Two suspects guilty in Oct. hit and run

Christopher Turner and Allan Waters have pled guilty to robbing and running over a College junior in October, and Waters is scheduled to be sentenced today. Representatives of the Philadelphia District Attorney's office said yesterday that Waters, who entered a plea of guilty to charges of robbery and criminal conspiracy earlier this year, will be sentenced at 9 a.m. today in room 710 of the Common Pleas Courthouse, located in City Hall. The 23-year-old Waters, of the 1300 block of S. Ruby Street, has been represented by various public defenders since his first pre-trial conference January 28th. Turner will be represented by public defender Peter Maas, who could not be reached for comment last night. Turner, a 28-year-old from Baltimore, is scheduled to be sentenced May 14th. Turner's attorney, Barnaby Wittels, said yesterday the men face a maximum sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison. According to eyewitness testimony, the two men pulled up next to College junior Roberta Koeppel in a white van on the 4000 block of Locust Street and attempted to take her book bag, which was draped across her shoulder. Koeppel was dragged 30 feet until she hit a parked car, which knocked her underneath the van. Wittels said that Turner was unable to plead guilty at the same time as Turner because he was found to be mentally incompetent to do so. Wittels explained that psychiatric evaluations performed on Turner in January and February showed that he suffered from schizophrenia and other mental problems. He said that his client had intended to plead guilty earlier. "He was hearing voices, and seeing things," Wittels said last night. "He simply wasn't mentally competent to enter a plea of guilty, otherwise we would've pleaded guilty back in January." According to court records, Turner was finally allowed to enter a guilty plea on March 15th.

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