`speechless' Brings One Word To Mind: Cute

At Least 4,200 Fans A Game Is Team's Goal 
A National Consultant Outlines The Economics Of Putting A Team In The 
Projected Arena

By JERRY LYNOTT; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Friday, December 16, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





SCRANTON -- Death row inmate Steven Duffey lacked the know-how to delay his
appeals and secure a near-deadline stay of execution, said attorneys for the
convicted murderer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At a federal court hearing on Thursday, attorneys from the Pennsylvania
Capital Case Resource Center argued Duffey was not guilty of "flouting" the
legal process. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Steven Duffey is brain damaged. He is border-line mentally retarded,"
attorney Michael Wiseman said in his opening remarks to the court. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Years of taking anti-psychotic medication affected Duffey's ability to
think, Wiseman said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Duffey also did not know what legal rights he had after the state Supreme
Court denied his death penalty appeal in 1988. For six years, Duffey
mistakenly believed a public defender was working on his case, according to
the center's attorneys and Duffey's mother, Joanna, who testified on Thursday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 U.S. District Judge Thomas Vanaskie ordered Thursday's hearing so the
center's attorneys could provide evidence to support their claim the delay was
not deliberate on either their or Duffey's parts. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Vanaskie granted a temporary stay of execution on Dec. 5, about 30 hours
before Duffey was scheduled to die by lethal injection at the State
Correctional Institution at Rockview. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Attorneys for the Philadelphia-based center requested a stay first in
Lackawanna County Court, nearly a month after meeting with Duffey about his
appeal. They then turned to the state Supreme Court and Vanaskie after losing
on the county level. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The state Supreme Court denied the stay hours before Vanaskie granted it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Vanaskie's order expires on Dec. 23. However, the execution deadline has
already lapsed. That means Gov. Robert P. Casey would have to sign a new death
warrant before he leaves office in January, or Gov.-elect Tom Ridge could do
it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A Lackawanna County jury sentenced Duffey to death for the Feb. 17, 1984
murder of Kathy Kurimchak. The jury found him guilty of stabbing the
19-year-old Dickson City woman approximately 30 times at the catering hall
where they both worked. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wiseman and attorney Robert Dunham from the Philadelphia-based center
called five witnesses Thursday, including a psychologist and psychiatrist. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This is a man who is not capable of the careful planning and abstract
thought required to use the criminal justice system and the court system in a
calculated manner," Yale psychiatrist Dr. James Merikangas said during a
telephone conference call in the judge's chambers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Merikangas, under questioning by Lackawanna County District Attorney
Michael Barrasse, acknowledged he did not examine Duffey but relied on medical
and prison records to reach his opinion. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jethro Toomer, a Florida psychologist, testified in court that he reviewed
the inmate's records and tested him at the state prison. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're not talking about a vegetable. We never claimed Mr. Duffey was a
vegetable," Toomer said, responding to Barrasse's questions about Duffey
filing grievances with prison officials. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Barrasse said Duffey filed grievances on a wide range of topics, including
access to the law library, a request for a television, and an explanation on
why the milk cartons he drank from did not contain nutritional information. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At best, that indicated Duffey knew about the grievance process and was
able to exercise concrete thinking or the ability to follow directions and
rules, Toomer said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A three-hour, videotaped deposition Duffey made at

Late Appeal Not `flouting' Law, Say Inmate's Lawyers