Former state lawmaker's
assault trial set Wednesday
The trial of a former state representative from Scranton accused of assaulting his estranged wife and her friend will begin Wednesday.
Kevin Murphy's trial was put off until then following Monday's jury selection.
State prosecutor Clarke H. Madden and Mr. Murphy's attorney, Paul Walker of Scranton, spent the day whittling the pool of roughly 100 Lackawanna County residents to 12 jurors and two alternates.
Mr. Murphy, 47, is a former two-term, Democratic lawmaker who represented the 113th District until he was defeated in last year's primary election by West Scranton's Marty Flynn.
Mr. Murphy is accused of attacking his estranged wife, Denise Murphy, and her friend, Patrick Hessmiller, in July.
Scranton police charged him with two counts of simple assault, a misdemeanor offense, and two counts of harassment, a summary offense.
According to testimony at Mr. Murphy's preliminary hearing in August, Mr. Murphy appeared to be intoxicated when he dropped by his family's 547 Leggett St. home to pick up his children.
Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Hessmiller had just returned from buying soda at a local gas station around the time Mr. Murphy pulled up in his Kia sedan, according to court testimony. Mr. Murphy was angry that Mrs. Murphy left his children home alone.
During the hearing, Mrs. Murphy testified she was seated in a vehicle with Mr. Hessmiller when Mr. Murphy reached inside, pulled her hair, pushed her head nearly to the floorboard and hit her in the face.
Then outside the vehicle, Mr. Murphy hit Mr. Hessmiller in the head and put him in a tight headlock, making him gasp for air.
Mr. Murphy drove off before Scranton police arrived, according to court testimony.
He turned himself in to police the following day. Mr. Murphy did not testify at the preliminary hearing.
The trial is expected to last only a day, maybe two days at most, Mr. Walker said Monday.
It will be presided over by Senior Judge Harold Kane of Philadelphia.
Contact the writer: smcconnell@timesshamrock.com, @smcconnellTT on Twitter