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Cop Killer Convicted of 1st-Degree Murder

Shooter could face death penalty

By DAN STAMM

Updated 7:05 PM EST, Thu, Nov 19, 2009

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John Costello / Inquirer

John Lewis could be put to death for killing Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy.

The admitted cop killer was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday.

It took the jury less than three hours to deliberate and come back with the verdict around 4:15 p.m. During that time, they asked to see surveillance tape of the crime scene a second time.

Last week, Lewis pleaded guilty to Murder for shooting and killing Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy after he walked in on a robbery of a Olney Dunkin' Donuts in Oct. 2007.

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The 23-year-old shocked the courtroom Wednesday when he blurted out an impromptu apology to Cassidy's widow Judy.

"I apologize, Mrs. Cassidy," Lewis blurted out in tears during his murder trial.

Cassidy was just finishing her testimony. She was on the stand for about five minutes, talking about her late husband's life and the day he was killed. Many people in the courtroom cried -- including members of Lewis' family -- as Cassidy spoke about her husband and their children.

Lewis' sudden outcry caught the courtroom off-guard, causing the judge to order Lewis and the jury out of the room while he met with the attorneys. When the trial resumed, both sides called it a day setting up closing arguments for Thursday.

Once the case was left in the hands of the jury, they returned with the first-degree verdict possibly buying the prosecutions argument that Lewis had a few seconds to tell that Cassidy was in uniform before he pulled the trigger.

The sentencing phase of the trial is set to begin Friday as jurors decide if Lewis would be put to death or serve life in prison.