The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has refused to review how Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh decides when to pursue the death penalty, denying a petition without issuing any written explanation for its decision. The ruling closes out a legal challenge brought on behalf of two fathers accused of killing their infant sons, one of whom was acquitted by a jury in under 90 minutes.
Petition Sought Outside Oversight of Capital Charges
According to TribLIVE, the state's high court denied the request and offered no written opinion explaining why. The petition had been filed on behalf of Jordan Clarke and Joshua George, two men accused of shaking their infant sons to death, and it asked the Supreme Court to require that an out-of-county judge, the attorney general's office or a court-appointed special master review Walsh's death penalty decisions going forward, according to Spotlight PA. The petitioners also wanted an outside judge to review cases where Walsh's office had already filed notice of intent to seek death.
The petition, filed in July 2025 by the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation and defense attorneys, alleged that Walsh sought the death penalty too frequently and for political motivations, and that he used the threat of capital punishment to gain political support and coerce plea agreements. Walsh denied the allegations, calling them nonsensical and without merit, and said the court made the appropriate decision under the law. The petition claimed Walsh sought the death penalty in 11 of 18 homicide cases filed in his jurisdiction since he took office in August 2021 — a count Walsh disputed, saying the county has had more than 18 homicide cases over that period, per the same Spotlight PA account.
Jury Acquitted One Father in Under 90 Minutes
Jordan Clarke is charged with criminal homicide in connection with the death of his 2-month-old son, Sawyer, and remains jailed awaiting trial, according to CBS Pittsburgh. An Allegheny County medical examiner could not determine Sawyer's cause of death, the station reports. Washington County Coroner Tim Warco alleged in an affidavit that Walsh pressured him to classify the death as a homicide and file a false death certificate; Walsh denied the allegation and called it ludicrous, per the same report.
Joshua George was charged with killing his 6-month-old son, Oliver, who died four days after the alleged killing. George went to trial in October 2025, and the jury took less than 90 minutes to acquit him of felony charges of homicide, aggravated assault and child endangerment, according to the Observer-Reporter. The paper noted George had faced the possibility of the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder after being charged in February 2022. Prosecutors cited torture and the victims' ages under 12 as aggravating factors in both the Clarke and George cases.
Attorneys Say Defendants Lost Years Awaiting Trial
Frances Harvey said she disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision, arguing that defendants lost years waiting in jail for trial because of Walsh's pursuit of the death penalty. Wendy Williams said she was disappointed by the Supreme Court's decision and that the court provided no explanation or guidance. Walsh has maintained that death penalty decisions are solely within the prosecutor's discretion and that he is entitled to file notice of intent to seek capital punishment whenever an aggravating factor is alleged, saying, “If it fits under the law, prosecutors can seek the death penalty.”
Under Pennsylvania law, prosecutors may seek the death penalty when at least one of 18 statutory aggravating factors is alleged, and the aggravating circumstances that can be used at a capital sentencing proceeding are limited to those specified in the statute, which lists torture among them, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. After a first-degree murder verdict, the law requires a separate sentencing hearing in which the jury must unanimously find at least one aggravating circumstance, and either no mitigating circumstance or that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating ones, before a death sentence can be imposed.
A Moratorium Without an End in Sight
Pennsylvania has had a death penalty moratorium since 2015, begun under then-Governor Tom Wolf and continued by Governor Josh Shapiro, and the state has carried out no executions since 1999. Only three people have been executed in Pennsylvania since the 1970s, and all three had abandoned their appeals, per the Spotlight PA report. The state's death row has shrunk from well over 200 inmates two decades ago to 93 people currently, with six of those from Allegheny County.
