NEW PHILADELPHIA - Prosecutors and officials will gather at 10 a.m. today at Simon Kramer Institute to seek the answer to a single question: How did Matthew Koncsler die?
Exactly one year after Schuylkill County Prison guards found Koncsler dead in his cell, a coroner's jury of three men and three women will listen to evidence in an effort to determine how the inmate died.
"We undertook this inquisition really to do what the law is designed to do," District Attorney Christine A. Holman said Friday.
Holman, who, along with Assistant District Attorney John Fegley, will question the witnesses, said she expects the inquest to last one day.
In fact, Holman said she already has questioned two doctors, whose videotaped depositions will be played to the jury.
She said Dr. Wendy Adams testified Koncsler had heroin introduced into his body one hour before his death, and that he also had codeine in his system.
Prison guards found Koncsler, 21, of Shenandoah, dead in his cell about 7:30 a.m. March 31, 2013.
Koncsler had pleaded guilty March 20, 2013, to delivery of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, with prosecutors withdrawing a charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance. At that time, President Judge William E. Baldwin sentenced him to serve three to 18 months in prison, pay costs, $100 to the Substance Abuse Education Fund and $113 restitution to the state police crime laboratory in Bethlehem, and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities.
Koncsler reported to prison on March 27, 2013, to begin serving his sentence.
Schuylkill County detectives had charged him with delivering drugs and selling paraphernalia on Jan. 21, 2012.
An autopsy conducted April 2, 2013, at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, did not reveal an immediate cause of death, according to Holman.
Coroner Dr. David J. Moylan III, who will preside over the inquest, said he wants answers to questions surrounding Koncsler's death.
"This was an unusual death. I think we need to shine some light on it," Moylan said Wednesday.
He said scheduling was a major factor in holding the inquest at the institute, where his office is located, instead of the Schuylkill County Courthouse.
State law requires the inquest to be open to the press; however, Moylan will have the option of closing it to other members of the public. He had said Wednesday that he intended to have it open to the public.
Robert E. Matta, Shenandoah Heights, the lawyer who represents Koncsler's family, said he will attend the inquest.
"The family is really just trying to find some answers related to the young man's death," Matta said. "They're grateful that the district attorney has taken the initiative, along with Dr. Moylan, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the events that led up to his death."
Matta said the family has not yet filed a lawsuit in connection with Koncsler's death.
Holman said that under state law, the jury is to determine the manner of Koncsler's death and whether any criminal act or neglect by known or unknown people caused the death. The coroner is to determine the cause of death and whether it might have resulted from criminal acts or criminal negligence.
In addition to the doctors' videotaped testimony, Holman said she intends to present 12 other witnesses, including Koncsler's two cellmates, another prisoner, two Pottsville police officers, three corrections officers, a medical intake employee, a licensed practical nurse and two of Koncsler's family members, mother Sherry Koncsler and stepbrother Vincent Eroh.
The law does not say if the jury's vote needs to be unanimous, Holman said.
She said any answers reached by the jury or Moylan will not be final ones; a trial in the county court would follow in order to fix legal responsibility for Koncsler's death on any person or persons.
"An inquest is only a preliminary investigation, and not a trial on the merits," Holman said.