Water Flow Slows Firefighters 
No Injuries Reported In Regent Street Blaze

Accused Killer Says Victim Provoked Him

By ANTHONY COLAROSSI; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Friday, January 24, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





WILKES-BARRE -- Joann Curley's attorneys are still trying to get their
client out of jail. And they are presenting some of the same arguments they
were last month. Only now they are doing it in Superior Court. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A copy of a petition for review of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas
order to deny Curley bail was officially docketed Thursday in the state
Superior Court in Philadelphia. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The document filed by Curley's attorney, Frank Nocito, asks for an
immediate hearing or conference on Curley's petition. It asks the court to set
aside Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Correale F. Stevens' order
denying Curley bail. And it also asks for the court to grant Curley bail. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If bail is not granted, the petition further asks the court to compel the
Luzerne County district attorney to provide "competent evidence" explaining
why the charge against Curley constitutes a "capital offense." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Prosecutors allege Curley tortured her husband, Robert Curley, by
repeatedly poisoning him with thallium in 1990 and 1991. Robert Curley died in
September 1991. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Joann Curley was arrested last Dec. 12 and has remained at the Luzerne
County Correctional Facility ever since. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in this case. Defendants in so
called "capital cases" are not eligible for bail. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Stevens denied Curley's request for a bail hearing last month, after
District Attorney Peter Paul Olszewski submitted an "offer of proof" detailing
Robert Curley's prolonged suffering in the weeks before his death. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Olszewski said the document was all he needed to prove Robert Curley was
tortured. In a first-degree murder, torture is considered an aggravating
circumstance punishable by death. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But Nocito has maintained Olszewski should have been forced to present
evidence to prove torture -- evidence that the defense could have challenged
in open court. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Stevens wrote that the defense was seeking a "preliminary hearing" before
that proceeding actually occurred. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the document filed Thursday, Nocito states he was prepared "to present
testimony which would rebut the Commonwealth's contentions that the proof was
evident or the presumption great that a capital case had been committed." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And in an accompanying document, Nocito claims his petition raises the
issue of whether "fundamental due process requires that the (defense) be
allowed to present evidence and argument to rebut the Commonwealth's
contentions." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The documentation also states: Curley has no prior criminal record; has a
9-year-old daughter; has a steady job and has character witnesses available to
testify on her behalf. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It asks the court to act promptly because Curley's "confinement impedes
cooperation with her counsel in preparation for trial." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nocito and Olszewski were both unavailable for comment Thursday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A clerk in the Superior Court's prothonotary's office said no hearing date
has been set for the petition. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Curley Pins Hopes On Appeals Court Joann Curley Has Been Held In Jail Since Dec. 12 In Connection With The Death Of Her Husband