BY STACI WILSON

The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld the voluntary manslaughter sentences of Lloyd Thomas who shot and killed two men in February 2012 at his family’s home in Great Bend Twp.

Thomas was convicted by a jury in the Susquehanna County Court of Common pleas in early 2014 on two counts of voluntary homicide, as well as drug possession and paraphernalia charges. He was sentenced to serve a total of six to 12 years, followed by eight years probation for the shooting deaths of Gilberto Alvarez and Joshua Rogers.

After the sentencing, Thomas’ request for a new trial was denied. He then filed an appeal based on three points: a claim the verdicts weren’t supported by the evidence; the addition of the drug charges after the jury was selected prejudiced the jury against him; and that prosecutors provided information after the verdict that was material to the question that Alvarez and Rogers were the aggressors.

The Superior Court denied all three points put forward by Thomas, finding that the verdict was “not so contrary to the evidence as to shock one’s sense of justice.”

The Court also found that Thomas was aware of the prosecution’s plan to add the drug charges nine months prior to the trial; and that the prior criminal record of one victim was not relevant, and had also been disclosed to Thomas nearly one year before the case went to trial.

As the Thomas case made its way through the lower courts, it served to divide the community, by opening up debate over Pennsylvania’s expanded Castle Doctrine, prompting area legislators, the district attorney and county sheriff to hold informational meetings on self-defense and the state’s conceal-carry laws.

But District Attorney Jason Legg said the Thomas’ case was not a “test case” for the Castle Doctrine, noting the jury determined Thomas never had a reasonable fear for his safety.

Alvarez was unarmed and looking in another direction when he was shot in the head; and Rogers was fleeing the scene, the gun he was holding pointed away from Thomas and at a downward angle.