that captures the imagination of the public, with several books and TV movies and documentaries about the case. Just last week, a special about the trial, A Deadly Affair, was shown on TV. See The Tom & Gerry Show, for highlights.

In contrast to the Fahey/Capano case, another local case seems to have dropped off the radar screen. It was a year ago that the body of the newborn son of then Drexel student Mia Sardella was discovered, see Momma Mia. First degree murder charges were dropped last October, Pretty Plea, and the trial on the remaining charges of third degree murder, aggravated assault and abuse of a corpse was scheduled for the end of January in Delaware County court. Teen Expected In Court After Newborn Death. I'm certain that the fact that Sardella is the granddaughter of Albert E. Piscopo, chief executive of the Glenmede Trust Co., an elite Philadelphia-based investment firm, has nothing to do with the lack of news on the status of the case.

UPDATE (8/5/08): For the latest news on the Capano case, see Reflections of Life, reporting on the decision of the federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied Capano's request for a new trial.