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A Clearfield County man serving life in prison for a 2017 murder has lost an appeal before the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
Denny Scott Bailey, 43, of Woodward, claimed his case should have been heard by an out-of-county jury.
Bailey was charged in August 2017 with killing 19-year-old Chase Anderson of Curwensville in a wooded area of Pike Township.
Anderson had been lured to the area by Bailey, Kenja Tew and Bailey's girlfriend Chantell Demi as part of an alleged drug deal.
Bailey began to beat the victim and then ended up stabbing him to death. The trio then set the victim's body on fire.
A 12-member jury and six alternates were selected to hear the Bailey case and, in early November 2021, he was convicted of first degree murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, conspiracy, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Clearfield County President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman sentenced him to life without parole for the murder.
Bailey's Clearfield County attorney, Joseph D. Ryan, filed numerous pre-trial motions, including a request that the judge grant a change of venue due to "extensive media coverage of the case."
The judge denied a change of venue.
Whether the lower court erred in denying (Bailey's) motion for a change of venue was the sole issue on appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
A three-member panel that included Judges Mary Jane Bowes, Judith F. Olson and Megan King on Friday found that "We discern no abuse of discretion with the trial court's decision to deny the motion for change of venue."
According to the appeals court, the defense claimed that the extensive news coverage made it improbable that Bailey's jury was "fair and impartial."
The Superior Court in past rulings concluded that for pre-trial publicity to be prejudicial, it must have been "so extensive, sustained and pervasive without sufficient time between publication and trial for the prejudice to dissipate, that the community must be deemed to have been saturated."
The defense pointed out that 10 of the 58 potential jurors were familiar with the murder case.
It noted one potential juror was dismissed after admitting she was prejudiced against the defendant.
However, despite the publicity, a full jury and six alternates were seated.
In addressing the jury issue, Ammerman pointed out that while some of the jurors likely had awareness of the case, all those who were chosen indicated they had the ability to make a fair decision.
The prosecution argued before the Superior Court that the pre-trial publicity was mostly factual and objective, and that there was a period of four years between Bailey's arrest and the selection of the jury "which constituted enough cooling off time."
The appeals court opinion pointed out the defense offered no evidence that any of the jurors who returned the verdicts against Bailey were proven to be partial.
It pointed out that there was a lengthy cooling-off period prior to jury selection and each of the jurors selected said they had the ability to fairly and impartially decide the case.
The Superior Court panel summed up its decision by stating, "Accordingly, (Bailey) was not entitled to a change of venue for his trial."
Bailey is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution in Greene County.
Tew, 28, was sentenced to a term of 20-40 years in prison while Demi, 32, received a sentence of 15-30 years.
Tew is incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution, Somerset, while Demi is being housed in SCI Cambridge Springs.