Vonville back in court: Why there's a third trial in a 2009 Poconos stabbing
Tuesday is the first day of Philip Vonville's second retrial for the 2009 fatal stabbing of Christopher Hernandez of Yonkers, New York, in Tunkhannock Township.
In 2010, Vonville, now 43, was acquitted of first-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter, but convicted of third-degree murder by a Monroe County jury and sentenced to 20 to 40 years’ incarceration.
From 2010: Trial begins in Blakeslee fatal stabbing
In March 2019, Vonville was granted a retrial by U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo after he filed a petition for habeas corpus relief.
In a 2018 memo recommending the petition be granted, U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson found that, during the trial, former Monroe County President Judge Ronald E. Vican violated Vonville’s Fifth Amendment rights after giving the jury instruction, “You may infer any inference of guilt from the fact that he did not testify in his own defense.” Carlson also found that Vonville "received unconstitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel."
From 2019: Vonville headed back to court
In February 2020, Vonville’s retrial ended in a mistrial after it was discovered that one of the jurors looked up information regarding Vonville’s initial case. The juror claimed that other jurors "wanted to know why we were coming back in here after 11 years to retry the case, so I told them why."
The district attorney's office and Vonville’s lawyer, Robert Saurman of Saurman Law LLC, were reached out to for comment. Neither had responded as of Monday afternoon.
Judge Jonathan Mark is presiding over the latest trial.
Max Auguliaro is the public safety and government watchdog reporter at the Pocono Record. Reach him at MAugugliaro@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Philip Vonville in Monroe court again for 2009 stabbing
