Inmate seeking release for lack of due process

Renchenski was convicted 40 years ago in Foley’s murder

An inmate who was sentenced to life in prison by a Clearfield County judge in the early 1980s has filed a federal petition seeking his release because, he contends, he was never granted a post-conviction hearing on the key issues in his case.

Charles Renchenski was arrested when he was 21 years old for the strangulation death of Rosemarie Foley of Reynoldsville.

The pair met while playing pool in a bar on Aug. 17, 1982.

They then went bar-hopping, and late in the evening they stopped in a wooded area in Brady Township, Clearfield County to "make love."

During their tryst, events turned violent and Renchenski confessed to state police he hit Foley with a log.

However, the coroner ruled the cause of death was "asphyxiation due to strangulation."

Attorneys for Renchenski filed a direct appeal to the Superior Court, but his conviction and sentence were eventually upheld.

Renchenski for almost four decades has been attempting to challenge the effectiveness of his attorneys during his trial. That is the point at which his case began its "tortuous" path through the state and federal appeals system.

His attorneys, he claimed in a 59-page page petition filed with the federal court in Johnstown, never raised the question whether his confession was "coerced," never challenged whether he was advised of his rights to an attorney during questioning, never raised a possible intoxication defense or a heat-of-passion defense, among several other issues.

He has spent years attempting to receive a hearing on the effectiveness of his trial attorneys but after almost 40 years of appeals, his quest for a post-conviction hearing on the issues of his case has not been granted.

He has filed petitions that were heard and dismissed by longtime Clearfield County Judges John Reilly and Fredric Ammerman.

He pointed out in his federal petition his appeals to higher courts have been rejected as untimely and in 2010, he was accused by the Superior Court of abandoning his case, which he denies.

That opinion also pointed out Renchenski listed seven claims he wanted to present in a post- conviction hearing, but it concluded, "while he lists these claims, he does not present any argument, citation or supporting legal authority to substantiate them. Consequently we conclude these claims are waived."

Renchenski argues that when filing a post-conviction claim, Pennsylvania law mandates the defendant receive representation by counsel.

He argued that he was "abandoned" by his first appointed counsel, who refused to even communicate with him.

It took years for a second and subsequent attorneys to be appointed. He stated in his new petition to the federal court this was why there was no action on his appeal, but he said he never abandoned his issues as was charged by the Superior Court.

He even filed a petition with the federal court in Johnstown in an attempt to gain a hearing, but that was rejected because, it was contended, he had not exhausted all the appeal available to him at the state level.

Now Renchenski has given up his attempts to challenge his conviction and sentence and has instead filed a petition contending that his due process rights have been violated and he is asking to be released from prison.

His petition states: "Mr. Renchenski asserts the agents/actors of the Commonwealth have, with malice aforethought, deliberately violated Mr. Renchenksi's right to ever petition the government of his grievances."

He terms his latest filing a habeas corpus petition, contending he is being illegally held behind bars.

He charges that his continued imprisonment violates the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, causing him to suffer cruel and unusual punishment.

"Mr. Renchenski has suffered over 40 years of incarceration for a crime that carried, arguendo, a five- to 10-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter, or a 10- to 20-year sentence for third-degree murder."

"Mr. Renchenski has never married, has no children, no IRA's, no home and all he can think about is growing old and dying in prison for a crime he did not commit."

"The mental anxiety and stress cannot be quantitatively evaluated, but it is extreme," he stated in his petition.

Renchenski initially filed his petition in the U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania's Middle District but last Wednesday that court transferred the petition to the Western District in Johnstown.

It has been referred to Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto for review.

Renchenski, now 62, is serving his time at SCI Coal Township, Northumberland County.