to be the star witness in exchange for leniency. Before the trial got under way, although the defendants would be tried as adults, the Philadelphia's district attorney ruled out the death penalty because under Pennsylvania law there weren't enough aggravating circumstances to make it a capital offense. So the prosecution sought convictions for first-degree-murder life sentences instead. This concurred with the Polec family, who strongly opposed the death penalty on moral grounds. Throughout the trial all members of the Polec family were in attendance along with many others from the Fox Chase community. All the defendants, meantime, were allowed to freely walk around outside the courtroom and immediately outside the Criminal Justice Center whenever the trial was not in session. Ofttimes the Polec family and others from Fox Chase saw them in passing. And although this became questionable when one of the defendants turned violent out in the courtroom hallway and had to be quickly restrained by a police detective, the practice was allowed to continue. After several weeks of exposure to powerful arguments made by the prosecution, with graphic medical photos being shown of the extent of the brutality to Eddie Polec, countless witness testimonies, arguments made by the defense team – which primarily questioned the validity of the star witness – and six days of deliberation, on February 5, 1996 at 5:00 P.M. the jury announced the verdict. It found three of the defendants guilty of third-degree murder and conspiracy, another of voluntary manslaughter and conspiracy, and two of conspiracy. As the Polec family exited the Criminal Justice Center following the announcement, the father of Eddie Polec told reporters that they accepted the verdict, although they didn't understand it. Sentencing took place on March 19, 1996. Just before it got underway the defendants were asked if they wanted to make any last statements. Only one agreed to, and in doing so was the only one to express any remorse. In response he became the only one shown any mercy by the court. His maximum sentence of fifteen to thirty years for third-degree murder and conspiracy was reduced by six months. Of the other three defendants found guilty of the same charge, one received ten to twenty years for murder and a consecutive five to ten years for conspiracy, and the third was sentenced to fifteen to thirty years. The one found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and conspiracy received