December 5, 2000
A Maricopa County Superior Court judge spared Michael Gherman's life Monday, but sentenced him to spend the rest of his life in prison, with no possibility of parole, for the murder of two Wal-Mart employees.
Judge Robert Oberbillig ruled that stress caused by a high-speed chase from a Wal-Mart store in East Mesa to a Gilbert church construction site 10 miles away, where Gherman carried out the "execution-style slaying," was a mitigating factor in Gherman's sentencing.
Oberbillig also found it was an aggravating factor that two men were killed, with one likely slain to eliminate a witness. Aggravating factors contribute toward a higher sentence while mitigating factors contribute toward a lesser sentence.
"My heart goes out to the families," Oberbillig said. "I can't imagine what you're going through."
The verdict satisfied the families of victims Robert "Mike" Poduch, 32, and Hans Hummel, 17, but a prosecutor was disappointed that Gherman did not receive the death penalty.
Gherman's attorney, David Michael Cantor, said he would have preferred a sentence of 25 years to life, and he vowed to seek a new trial.
In July, Gherman, 45, of Chandler, was convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of Hummel, a stock boy from Mesa, and seconddegree murder in the slaying of Poduch, a security guard from Mesa. The victims were shot in the back of the head on Oct. 11, 1998.
"It's what we expected," Poduch's mother, Judy, said. "We're just happy that it's over and he will be punished as he should be."
She said she never sought the death penalty. "I want him to think about what he did every day for the rest of his life. Just like we do," she said. "Mike will be with us forever."
Hummel's father, William, said he would have preferred the death penalty but accepts Oberbillig's sentence.
"I would have liked to see him get the death penalty, but I respect the judge's judgment," he said.
Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Vince Imbordino said the murder of a second person makes the death penalty appropriate.
Cantor, Gherman's defense attorney, said a sentence of 25 years to life, with the time he has already served, would have given Gherman hope that he would "breathe a free breath" when he is 68 years old.
Cantor said he would appeal because Gherman's indictment should have been sent back to the grand jury, which was never told that Gherman claimed self-defense.
"I don't think he's a threat to anyone now," he said. "I think it was all circumstantial."Oberbillig said the victims erred in chasing Gherman though they believed he was attempting to steal a television set. He said the men could have stayed at the store with the defendant's wife, or backed off after obtaining his license-plate number.
Gherman was wrong for fleeing the store and killing the unarmed men, he said.
"At some point, we have to get the message to the public to stop chasing people who have committed a crime against them," Oberbillig said.
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