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State Supreme Court upholds murder conviction for Anthony Campbell

Campbell had appealed murder conviction to State Supreme Court

The State Supreme Court has upheld a murder verdict this week for Anthony Campbell.

A jury convicted Campbell, of Philadelphia, Pa., in January 2016 of the murder of Shannon Brunelle on Sept. 15, 2014. Brunelle, who was homeless, was found beaten and stabbed in a friend’s garage on the 1600 block of 12th Street Northwest.

Campbell, 40, had appealed the conviction to the State Supreme Court, claiming that the trial judge allowed evidence regarding prior bad acts and should have allowed his expert witness to testify regarding all of his opinions about the murder.

Ross Rolshoven, whom the defense had hired as an expert witness, testified that he believed two assailants were present when the murder occurred. The prosecution objected to Rolshoven’s testimony abut facts that were not in evidence. Rolshoven had testified that he believed the murder was gang-related, the state objected and Judge Richard Hagar sustained the objection. Rolshoven was also not allowed to testify regarding all his opinions about the murder.

Campbell also objected that the judge should not have allowed testimony that he allegedly burglarized his ex-girlfriend’s house in the weeks before the murder. The state had argued that Campbell’s attorney opened the door for that testimony in his trial testimony.

Campbell, who maintains his innocence was sentenced to 45 years in prison, with 15 years suspended, at a sentencing hearing in May 2016.

He entered an Alford plea to the burglary, meaning he maintains innocence but acknowledges he could be found guilty at trial, and was sentenced to three years. The sentence is concurrent with the sentence for murder.

– Andrea Johnson3

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