Saturday, October 25, 2003
The defendant said he was misrepresented by his trial lawyer.
MERCER, Pa. -- A Farrell man serving a life sentence for the December 1989 murder of his grandmother was expected back in Mercer County Common Pleas Court today to enter a new plea in the case.
Anthony Parks, 39, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in 1990 to second-degree murder in the slaying. He originally had been charged with first-degree murder, but that count was dropped in exchange for the guilty plea.
Authorities said Parks stabbed to death his grandmother, Daisy Parks, 61, in her Market Avenue, Farrell, home in a dispute over money. He told police he didn't remember killing her.
Parks was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. He later challenged the ruling, however, saying his attorney told him he would be eligible for parole at some point.
Pennsylvania law doesn't permit parole in second-degree murder sentences.
Parks took his case to federal court. After a hearing, the court ruled in August that Parks' attorney hadn't properly represented him and had given him incorrect information regarding the possibility of parole.
The case was sent back to Mercer County, and Parks was scheduled to appear before President Judge Francis J. Fornelli to enter a guilty plea to third-degree murder and robbery.