ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260052
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on September 27, 1996.
A Thursday New River Current story about the state Court of Appeals
reversing an attemped robbery conviction of Katina Lynn Zelenak
attributed a statement from the ruling to a social worker. It was
actually what defense attorney Joe Painter suggested to the courth that
the social worker would have said, had she testified. It is as follows:
"In my opinion, [Zelenak] got to the point where she believed escape
from [her then-boyfriend] or disobedience would result in her death or
death of a family member.
A three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 Tuesday to give convicted murderer Katina Lynn Zelenak a new trial on charges related to the attempted robbery of a pizza shop employee four years ago.
A jury convicted the Christiansburg woman of attempted robbery, conspiracy and use of a firearm in the June 1992 crime and sentenced her to 14 years in prison.
The robbery attempt occurred the same night a Christiansburg shoe store manager was robbed and murdered by Zelenak, her boyfriend and another man. She was sentenced to life plus two years in prison for her role in killing Lorna Raines Crockett while the Pulaski County woman was making a night bank deposit.
This ruling will not change her murder conviction.
But the appellate court decision does give Zelenak a slim chance of getting a geriatric release from prison, according to her defense attorney, Fred Kellerman. If she is found innocent in a second trial, Zelenak would be able to petition for such a release beginning at age 60. Currently, the 24-year-old is ineligible for parole.
Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith said despite the judges' ruling it is too early to tell if Zelenak will get a new trial.
"I don't think it's a proper decision," Keith said of the ruling.
"I feel the attorney general's office will appeal" to the full, nine-judge court of appeals, Keith said. He does not have confirmation from the attorney general's office that it will appeal do so, but that is what he expects.
Kellerman said he was thrilled with the ruling that took the justices six months to reach. Normally, he said, the panel announces its opinion in 30 to 60 days after arguments.
"It makes her dad's day and it makes my day," Kellerman said. "It means she didn't get a fair trial and it sends it back to do it over right. I think it's the right decision."
If Zelenak got a new trial and was found not guilty, it would change the fact that she is currently ineligible for parole because she was convicted of three violent offenses - murder and two separate incidences of robbery, each involving the use of a deadly weapon.
In any case, Kellerman said he can't see his client getting out of jail "until she is old and gray."
The Court of Appeals judges ruled Circuit Judge Kenneth Devore was wrong when he refused to allow testimony by Gwynn Polidoro, a licensed social worker. Polidoro would have said Zelenak was acting under the influence of her boyfriend, one of the two men convicted in the murder.
"In my opinion," Polidoro's statement reads, Zelenak "got to the point where she believed escape from him or disobedience would result in her death or death of a family member."
Joe Painter, Zelenak's original defense attorney, prepared the argument that said Zelenak was under duress when she and her boyfriend tried to rob a Domino's pizza employee. He said the ruling means defense attorneys have an avenue to use "expert" testimony in cases where the defendant is not pleading insanity.
"It can be used as an element of the defense," Painter said.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB