Hearing in Convicted Murder Case Reveals Conflict Between DA & Defense Attorney

Whether or not the Bellefonte woman convicted of huffing aerosol fumes and causing a fatal car crash will get a new trial may depend on the outcome of a hearing held earlier this week.

That hearing focused on evidence that Danielle Packer’s attorney claims was purposefully suppressed at her trial. But the hearing also took an unexpected turn, bringing to light an ongoing conflict between the district attorney and a local defense attorney. 

Packer was convicted of murder and vehicular manslaughter last year for causing a car crash that took the life of a 25-year-old Penn State employee in 2012. In February, public defender Deborah Lux requested a new trial.

Lux argues that the prosecution suppressed the testimony of a doctor who reportedly believed the results of Packer’s blood test were “woefully unimpressive” to prove she was driving while impaired. She says that Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller contacted Dr. Harry Kamerow before Packer’s 2014 trial, but the doctor declined to testify about the levels of aerosol chemicals in her blood.

“When I called him to see if he’d done any work on this case, his comment to me was that she had woefully unimpressive levels of DFE in her system,” Lux says.

But Parks Miller says a different story came out at Packer’s most recent hearing. Kamerow reportedly testified that the “woefully unimpressive” comment was taken out of context, going so far as to call the use of that quote to justify a new trial a “a bald-faced lie.”

Parks Miller also had a seemingly unrelated question for Kamerow: had he ever been contacted by former prosecutor and current defense attorney Sean McGraw?

Parks Miller says Kamerow testified that McGraw had called him on “behalf of ‘a group of lawyers’” to ask about his role in the Packer case. Parks Miller characterizes McGraw’s actions as “bullying behavior … to try to overturn valid convictions.” 

But McGraw says that’s inaccurate, claiming he and Kamerow are friends and briefly discussed the Packer case at a “purely social” dinner.

“The implication that I contacted Dr. Kamerow as part of some conspiracy of ‘unscrupulous persons’ is totally false,” McGraw says.

This isn’t the first time that McGraw and Parks Miller have butted heads in a criminal case. McGraw has unsuccessfully attempted to have Parks Miller disqualified from several of his cases, either arguing that she has a conflict of interest or that judges are biased in favor of the DA’s office.

Parks Miller, in turn, has sued McGraw and his law firm as part of her lawsuit against Centre County. Parks Miller claims the county illegally released her phone number and phone records to the public and that those records were improperly used against her in court.

Lux says she’s not sure how the questions about Kamerow’s contact with McGraw are related to her attempts to secure a new trial for Packer, and isn’t sure if it will be relevant as the case progresses.

Lux also has other reasons for asking for a new trial. She’s previously argued in court documents that the prosecution used testimony from the crash victim’s wife to “unduly arouse and inflame the passions of the Jury, creating undue prejudice” against Packer. She also thinks the jury was given incomplete information about the charges Packer was facing at trial.

Lux says both she and Parks Miller will continue to argue their positions in court documents in the coming weeks. Centre County President Judge Thomas Kistler, who oversaw this week’s hearing, has to make a decision on the motion for a new trial by June 2 or the motion is automatically denied.

Packer has been sentenced 10 to 20 years behind bars for third degree murder, homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and a number of traffic offenses.

POPULAR STORIES:

Penn State Football: Did You See That? Five Things You Might Have Missed

Just Say No: More State College Parents Pull the Plug on Standardized Tests

Harrisburg Law Firm Asks Court for Permission to Release Judge’s Phone Records

Two Taken to Hospital After School Bus Accident

State High Students Experience Crisis in Medical Disaster Drill