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PA Supreme Court Orders Jury In Rosfeld Case To Be Selected From Dauphin County

Allegheny County District Attorney
/
AP

The jury for East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld’s trial will come from Dauphin County.

The state Supreme Court ordered the change Friday, several days after trial judge Alexander Bicket ruled that the jury in Rosfeld's case be chosen from outside Allegheny County. Bicket wrote that "pervasive prejudicial pre-trial publicity" could deny Rosfeld an impartial jury, and that he expected media coverage to intensify as the trial approaches. Jury selection is set to begin Feb. 26. The trial will take place in Allegheny County.

Rosfeld is charged with homicide in the death of 17-year-old Antwon Rose. Rose was killed in June when officers shot him as he fled a traffic stop on foot.

The death of Rose, a black teen from Rankin, who was shot by Rosfeld, who is white, caused weeks of protests and calls for police reform

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Dauphin County, which is located in the middle of the state and includes Harrisburg, is 72 percent white and 19 percent African American. Comparatively, Allegheny County is 80 percent white and 13 percent African American.

In the wake of the shooting, East Pittsburgh dissolved its police force and Allegheny County is reviewing legislation to create a countywide police review board.

Sarah Kovash previously worked as a web producer for KDKA-TV, as a freelance journalist for the Valley News Dispatch covering local government throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley and at NPR station KPBS in San Diego.
An-Li Herring is a reporter for 90.5 WESA, with a focus on economic policy, local government, and the courts. She previously interned for NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg in Washington, DC, and the investigations team at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A Pittsburgh native, An-Li completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan and earned her law degree from Stanford University. She can be reached at aherring@wesa.fm.
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