Skip to main content
St. Vincent Homepage

Saint Vincent College law professor quoted by The Associated Press

Saint Vincent College law professor quoted by The Associated Press

by Public Relations | December 02, 2024

LATROBE, PA – Bruce Antkowiak, C’74, J.D., law professor and senior legal counsel to Saint Vincent College and Saint Vincent Archabbey, recently was quoted by The Associated Press in an article about the ongoing appeal process by a man convicted of murder in 1981.

Earlier this month, a three-judge Superior Court panel denied a request by Steve Szarewicz, who has served 43 years of a life sentence at the State Correctional Institution-Houtzdale. Szarewicz based his appeal on the fact that one of the witnesses against him recanted his testimony in 2016 and the assertion that the testimony of another witness had “problematic inconsistencies.”

Antkowiak told The AP that questioning the credibility of witness testimony is a long-shot strategy for an appeal.

“Anytime a recanted statement is offered, the trial court has to make a credibility determination, and that determination is seldom overturned on appeal,” Antkowiak said.

Szarewicz was convicted of first-degree murder in the February 1981 contract-killing of William Merriweather. Three of the four jailhouse informants involved in the case later recanted their claims that Szarewicz was the gunman. Szarewicz has filed numerous unsuccessful appeals of his conviction.

In the latest ruling on Nov. 14, the Superior Court judges said an appeals court cannot grant a new trial if a witness recants unless there is “clear abuse of discretion.”

 

Portrait of Bruce Antkowiak at his desk

Bruce Antkowiak.

 

 

Back to Top