Will Subu Vedam get a chance at a new trial? Lawyers make their case in packed courtroom

In a courtroom filled with supporters of a State College man who has spent more than 40 years in prison, Centre County’s top judge did not indicate Monday whether he plans to give him an opportunity to argue for a new trial in a case that has generated renewed interest across the state.

After listening to about 90 minutes of legal arguments, Centre County President Judge Jonathan Grine said he would issue his decision in the future. He did not provide a timeline.

His questions to the attorneys largely sought to clarify what would be needed should he rule in either direction. He also complimented them for their passionate, exhaustive presentations.

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam, 62, has been imprisoned more than four decades for a killing he says he did not commit. His defense team has claimed that newly discovered information was withheld during his previous trials, evidence he believes could prove his innocence.

At the forefront of his claims is an allegation that an FBI report found the size of the bullet wound in the man’s head did not match the caliber of the gun Vedam was accused of using to carry out the killing.

Defense lawyer Gopal Balachandran said he “absolutely” believes Vedam, who appeared in the courtroom via Zoom, will be afforded an opportunity to make his case at a new hearing.

“I’m still very confident about it. It’s pointed to something that Subu has maintained all along, which is that he’s innocent,” Balachandran said after the hearing. “If he had this information back in his first two trials the cross-examination almost writes itself.”

Centre County prosecutors told Grine they believe no additional hearings are necessary, describing Vedam’s claims as untimely and immaterial. Centre County First Assistant District Attorney Josh Andrews said Vedam failed to show a reasonable possibility of a different outcome.

After Monday’s hearing, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said his review of the evidence presented at Vedam’s previous trials is “sufficient to support the convictions.”

“If that were not the case, we would be having a different conversation,” Cantorna said. “... If there’s evidence to change that, I would look at it with a fresh eye. I have no vested interest in this whatsoever other than that the law and the facts support the conviction.”

He declined to speak publicly about whether he would support a clemency petition if one were filed by Vedam. Balachandran also declined to speak about any conversations Vedam’s team has had with Cantorna’s office.

“I think the evidence that we’ve shown shows that Subu is innocent and shows it pretty clearly,” Balachandran said.

Following a Monday morning press conference where dozens of people displayed signs of support for Vedam, about 200 people packed the Centre County Courthouse. It took about 30 minutes for everyone to pass through a security checkpoint. Once inside, people filled the seats and lined the walls while others sat on the floor or on windowsills.

Most sat silently while the attorneys made their pitch, but a handful applauded after Balachandran concluded his presentation. That drew a rebuke from Grine, who told them to “have some respect.”

Thomas Kinser, 19, of Boalsburg, borrowed his parents’ van in December 1980 to give Vedam a ride so he could buy drugs in Lewistown. It was the last time he was seen alive by his family or friends.

Two hikers found his decomposing remains about nine months later in a sinkhole in Harris Township. A forensic pathologist determined Kinser died of a gunshot to the head.

Centre County prosecutors have alleged it was a .25-caliber bullet that killed Kinser, writing in court filings that a bullet of that size was recovered from inside his shirt and a casing was found underneath his body.

In an October 2023 filing, a result of that new evidence coming to light, Vedam’s defense team described that as a “physical impossibility.”

The wound in Kinser’s skull was “simply too small” to be caused by a .25-caliber bullet, his lawyers wrote. Instead, they floated the possibility that Kinser was killed by a smaller .22-caliber bullet.

No weapon was recovered at the scene. Prosecutors instead relied on information from a younger acquaintance of the two men who said he sold Vedam a .25-caliber firearm.

After recovering a bullet and casing that prosecutors said Vedam “test fired” before Kinser’s disappearance, an FBI ballistics expert testified those and the ones found on Kinser’s remains were “both fired by the same gun.”

Vedam was found guilty of first-degree murder in February 1983 following a five-day trial. An all-white jury convicted him on circumstantial evidence; law-enforcement agencies didn’t begin developing DNA databases until the early 1990s.

The state Superior Court ruled two years later that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the conviction, but reversed it on the grounds that the judge improperly allowed testimony about Vedam’s prior misconduct.

He was again convicted of first-degree murder in February 1988 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Several of his following appeals were rejected by statewide appeals courts.

His latest attempt to secure his freedom gained momentum in September 2021 when Cantorna voluntarily gave Vedam’s defense team full access to more than 3,000 pages of documents.

They said their review of the documents uncovered new information that showed prosecutors concealed multiple pieces of evidence, including details about a key witness and what it described as shoddy investigative work.

Those violations, they claimed, are strong enough to warrant a third trial.

“It’s a complex set of emotions, right? You’ve had four decades of saying you didn’t do it and it’s hard to prove a negative. It’s hard to prove ‘I didn’t do it.’ It’s an incredible rush of hope in terms of having the horses to carry this across the finish line,” Balachandran said after the hearing. “... But at the same time, in a post-conviction case, it’s a challenging and long and hard road, and there are many disappointments that occur on the way.”

Vedam has spent about two-third of his life at Huntingdon state prison after being twice convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

If he’s successful in proving his innocence and gaining his release, Vedam would become the longest-serving inmate in Pennsylvania history to be exonerated.

“I’m about the healing of wounds and this is a wound that needs to be healed,” supporter Janet Irons said.

It’s been 41 years, five months and 14 days as of Monday since his first conviction. The longest imprisoned Pennsylvania inmate to be cleared of guilt spent 40 years, three months and four days behind bars, according to data kept by The National Registry of Exonerations.