People are still talking about the way prosecutors tried the beating death case in Schuylkill County.
Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak were acquitted late Friday of the most serious charges against them in the death of Luis Ramirez. He was beaten to death last summer in Shenandoah.
Now there are questions whether prosecutors could have been more convincing with their case.
Brandon Piekarsky was charged with third-degree murder. Derrick Donchak was charged with aggravated assault. Both were accused in the beating death of illegal immigrant Luis Ramirez.
A jury threw out the most serious charges, finding the teens guilty of simple assault.
"He had his head, his skull basically taken off to relieve the pressure on the brain and he ends up dying. I am surprised about simple assault, very surprised," said Eileen Burke,a former Philadelphia police officer and a witness to the fight.
She was subpoenaed but never called as a witness to the beating.
"I feel bad because the prosecution didn't do their job to put across what I saw that night," Burke added.
She said the attitude of the Shenandoah police started out on the wrong foot as Ramirez laid on the street unconscious.
"He (a police officer) said to the EMTs,'Is he drinking? Is he faking?' and to me it looked like he was going to kick him and I said, 'If you kick him I'm going to jail because I'm going to hit because he's been beaten enough,'" Burke added.
She went on to say the crime scene was not secured. There was not even tape put up to keep people out. Burke said that's wrong.
The forme police officer doesn't understand why the jury didn't convict the teens of ethic intimidation.
"How did the ethnic intimidation go? Because the first thing that got me out of my room was the "f" word the "Spic" word, you know what I mean?" asked Burke.
A man who said he is the cousin of victim Luis Ramirez also reacted to the verdict. "And they say it, you can get away with murder and now I believe it," the man said.
Neither District Attorney James Goodman nor Shenandoah police returned calls for comment.
Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak were acquitted late Friday of the most serious charges against them in the death of Luis Ramirez. He was beaten to death last summer in Shenandoah.
Now there are questions whether prosecutors could have been more convincing with their case.
Brandon Piekarsky was charged with third-degree murder. Derrick Donchak was charged with aggravated assault. Both were accused in the beating death of illegal immigrant Luis Ramirez.
A jury threw out the most serious charges, finding the teens guilty of simple assault.
"He had his head, his skull basically taken off to relieve the pressure on the brain and he ends up dying. I am surprised about simple assault, very surprised," said Eileen Burke,a former Philadelphia police officer and a witness to the fight.
She was subpoenaed but never called as a witness to the beating.
"I feel bad because the prosecution didn't do their job to put across what I saw that night," Burke added.
She said the attitude of the Shenandoah police started out on the wrong foot as Ramirez laid on the street unconscious.
"He (a police officer) said to the EMTs,'Is he drinking? Is he faking?' and to me it looked like he was going to kick him and I said, 'If you kick him I'm going to jail because I'm going to hit because he's been beaten enough,'" Burke added.
She went on to say the crime scene was not secured. There was not even tape put up to keep people out. Burke said that's wrong.
The forme police officer doesn't understand why the jury didn't convict the teens of ethic intimidation.
"How did the ethnic intimidation go? Because the first thing that got me out of my room was the "f" word the "Spic" word, you know what I mean?" asked Burke.
A man who said he is the cousin of victim Luis Ramirez also reacted to the verdict. "And they say it, you can get away with murder and now I believe it," the man said.
Neither District Attorney James Goodman nor Shenandoah police returned calls for comment.
