Schade

A Muncy woman convicted in the August 2017 killing of a Bedford County man had her sentence vacated after her petition for post-conviction collateral relief was granted by President Judge Travis Livengood.

Heather Schade, now 45, was charged along with two other defendants, James Wallace and Devonta Gaines, in the killing of Gary Shriver during a suspected drug deal. Shriver was stabbed 28 times and thrown over an embankment, where he was found dead along Lake Gordon Road near Piney Ridge Road, court documents show.

At the time, the state believed Gaines was more responsible

for the killing.

Schade, who agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, entered into a plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office on July 18, 2018. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to third-degree murder and was sentenced to eight to 22 years in state prison.

Wallace, now 35, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years after also pleading guilty to conspiracy to third-degree murder. He is being housed at SCI Mercer.

After Schade and Wallace were sentenced, Gaines submitted to a polygraph a year after the stabbing. Gaines ultimately was sentenced to 5.5 to 22 years in state prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. Now 28, he was released from prison in February.

Schade’s petition for relief, filed May 10, 2019, hinged on the theory of who was more culpable in the killing. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the case was continued multiple times, Livengood wrote in his opinion issued Thursday.

In the petition, Schade’s attorney, Justin Paul Miller, argued that Schade’s trial counsel, Bedford County Public Defender Karen Hendershot, was ineffective.

In his nine-page opinion, Livengood cited ineffective trial counsel by Hendershot and prosecutorial misconduct by then-District Attorney Lesley Childers-Potts as reasons for granting the petition.

While Livengood stated that Schade’s sentencing was “in accordance with the plea agreement, and no direct appeal was taken,” that agreement was based on “the theory that co-defendant Devonta Gaines was the most culpable actor in the homicide” and the district attorney sought the cooperation of Wallace and Schade in building a case against him.

The judge said Hendershot testified that this theory didn’t change when Childers-Potts took over as district attorney from Bill Higgins in 2018.

“(Hendershot) testified that … (Schade) decided to cooperate with the commonwealth, gave a lengthy statement regarding the incident and remained a willing cooperating witness throughout the case,” Livengood said. “(Hendershot) testified that the bargained plea agreement with the commonwealth was due to (Schade)’s cooperation against co-defendant Gaines.”

Schade’s petition argues that Childers-Potts “completely reversed” the entire theory of the case after she was sentenced and her direct appellate rights had lapsed, Livengood said.

The judge was told Hendershot only learned about Childers-Potts theory reversal through the media.

“(Hendershot) also testified that, had she known about the commonwealth’s reversal, she would not have advised (Schade) to accept the plea offer,” Livengood said in his opinion. “Lastly, (Hendershot) testified that, while she believes she performed competently in representing (Schade)’s interests, she was essentially ineffective in trusting that former District Attorney Childers-Potts would remain consistent in her theory of the case.”

Another claim in the petition, that Hendershot was ineffective for “failing to request information relative to plea agreements” with Gaines, is unsupported, Livengood stated, as the polygraph examination and plea agreement didn’t occur until after Schade had been sentenced and her direct appeal rights had expired, so there was nothing for Hendershot to request.

A claim that the DA’s office violated its duty to disclose information, which led to Schade pleading guilty, was also without merit, Livengood wrote.

Instead, Livengood said the more critical issue was whether Hendershot was ineffective for not delaying Schade’s plea and sentencing until after Gaines’ case had been resolved. Hendershot didn’t have a reason for Schade to be sentenced before Gaines was convicted, Livengood stated in his opinion.

The opinion states that Schade’s legal interests were not advanced by Hendershot concluding her case before the resolution of Gaines’ case.

Concluding Schade’s case stopped Schade from being able to withdraw her plea once she discovered the circumstances of Gaines’ case, the judge wrote. In this way, Hendershot’s actions prejudiced Schade by unnecessarily locking her into a plea agreement that she would undoubtedly have intended to renegotiate or withdraw from once she became aware of the commonwealth’s drastic change in the theory of the case, Livengood said.

Livengood found fault with the polygraph examination of Gaines, stating that while a polygraph examination can be helpful in developing a prosecution, “the circumstances in which it was used here are rather inexplicable.”

“The rationale for the prosecutor’s decision is highly questionable,” he wrote, noting the polygraph was completed more than a year after the incident and was considered only after the other two co-defendants had been sentenced.

The judge stated that the sudden reversal by the former DA, coupled with the fact that it occurred mere months after Schade had been sentenced, led him to grant her post-conviction collateral relief.

Imprisoned at SCI Cambridge Springs since February 2021, Schade will be transported to the Bedford County Prison as soon as practicable. Her bail remains denied. Schade’s case will be placed back on the active criminal trial list.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.