August 1, 2000
A Chandler machinist was convicted Monday of first- and second-degree murder in the 1998 slayings of two Wal-Mart workers who had chased him from a store on suspicion of shoplifting a television.
While jurors delivered a split verdict in the case, the family of the store security officer whose death drew the less serioussecond-degree conviction still considers the outcome a victory.
"We were relieved," said Kristy Poduch, sister of murdered security guard Robert "Mike" Poduch. "We're happy with what happened. If he stays in jail, that's OK." The possibility of a death sentence still confronts Michael Gherman, 44, a Chandler machinist, as a result of the jury's firstdegree murder verdict against him for killing stockboy Hans Hummel, 17. The jury will return Oct. 26 for a death penalty hearing.
At that hearing, an aggravating circumstance that prosecutors will use to argue for death is the second-degree murder verdict the jury returned against Gherman for killing Poduch, 32.The two Mesa men were slain Oct. 11, 1998, after they pursued Gherman for a 10-mile high-speed chase from a Wal-Mart store in east Mesa to a construction site in Gilbert.
During his trial, Gherman said the killings were self-defense and portrayed Poduch as an overly aggressive security guard who violated company policies by chasing Gherman after suspecting he had tried to shoplift a TV.
"Michael would be very happy the system worked the way it was supposed to. He really believed in the system," said Judy Poduch, the slain guard's mother. "He was not the aggressor. He did his job well."
Gherman had no reaction to the verdict as his wife, Melodye, bowed her head and sobbed.
"We're pleased that it's over. The deaths of our two associates were a tragedy for us," said Tom Williams, a Wal-Mart spokesman in the retail giant's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters.
Poduch is the only Wal-Mart security officer ever killed on the job, he said.
"Two men were shot in the back of the head. That's not self-defense," prosecutor Vince Imbordino said after Monday's verdict.
Imbordino conceded during the trial, that it was "foolish" for Poduch and Hummel to chase Gherman.
Defense attorney David Michael Cantor put Poduch's judgment on trial.
"This guy's completely out of his league. He's gone into the vigilante mode," Cantor said, arguing that a terrified Gherman pulled the trigger only after Poduch attempted to grab his gun.
But Cantor said Hummel's death was more difficult to overcome.
"Obviously, the thing that concerned us the most is that Mr. Hummel was in the car," Cantor said. "We understand he's 17 years old and there's a lot of sympathy in that."
Imbordino said jurors probably believed Gherman might not have given much thought to killing Poduch, but had more time to consider killing Hummel.
"He was pointing his finger at me and saying things," Gherman said of a tense confrontation with Poduch at the Gilbert intersection.
Gherman and Poduch got out of their cars after Gherman stopped by a Mormon church in Gilbert. When Poduch noticed Gherman was carrying a 9mm Ruger pistol, he retreated to his car.
But Gherman testified that he followed Poduch to the car, yelling for him to surrender his keys.
"If you think that someone has a gun, you don't ask for the car keys," Imbordino said.
1-888-8CANTOR 480-858-0808
602-307-0808 623-877-8509
Calls are answered 24 hours a day
Broadway Road & 101 Freeway
2141 E. Broadway Road, Suite 220
Tempe, Arizona 85282
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
04/03/09 |
Extreme DWI, DUI, and DWI |
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
03/19/09 |
Felony Animal Cruelty |
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
01/26/09 |
DUI and DWI |
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
12/18/08 |
Extreme DWI, DUI, and DWI |
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
09/16/08 |
Burglary, Possession of Burglary Tools, Criminal Damage |
Our most recent successes of more than 200 victories.
November 09, 2008
A dozen years ago, 3,000 drunken-driving prosecutions in Tucson…
