HOLLIDAYSBURG - A Tyrone man serving time for the 1996 murder of an 11-year-old girl has been given the right to file an appeal with the state Supreme Court.
Ronald K. Isenberg, 29, was sentenced by Blair County Judge Hiram A. Carpenter in 2000 to serve 18 to 40 years behind bars after pleading guilty to third-degree murder in the death of Melody Curtis of Florida, who was visiting her grandmother in Tyrone during the summer.
Although Isenberg entered a guilty plea, he later decided to challenge the plea and sentence.
Carpenter rejected Isenberg's attempts to withdraw his plea, and the case went to the state Superior Court.
His attorney at the time was John Siford, but Siford resigned from the case because of a conflict of interest.
Two other attorneys eventually were appointed to represent Isenberg, but they too resigned for similar reasons.
In an opinion issued this week, Carpenter said Isenberg was without legal representation from Feb. 12 to May 3, 2004.
The time he was without representation was critical in Carpenter's view because on April 23, 2004, the state Superior Court rejected Isenberg's appeal.
According to state court rules, Isenberg had a month -until May 23, 2004 - to request a review by the state Supreme Court.
No appeal was filed before the state's highest court, and Isenberg asked Carpenter to restore his right to appeal based on his lack of legal representation.
Carpenter ruled that Isenberg missed the deadline to ask for Supreme Court review through no fault of his own.
Assistant District Attorney Russell Montgomery asked Carpenter to reject Isenberg's request to appeal, but the judge concluded that Isenberg was "entitled to relief."
"As such, we conclude the defendant was not effectively represented during the time frame that matters, namely between April 23 and May 23, 2004," he wrote.
Carpenter ordered Isenberg's present attorney, Edward S. Blanarik of Centre County, to file the appeal before the Supreme Court.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
