Opinion ID: 795361
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Michael's homicide conviction and resulting death sentence

Text: 4 Hubert Michael's story is a long and convoluted one, so we present only the facts most relevant to our decision. We draw many of these facts directly from the District Court's opinion in Michael v. Horn, No. 3:CV-96-1554, 2004 WL 438678 (M.D.Pa. Mar.10, 2004), which in turn drew many of its facts from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's opinion affirming Michael's death sentence, Commonwealth v. Michael, 544 Pa. 105, 674 A.2d 1044 (1996). 5 On July 12, 1993, Michael pulled up alongside 16-year-old Trista Eng, who was walking to her summer job at a Hardee's restaurant, and offered to drive her to work. She got into the car, and Michael drove to the State Game Lands in York County, Pennsylvania. He forced Eng out of the vehicle, shot her three times with a .44 magnum handgun, and concealed her body. 6 In late August 1993, Michael was charged with first-degree murder. In September 1993, he was transferred to the medical housing area of the Lancaster County Prison for closer observation because he fell down the stairs in a possible suicide attempt (though Michael has denied that he was trying to kill himself). In November 1993, Michael assumed the identity of an inmate who was about to be released, and he escaped from prison. In the spring of 1994, he was apprehended in New Orleans and returned to Pennsylvania. 7 In October 1994, jury selection on the murder charge began in the Berks County, Pennsylvania, Court of Common Pleas. Michael pled guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping. He tried to withdraw that plea six days later, but the Court denied his plea-withdrawal request. 8 In March 1995, Michael waived his right to be sentenced by a jury. He also stipulated to the existence of the two aggravating circumstances alleged by the Commonwealth (killing during the perpetration of a felony and a significant history of felony convictions), and he stipulated that there were no mitigating circumstances. After an extensive colloquy, the Court accepted Michael's waiver of a right to a jury sentence, found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances, and imposed the death penalty. 9 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court undertook an independent review of the record and affirmed the conviction and sentence. Michael, 674 A.2d at 1048. In July 1996, Governor Thomas Ridge signed an execution warrant, and Michael's execution was scheduled for August 1996. 10