LilMtnCbn
05-20-2004, 06:25 AM
http://www.nj.com/news/expresstimes/nj/index.ssf?/base/news-5/108504398815
5270.xml
Jurors say they were appalled by Viktor's punishments
"They tortured that child," one says.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
By BILL BRAY and JENNA PORTNOY
The Express-Times
FLEMINGTON -- Deliberations in the manslaughter trial of Robert and Brenda
Matthey began last week with a prayer.
"We all held hands and said a prayer and asked God for guidance in this case,"
jury foreman Joe Procopio told reporters as he left the courthouse Wednesday.
Procopio spoke about 20 minutes after he announced the jury had found the Union
Township couple guilty of three counts of endangering the welfare of a child in
the Oct. 31 2000, death of their adopted Russian son, Viktor.
On its seventh day of deliberations, the eight-woman, four-man jury said it had
reached verdicts on five of the seven counts against the Mattheys but was
deadlocked on the two most serious charges, aggravated manslaughter and
reckless manslaughter.
"My heart was pounding when I was reading off the verdict," said Procopio, a
father of three from Clinton who works for Telcordia Technologies. The jury
found the Mattheys not guilty of one count of endangering a child by forcing
Viktor to eat uncooked beans and of one count of witness tampering.
The Mattheys face five to 10 years in prison for each of three guilty charges.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 22. Prosecutors can retry the couple on the
two manslaughter charges but have yet to make a decision on whether to do so.
Procopio said the jury began with the least serious charges and worked backward
through the verdict form to the manslaughter counts. The jury quickly returned
not guilty verdicts on one endangerment charge and the tampering with evidence
charge on the first day of deliberations that began May 11, he said.
"Ultimately the children told the truth," Procopio said of the witness
tampering charge that alleged the Mattheys told their four biological children
to withhold information to investigators after Viktor's death.
"There was a possibility he grabbed some beans and fed himself some beans,"
Procopio said of the endangerment charge.
During the three-month process of jury selection, testimony and deliberations,
the jurors got along well -- so well, in fact, they gathered at T.G.I. Friday's
restaurant in Flemington after the verdict. The relieved group crowded around a
large table to discuss the case before they get back to their regular
schedules.
Laura Lafemina of Tewksbury and Deborah Benedetti of Ringoes were anxious to
vent their feelings about the Mattheys. Both women believed the couple were
guilty of manslaughter charges.
"Absolutely beyond a reasonable doubt they are guilty. I just think they
tortured that child," Benedetti said.
In the end, jurors gave more weight to statements Robert and Brenda Matthey and
their biological children made shortly after Viktor's death, Procopio said. The
Matthey children described how their parents would hit Viktor with their hands,
an aluminum baseball bat and a whip and put him in an unheated basement pump
room as punishment.
"There was a lot of discussion about the whip," Procopio said. Jurors felt some
of Viktor's injuries were self-inflicted as the defense contended, but decided
Robert Matthey's admission that he once placed tape over the boy's mouth to
stop him from screaming was too excessive, Procopio said.
The jury also felt the parents should have taken Viktor to the hospital the
morning he collapsed in Brenda Matthey's arms.
The manslaughter counts alleged the Mattheys forced Viktor to sleep overnight
in the pump room where he was exposed to the cold and contracted hypothermia.
The defense claimed Viktor suffered from a rare nutritional disorder called
kwashiorkor.
"No one believed he had kwashiorkor," Procopio said. But some jurors said they
had reasonable doubts about whether Viktor had been in the pump room the night
before he was rushed to Hunterdon Medical Center.
The jury was split 9-3 for conviction on reckless manslaughter and 8-4 in favor
of conviction on aggravated manslaughter, Procopio said. The jury said it held
both Robert and Brenda Matthey equally responsible for each charge they were
convicted of, he said.
"I think justice has been served," Procopio said. The jury did not discuss what
type of prison sentence the Mattheys should serve, Procopio said.
"I said that's not our job," Procopio said. The jury should decide guilt and
let Superior Court Judge Victor Ashrafi decide punishment, he added.
Lafemina and Benedetti noted the Mattheys will be treated better in jail than
Viktor was treated in the Matthey home.
"Now they'll see what it's like to be in a pump room. And let's see if they
respect that room," said Lafemina, who works at Verizon.
Benedetti, a real estate agent and mother, said the defense didn't convince her
that Viktor's behavior warranted abuse of any kind. The jurors believed the
Mattheys entered into the adoption with "great intentions" but were
overwhelmed, she said.
"They had a warped sense of discipline with all their children," Benedetti
said.
"I wouldn't even put my dog in a pump room," Lafemina said.
They said the testimony of Russian witnesses rarely entered their
deliberations. They would have liked more information on the prescription
anti-depressant Remeron that the Mattheys said they gave Viktor the night
before his collapse. Also the defense failed to convince the jury that
malnutrition led to hypothermia, Benedetti and Lafemina said.
Jurors were precluded from talking about the case with anyone and from reading
media reports about the trial. Their intense immersion in the circumstances
leading to Viktor's death pushed each juror to an emotional breaking point.
The two women agreed they'd never serve on a jury again.
"No. It was a nightmare. You'd go home and just cry," Benedetti said.
"It's pretty much consumed my life for three months," Lafemina said.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
5270.xml
Jurors say they were appalled by Viktor's punishments
"They tortured that child," one says.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
By BILL BRAY and JENNA PORTNOY
The Express-Times
FLEMINGTON -- Deliberations in the manslaughter trial of Robert and Brenda
Matthey began last week with a prayer.
"We all held hands and said a prayer and asked God for guidance in this case,"
jury foreman Joe Procopio told reporters as he left the courthouse Wednesday.
Procopio spoke about 20 minutes after he announced the jury had found the Union
Township couple guilty of three counts of endangering the welfare of a child in
the Oct. 31 2000, death of their adopted Russian son, Viktor.
On its seventh day of deliberations, the eight-woman, four-man jury said it had
reached verdicts on five of the seven counts against the Mattheys but was
deadlocked on the two most serious charges, aggravated manslaughter and
reckless manslaughter.
"My heart was pounding when I was reading off the verdict," said Procopio, a
father of three from Clinton who works for Telcordia Technologies. The jury
found the Mattheys not guilty of one count of endangering a child by forcing
Viktor to eat uncooked beans and of one count of witness tampering.
The Mattheys face five to 10 years in prison for each of three guilty charges.
Sentencing is scheduled for July 22. Prosecutors can retry the couple on the
two manslaughter charges but have yet to make a decision on whether to do so.
Procopio said the jury began with the least serious charges and worked backward
through the verdict form to the manslaughter counts. The jury quickly returned
not guilty verdicts on one endangerment charge and the tampering with evidence
charge on the first day of deliberations that began May 11, he said.
"Ultimately the children told the truth," Procopio said of the witness
tampering charge that alleged the Mattheys told their four biological children
to withhold information to investigators after Viktor's death.
"There was a possibility he grabbed some beans and fed himself some beans,"
Procopio said of the endangerment charge.
During the three-month process of jury selection, testimony and deliberations,
the jurors got along well -- so well, in fact, they gathered at T.G.I. Friday's
restaurant in Flemington after the verdict. The relieved group crowded around a
large table to discuss the case before they get back to their regular
schedules.
Laura Lafemina of Tewksbury and Deborah Benedetti of Ringoes were anxious to
vent their feelings about the Mattheys. Both women believed the couple were
guilty of manslaughter charges.
"Absolutely beyond a reasonable doubt they are guilty. I just think they
tortured that child," Benedetti said.
In the end, jurors gave more weight to statements Robert and Brenda Matthey and
their biological children made shortly after Viktor's death, Procopio said. The
Matthey children described how their parents would hit Viktor with their hands,
an aluminum baseball bat and a whip and put him in an unheated basement pump
room as punishment.
"There was a lot of discussion about the whip," Procopio said. Jurors felt some
of Viktor's injuries were self-inflicted as the defense contended, but decided
Robert Matthey's admission that he once placed tape over the boy's mouth to
stop him from screaming was too excessive, Procopio said.
The jury also felt the parents should have taken Viktor to the hospital the
morning he collapsed in Brenda Matthey's arms.
The manslaughter counts alleged the Mattheys forced Viktor to sleep overnight
in the pump room where he was exposed to the cold and contracted hypothermia.
The defense claimed Viktor suffered from a rare nutritional disorder called
kwashiorkor.
"No one believed he had kwashiorkor," Procopio said. But some jurors said they
had reasonable doubts about whether Viktor had been in the pump room the night
before he was rushed to Hunterdon Medical Center.
The jury was split 9-3 for conviction on reckless manslaughter and 8-4 in favor
of conviction on aggravated manslaughter, Procopio said. The jury said it held
both Robert and Brenda Matthey equally responsible for each charge they were
convicted of, he said.
"I think justice has been served," Procopio said. The jury did not discuss what
type of prison sentence the Mattheys should serve, Procopio said.
"I said that's not our job," Procopio said. The jury should decide guilt and
let Superior Court Judge Victor Ashrafi decide punishment, he added.
Lafemina and Benedetti noted the Mattheys will be treated better in jail than
Viktor was treated in the Matthey home.
"Now they'll see what it's like to be in a pump room. And let's see if they
respect that room," said Lafemina, who works at Verizon.
Benedetti, a real estate agent and mother, said the defense didn't convince her
that Viktor's behavior warranted abuse of any kind. The jurors believed the
Mattheys entered into the adoption with "great intentions" but were
overwhelmed, she said.
"They had a warped sense of discipline with all their children," Benedetti
said.
"I wouldn't even put my dog in a pump room," Lafemina said.
They said the testimony of Russian witnesses rarely entered their
deliberations. They would have liked more information on the prescription
anti-depressant Remeron that the Mattheys said they gave Viktor the night
before his collapse. Also the defense failed to convince the jury that
malnutrition led to hypothermia, Benedetti and Lafemina said.
Jurors were precluded from talking about the case with anyone and from reading
media reports about the trial. Their intense immersion in the circumstances
leading to Viktor's death pushed each juror to an emotional breaking point.
The two women agreed they'd never serve on a jury again.
"No. It was a nightmare. You'd go home and just cry," Benedetti said.
"It's pretty much consumed my life for three months," Lafemina said.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
