SOMERSET, Pa. – Trial is set to begin Tuesday in state prison inmate Paul Jawon Kendrick’s capital case over a state corrections sergeant’s 2018 death.
The trial’s 12th juror was chosen Friday, the fifth day of the jury selection process, after half an hour of questions about life, death and TV crime drama.
The Somerset County resident’s jury questionnaire listed the NBC-TV series “Law & Order” as a favorite, but she told attorneys that she recognized the real-life consequences at stake in Kendrick’s trial.
Paul Jawon Kendrick
This undated photo provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections shows inmate Paul Jawon Kendrick, accused of fatally assaulting correctional officer Sgt. Mark Baserman on Feb. 15, 2018, at a state prison in Somerset.
Even more crucially, the juror was among 16 this week, including four alternate jurors who were also selected Friday, who said under oath they were willing to be fair and impartial and, if Kendrick is convicted of first-degree murder, sentence him to death or to life in prison without parole.
Kendrick, 29, is accused of homicide in Sgt. Mark Baserman’s fatal beating at SCI- Somerset. Investigators said Baserman, 60, suffered severe head injuries and died while hospitalized two weeks later.
Kendrick, who was previously convicted in an unrelated 2014 Pittsburgh homicide, was serving a life sentence at SCI-Somerset at the time of the incident in an institutional “day room.”
Another corrections officer was also injured in the incident, investigators have said. Kendrick also faces assault charges related to both prison employees.
The case is moving toward trial after seven years of litigation, which was partially slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike a typical 60-minute crime drama, Kendrick’s trial could take two weeks or more, according to a tentative schedule outlined by Cambria County Senior Judge Patrick Kiniry, who is presiding over the case in Somerset County court.
Somerset County District Attorney Molly Metzgar, First Assistant Thomas Leiden and Trial Deputy Christina DeMarco-Breeden are prosecuting the case, seeking a first-degree murder conviction and, if successful, a death sentence.
Kendrick is represented by two Cambria County attorneys, Tim Burns and Kenneth Sottile, and Williamsport defense attorney Edward “E.J.” Rymsza. They are challenging the first-degree murder allegations.
Over the past year, defense attorneys have had a neuropsychiatrist examine Kendrick about trauma they said he suffered earlier in life, prior to the 2018 incident.
Defense attorneys haven’t delved into details during jury selection, but they have made it clear that if Kendrick is convicted of the most serious charge, they would introduce mitigating evidence meant to show jurors that life without parole is the right sentence.
Prosecutors have indicated they will introduce witnesses to the incident and are seeking to introduce surveillance footage as evidence.
Kiniry sent jurors home Friday with strict orders to avoid discussing the case or researching any background of the incident or anyone allegedly involved. The panel of nine women and three men, as well as all four alternates, were also told to avoid news coverage about the case, a standard judicial order in jury trials.
“Everything you’ll need to know,” Kiniry said, “will be presented in court.”
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