Pottsville man found not guilty of first-degree murder in road rage trial

Dec. 9—POTTSVILLE — A Pottsville man was found not guilty of first-degree murder Thursday in the 2021 stabbing death of an Orwigsburg man on Route 61 in West Brunswick Twp.

A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for more than nine hours before finding Tamiir Ion Whitted, 31, not guilty of the most serious charge in connection with the death of George Marcincin, 38, of Orwigsburg.

The jury could not reach a verdict on charges of third-degree murder and resisting arrest.

Whitted was found guilty of the remaining charges: felony aggravated assault and felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, as well as misdemeanor counts of possessing instruments of crime, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and fleeing or attempting to elude police.

The jury began their deliberations around 1 p.m and told President Judge Jacqueline L. Russell they reached a verdict around 10:15 p.m.

During closing arguments Thursday, Whitted's attorney — David S. Nenner, of Philadelphia — told jurors that they have a lot of information to discuss before reaching a verdict.

"This is a complex case with a lot of legal principles," Nenner said.

He told jurors that they can consider the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter against Whitted because prosecutors have not met their burden of proof for first-degree and third-degree murder.

He said self-defense has to also be considered because, at the time of the stabbing, his client reasonably thought he was in danger of serious bodily injury or death.

Nenner also said that a person can act in self-defense even if they are mistaken about being in imminent danger.

"He (Whitted) sincerely believed under those circumstances that he had to do it," Nenner said.

Nenner also said the physical evidence presented by the prosecution discredits some of the witness testimony given during the three-day trial.

That evidence, however, corroborates the testimony from Whitted about the events that led to the stabbing, he said.

"Physical evidence does not lie," Nenner said. "All of the evidence is consistent with what Mr. Whitted told you."

With Whitted and Marcincin driving aggressively in the miles leading up to the Brick Hill Road intersection, and then Marcincin exiting his pickup truck once there, there are reasons why his client could have been in fear for his safety at that time, Nenner said.

"To some extent, George (Marcincin) started the situation," the attorney said.

With that said, Nenner told jurors that they have to consider self-defense as a factor in this client's actions.

When Whitted exited his car, Nenner said, he put the knife in his waistband and was not the person who started the attack. Marcincin approached the defendant aggressively, the attorney said.

"He (Whitted) got out of the vehicle to talk to him," Nenner said.

His client from early childhood was raised to trust no one and suspect everyone, according to the attorney.

He called the violence committed by Whitted reactive violence, saying that his client reacted to a situation in which he thought he could be seriously injured or even die.

"This all happened in a matter of seconds," Nenner said. "I'm asking you to do justice; the commonwealth has not met its burden."

First Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Stine told the jury to think about the stab wounds to Marcincin: controlled, precise and calculated.

Six of the 19 stab wounds suffered by Marcincin could have been fatal without the others, he said.

"These wounds are the evidence in this case," Stine said.

He also stressed that Marcincin had wounds on his arms that were consistent with defense wounds, meaning that he was trying to protect himself from the knife.

Stine told jurors that there is no way of knowing what each man was thinking at the time.

However, he said witness testimony shows that Whitted exited his car with the knife and "rushed at" Marcincin, stabbing him, even after the man could not defend himself.

"Tamiir Whitted was in complete control, right from the start," Stine said. "Right out of the gate, Tamiir Whitted had control."

He told jurors to ask themselves: If Marcincin was the aggressor, why did Whitted not have any injuries that could have come from an altercation?

Stine also asked jurors to consider: If the defendant was so scared, why didn't he get off Route 61 before Brick Hill Road? Why didn't he drive away when he saw Marcincin approaching? Why did he get out of his car?

The fact that Whitted drove off after stabbing Marcincin is also an indicator, according to the prosecutor.

"Flight is a consciousness of guilt," he said.

Stine said it is the job of the defense to cloud the crime, to blame witnesses for inconsistent testimony and turn Marcincin "into the bad guy."

"What are they trying to do is make George Marcincin some kind of monster," he said.

In his 75-minute statement, Stine told the jury to recall Whitted testifying that he remembered stabbing Marcincin in the arm during the onset of the confrontation, but he was unable to remember stabbing the man 18 more times.

"It's convenient he has amnesia," Stine said. "He has no explanation. The easiest thing to say is, 'I don't remember.' "

Stine also said that Whitted has a past conviction for burglary, which he called a crime of dishonesty.

It is that dishonesty, Stine said, that Whitted showed in his testimony.

"He'll say whatever he needs to," the prosecutor said, "to get the jury to believe him."

Stine said that Nenner told jurors what was needed for the lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter to steer them toward that crime in their deliberations.

The fact that Marcincin was stabbed two times in the back eliminates the self-defense theory, Stine said.

"When you stab someone in the back, it's not self-defense," he said.

The basis of the defense case is to have Whitted found not guilty on the murder charges, and possibly the other felonies.

"They want to pull you away from the 'M' word, murder," Stine said. "They're desperate. He (Whitted) stabbed a man 19 times in the middle of a highway."

State police Trooper Tyler Brackman was the arresting officer in the case. Assistant District Attorney Thomas P. Pellish assisted in the prosecution.