Plea bargain unlikely in Sled murder trial

Talks of a plea bargain with one of the murder trial defendants have broken down. Negotiations between the prosecution and lawyers for one of the suspects accused of murdering University biochemist Vladimir Sled soured yesterday and are close to falling apart entirely, Assistant District Attorney Dick Carroll said. Carroll is seeking a plea agreement with Bridgette Black, 26, one of three defendants currently awaiting trial for allegedly stabbing Sled near 43rd Street and Larchwood Avenue during a robbery attempt on October 31, 1996. Such an agreement would allow her to testify against the other two defendants, Eugene "Sultan" Harrison, 33, and Yvette Stewart, 30. Black was allegedly the one who actually stabbed the 38-year-old Sled, although police do not believe she helped plan the robbery. In a statement allegedly given to Philadelphia Police after her arrest, Black expressed extreme remorse over her role in the incident. "I had planned to use Bridgette against the other two, and her lawyer now wants to sell her to me," Carroll said. "I'm not in the habit of buying testimony." Public defender Dean Owens, who is representing Black, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Carroll said he is willing to agree to give Black a sentence of between 30 and 60 years, while her attorneys are asking for something "inappropriate." "It should be tantamount to a life sentence," he said. "If she deserves any mercy at all, it should be at the end of her life." In her statement, Black admitted to stabbing the Russian-born scientist when he fought back against Harrison, who was trying to rob Sled and his fiancee, then-University researcher Cecilia Hagerhall, 33. Legally, the prosecution cannot use that statement against either of the other two defendants unless Black testifies. The statement can, however, be used against Black herself if she does not testify. If he cannot strike a deal soon, Carroll said he will "play hardball" and might more actively pursue the death penalty for her. "I can put her in jail for the rest of her life in my sleep," Carroll said. "If I try Bridgette she's certain to go to jail for second-degree murder. If that's what she wants to see happen, I can make that happen." Carroll said he needs Black's testimony to implicate Stewart, who has claimed she did not know Harrison was going to rob the couple. Black can testify, as she said in her statement, that Stewart and Harrison were planning a robbery and Stewart even fired a gun. If Stewart did have a gun, that would imply she was ready to use deadly force, which could help prove a charge of first-degree murder. "Maybe [Black's attorney] will come around and we can put the other two in jail for the rest of their lives, which is what I want to do," Carroll added. At today's pretrial hearing, scheduled for 9 a.m. in room 604 of the Criminal Justice Center at 13th and Filbert streets, Carroll said he may ask Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Temin for a few more days to negotiate. Or, he may tell Temin that he is ready to proceed with two separate trials -- one for Black and one for Harrison and Stewart. By separating the trials, Carroll would also be able to prosecute the two for the alleged robbery of a Philadelphia Daily News driver earlier on the day Sled was killed. Black was not involved in the prior robbery.