Mistrial declared in judge fraud case

0 Comments | Philadelphia Daily News, June, 2009 | by JULIE SHAW shawj@phillynews.com 215-854-2592

A judge yesterday declared a mistrial in a civil case against Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Willis Berry Jr., who is accused of defrauding a woman in a real-estate deal, after a defense witness said things on the stand that the jury wasn't supposed to hear.

Common Pleas Senior Judge Charles B. Smith, an out-of-county judge who was asked to hear the case in City Hall, granted the mistrial after a request by the plaintiff's attorney, Barry Yaches.

Samuel C. Stretton, Berry's attorney, said afterward that he was "disappointed" that a mistrial had been declared. He had wanted to get the case to the jury.

Stretton said that the offending remarks by his witness, Sandy Rose-Moss, had been elicited by Yaches during cross-examination.

Rose-Moss was a friend of the...