CLEARFIELD – A convicted killer will not be getting a retrial in Clearfield County.
According to the Clearfield County Court Administrator’s Office, President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman denied a motion by convicted killer Mark Spotz for a retrial.
Spotz had a series of post conviction collateral relief hearings last year to determine whether a new trial would be granted in his Clearfield County murder case. Spotz was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1995 kidnapping, robbery and shooting of a Schuylkill County woman. Spotz was also convicted of voluntary manslaughter on Sept. 26, 1995, for the death of his brother, Dustin, in Clearfield County. He was found guilty in two other cases as well; he murdered two women in York and Cumberland counties.
A death warrant was signed for Spotz on May 30, 2006 by Gov. Edward G. Rendell. Before the death warrant was even signed, though, an anticipatory stay was granted by the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania.
Spotz is seeking a retrial. His attorney’s have been addressing concerns over the ineffectiveness of Spotz’s trial council for not objecting to certain issues brought up by the prosecution as well as evidence that may have shown Dustin to have a violent disposition, which may have helped in their self defense claim.
Ammerman issued his decision March 30, 2010.
