Accused Sled killer to admit role in stabbing

Bridgette Black's lawyer said his client will 'most definitely' ask the judge to select her level of guilt. Bridgette Black won't contest her role in the stabbing death of University biochemist Vladimir Sled in 1996, her attorney said in court yesterday. Public defender Fred Goodman, who is representing the 26-year-old defendant, confirmed yesterday that Black, of the 5100 block of Reno Street, will "pretty definitely" ask for a degree-of-guilt hearing. In such a hearing, a judge would decide exactly what crime Black committed when she allegedly stabbed Sled to death on October 31, 1996, near 43rd Street and Larchwood Avenue. Black is one of three defendants charged in the murder. Eugene "Sultan" Harrison, 33, and Yvette Stewart, 30, are being tried together for both the Sled murder and a robbery earlier the same day of a Philadelphia Daily News driver. Two weeks ago, Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Temin, who would probably preside over the degree-of-guilt hearing, separated Black from the other defendants because she is not accused of being involved in the Daily News robbery. Goodman wouldn't comment on any potential testimony or any other aspects of the case. He could not officially ask for the hearing yesterday because Temin, who has been handling all of the preliminary motions, was out sick. Trial Commissioner James Foy instead scheduled another hearing for February 26, at which time Temin would set a date for the hearing. Harrison and Stewart, meanwhile, are scheduled for what could be a final pre-trial hearing February 27 in room 702 of the Criminal Justice Center at 13th and Filbert streets, in front of Common Pleas Judge Eugene Clark, who will assign a definite trial date. Assistant District Attorney Dick Carroll, who is prosecuting the case, speculated the case will probably not go to trial until the summer. Carroll has been trying for more than a year to secure Black's testimony against the others. Carroll said yesterday that he is no longer looking for a plea agreement because "he has nothing to offer her." He said he believes he can convict all three suspects without her help. Nevertheless, he did express hope that Black would decide to testify on her own, since the judge might take that into consideration when sentencing her. The testimony is particularly important in the case of Stewart, who stayed in the getaway car during the murder and has continually denied being involved in the incident. According to a statement allegedly given by Black to Philadelphia Police officers shortly after her arrest, Harrison tried to rob Sled and his fiancee -- then-University researcher Cecilia Hagerhall, 33 -- but the Russian-born researcher fought back. Black, who was sitting in the getaway car with Stewart, jumped out of the car to help Harrison and stabbed Sled during the struggle, the statement says. It also says Stewart had a gun and fired it from the car during the attack, an allegation Stewart has denied. Carroll needs to prove that Stewart had a deadly weapon to have any chance at convicting her and Harrison of first-degree murder, which requires intent and pre-meditation. Carroll has repeatedly said he believes Stewart, of the 500 block of North Allison Street, to be the most dangerous of the three and wants to make sure she spends the rest of her life in prison. In the statement, Harrison, of the 5200 block of Arch Street, allegedly gave to police, the man acknowledged robbing the couple but said he did not plan to kill them and was surprised when Black came to his aid. Black's statement can be used against her in a trial. But prosecutors cannot use it against the other two defendants without her accompanying testimony because of the "confrontation" clause in the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution. If Black does not testify, the prosecution's star witness is likely to be Hagerhall, who is now living in Sweden but is willing to appear as a witness at a moment's notice, Carroll said.