By SANDRA K. REABUCK
BEDFORD — The cost of the first murder trial of convicted killer Joseph Clark will top $60,000, Bedford County officials said Wednesday.
The county, which budgeted only $30,000 for one trial, will be hard pressed to find the money to pay for both trials, which will top $100,000, said Barry Crawford, the county’s chief financial officer.
“I can’t say that the county will not finish in the black (for 2008), but it’s going to be a challenge,” Crawford said.
Clark, 49 of Everett, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2000 kidnapping and stabbing death of 25-year-old Holly Notestine of Clearville, a mother of two.
Jurors, who were brought here from Dauphin County, opted for life rather than death for Clark in his second trial. It lasted from June 9 – the first day of jury selection in Dauphin County – through July 2, when the jury ruled out a death sentence.
Judge Daniel Howsare will formally impose Clark’s life sentence on Aug. 21. In Pennsylvania, a life sentence is without the possibility of parole.
Clark’s first trial in January ended with a hung jury when the jurors – brought in from Butler County – could not reach a unanimous verdict after six days of deliberations.
Crawford said the second trial’s costs as of this week totaled $52,911, with the possibility of a few bills still outstanding.
Overtime costs for sheriff’s deputies for both trials were not immediately available.
The state reimburses a county for 80 percent of the jurors’ pay once it goes to $25 a day.
In Pennsylvania, jurors are paid $9 a day for the first three days of a trial.
In the first trial, Bedford is seeking $5,700 in state reimbursement, Crawford said.
He expects the amount to be slightly less for the second trial.
Although Bedford County has a $52,255 contingency fund for emergencies in the ’08 budget, some of that already has been used, he said.
And in any year, most of that gets eaten up with items other than trials, he said.
The commissioners and Crawford will be reviewing budget reports for the first six months of the year to see whether funds can be shifted to cover trial costs, he said. Other belt-tightening measures may be explored, he indicated.
What the murder trials of Joseph Clark cost Bedford County:
• $60,067: First trial, which ended with a hung jury. Jurors were selected in Butler County and brought to Bedford for the trial in January.
• $52,911: Second trial that ended July 2 with life sentence decision after he was convicted of first-degree murder. The jury was selected in Dauphin County and brought to Bedford.
• Total: $112,978, not including overtime costs of sheriff’s deputies.
