State Superior Court to hear appeal in Scranton killing
Jul. 14—The state Superior Court is set to take up an appeal filed by the Lackawanna County district attorney's office challenging the relatively lenient sentence imposed on a Scranton woman who stabbed her fiancé to death.
The court ordered District Attorney Mark Powell's office this week to file its brief appealing Eileen Dougherty's 7 1/2 - to 15-year prison sentence for third-degree murder set in February.
Lackawanna County Judge Andy Jarbola, who sentenced then 42-year-old Dougherty, later denied prosecution and defense requests for reconsideration and opined last week the Superior Court should deny the appeal and affirm the sentence he imposed.
The prosecution's appeal "amounts to a request that the Superior Court re-weigh the sentencing factors in favor of a harsher penalty," Jarbola wrote.
"The case law and statutory mandates clearly prohibit a reviewing court from so doing," he wrote.
Scranton police arrested Dougherty in March 2021 on criminal charges she stabbed her fiancé, George Shencavitz, several times after an argument at their Green Ridge home.
She pleaded guilty in January to third-degree murder. Sentencing guidelines suggested a penalty between 8 1/2 and 20 years on the low end and a statutory maximum of 40 years.
Defense attorney Joseph D'Andrea, who represents Dougherty, said in a sentencing memorandum that Shencavitz abused substances and behaved violently toward Dougherty.
Shencavitz's killing — unjustified and wrong — was the result of a volatile relationship, D'Andrea argued.
The district attorney's office contended the allegations D'Andrea raised did not have a basis in the case's record.
Jarbola erred in relying on D'Andrea's memorandum and abused his discretion in relying on that evidence, prosecutors continued.
A judge at sentencing may consider "any evidence it deems relevant," Jarbola wrote in his opinion, citing case law.
D'Andrea's sentencing memorandum expanded on statements Dougherty made during her pre-sentence investigation.
The state Superior Court should change a trial court's sentence only if the case involves "clearly unreasonable" application of sentencing guidelines, according to Jarbola's opinion.
The judge also disputed he relied only on D'Andrea's sentencing memorandum, or that he only focused on mitigating factors.
"This court weighed all evidence, facts and circumstances before it, as it must, and it determined a mitigated range sentence," Jarbola wrote.
Dougherty must also spend 10 years on probation once she is released from prison, according to Jarbola's sentence.
Dougherty is held in the State Correctional Institution at Muncy.
Contact the writer:
570-348-9100, x5187;
@jkohutTT on Twitter.
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