MENTION OF PRIOR WESTMORELAND COUNTY MURDER CONVICTION RESULTS IN MISTRIAL OF PITTSBURGH HOMICIDE CASE

A mention of a prior murder conviction in Westmoreland County has resulted in a mistrial in a Pittsburgh homicide case.  The Trib reports that Ambrose Sample, Jr. is charged with killing Corey Washington at a store on Brighton Road in December of 2022 During testimony on Wednesday, a Pittsburgh police officer inadvertently revealed to the jury that Sample had a previous homicide on his record. The officer referenced a conversation in which Sample said he’d “caught another body.”  A mistrial was declared after the Defense requested it.  Sample has a previous conviction from 1999 for third-degree murder in Westmoreland County. In that case, he was found guilty for killing Phillip Williams in Arnold with a shotgun.  Sample was ordered to serve 12 to 25 years in state prison. He was paroled on July 25, 2016.