Trice

A Pennsylvania appeals court has upheld a 40- to 80-year prison sentence imposed on a man who was living in Mount Union during the summer of 2020 when he attempted to kill his cousin.

In appealing to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, Talen A. Trice, 28, argued the sentence imposed by a Huntingdon County judge was excessive — beyond the standard range of the state’s sentencing guidelines — and that the judge failed to consider mitigating circumstances, such as his young age.

A Superior Court panel that included judges Jack A. Panella, Judith F. Olson and Alice J. Dubow ruled that Trice, represented by attorney Timothy S. Burns of Ebensburg, had presented the court with a “substantial question of law” but it rejected the defense argument that the sentence was excessive in view of the crimes committed.

In an opinion handed down this week, it was noted that the sentence imposed by Judge George N. Zanic was in the aggravated range of the sentencing guidelines but concluded the judge had given appropriate reasons for the sentence.

Zanic explained that he considered Trice’s rehabilitative needs, as well as Trice’s crimes and their impact on the community.

Zanic noted in his reasons for the lengthy sentence the “heinous nature of the crimes.”

They were “just unprecedented,” the judge said.

According to Zanic, Trice’s attempt to kill his cousin was unusual and “involved an extreme nature of harm.”

He also said that Trice showed no remorse and commented on the injuries, noting the victim “would suffer medical consequences for a lifetime.”

Zanic also pointed out the attack “caused terror in the community.”

“There is nothing in the record to suggest that the sentencing court ignored or misapplied the law, exercised its judgment for reasons of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill will, or arrived at a manifestly unreasonable decision,” according to the Superior Court opinion.

The victim was Samuel Watson, a resident of Washington, D.C., who was using his cellphone on the morning of July 23, 2020, while sitting in his car.

The Superior Court reported that Trice approached Watson, and according to the testimony during the defendant’s bench trial, he poured an accelerant over Watson’s head and set him on fire.

Watson got out of his car and ripped off the shirt he was wearing in an effort to extinguish the flames.

At this point, the testimony showed, Trice stabbed his cousin multiple times. The attack ended when a passerby noticed what was happening.

Trice then fled the scene.

The defense challenged the guilty verdicts returned by Zanic.

Trice was found guilty of criminal attempt at first-degree homicide, aggravated assault by arson, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, as well as several other lesser offenses.

The defense contended the evidence was not sufficient to convict Trice of attempted homicide and the conviction was against the weight of the evidence.

During the ensuing investigation, police found a knife at the scene, Trice’s T-shirt and one of his shoes that contained blood evidence linking him to the crime.

The victim, who survived after a 2.5-month stay in the hospital, also testified as to what occurred.

The Superior Court upheld the sufficiency and weight of the evidence used to convict Trice and noted the judge’s comment that the attack was “one of the most heinous acts of attempted homicide that he has seen in his legal career.”

Trice is serving his sentence in the State Correctional Institution at Waymart.

In 2015, Trice was arrested in Blair County after fleeing from police in a stolen vehicle from Maryland.

The chase included speeds of up to 130 mph.

After getting out of the stolen car, Trice attempted to run from police but was finally caught along Fourth Street in Duncansville.

Blair County Judge Timothy M. Sullivan in June 2015 sentenced him to two to six years behind bars plus 10 years’ probation on charges of receiving stolen property, aggravated assault, attempt to elude police officers and multiple counts of recklessly endangering other people.

He served that sentence at SCI Camp Hill.