Mom Hires PR Firm Against Alleged Hammer Attacker

May 21, 2009 — -- Spurred by a judge's decision to try the teen suspected of attacking her daughter with a hammer as a juvenile, Pittsburgh mother Grace DeIuliis bucked the system and hired a public relations firm in desperate pursuit of an appeal.

With DeIuliis' help, Pittsburgh's Forge Communications set up a Twitter page, Facebook group and a Web site called "Adult Time for Adult Crime," all aimed at persuading Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala to appeal the judge's decision last month to try 17-year-old Robertino DeAngelis in juvenile court.

DeAngelis was charged with attempted homicide in October 2007 for allegedly luring DeIuliis' then-16-year-old daughter Sarah, his ex-girlfriend, to a secluded area near Mt. Lebanon High School and beating her over the head with a hammer. The alleged attack was interrupted when an off-duty police officer happened to walk by.

"We're desperate," DeIuliis told ABCNews.com. "The juvenile system is not equipped to deal with such a violent act. ... I'm just a mom of a young daughter that we're trying to protect. If this alleged violent predator is released into our community once more, we believe we are all at risk.

"It's a very adult decision to make a life or death choice over an individual," she said.

'Unusual' Move Gains Public Support, But Progress?

Since it went live mid-day Monday, the family's Web site has received more than 2,000 hits and the "lion's share" of the comments left have been in favor of the DeIuliis' cause, Forge Communications managing director Daryl Clemmens told ABCNews.com. The Web site also allows visitors to e-mail or call the district attorney's office directly.

In a move DeIuliis family lawyer John Gismondi called unusual, the family hired the PR firm after its appeals to the office of the district attorney were denied.

"I think that with a family like the DeIuliises, they follow all the rules," Forge's Clemmens said. "They dot all their I's and cross all their T's and at the end of the day, the justice system didn't serve their needs. They have the right to be heard."

While family lawyer Gismondi said his client believed hiring the PR firm was their "only chance" at a possible appeal, he was not confident the tactic would work.

"I'm sure the D.A. is not happy about it and I can understand why," Gismondi said. "I think the D.A. has made their decision."

Mike Manko, a spokesman for Zappala, told ABCNews.com the case "has been decertified and is proceeding through juvenile court," declining to answer additional questions.

PR Tactics, Legal Complexities Blur Plea

On the family's Web site, DeIuliis pens a wrenching account of the night she received the "nightmare call" about the attack on her daughter and the horror she witnesses when she arrived at the scene.

"There, finally, we find our tall, thin blonde haired daughter. Her appearance grossly altered ... thick blonde hair matted with blood and mud ...," it reads.

At the end, there is a desperate plea to "remind them you vote for" to reconsider the appeal to try DeAngelis as an adult.

The teen's lawyer, Pat Thomassey, told a local TV station last month, "He's a nice young man. I know what happened here is not nice, but there's a lot more to this case -- believe me -- in the relationship between these two kids that will come out at a later time."

Thomassey argued that DeAngelis should not be treated as an adult because he would benefit from treatment offered in juvenile facilities and isn't likely to re-offend.

DeAngelis reportedly threw himself in front of a trolley car after the alleged attack and was seriously injured.

But while the case may be shocking and somewhat effective in gaining public sympathy, according to PR expert Glenn Selig, the public involvement of Forge Communications could undermine the message.

"Part of the message is they're being wronged by the system," said Selig, who is a media consultant for The Publicity Agency, the Florida-based agency that represented former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and murder suspect Drew Peterson.

Once a PR firm is known to be involved, Selig said, "it almost makes you seem like not the underdog.

"To say that public opinion doesn't have the ability to sway people's minds is ridiculous ... playing to the court of public opinion is a good idea. I applaud the family ... the only mistake here is the PR firm takes away from the message of purity."

The Web site also does not delve into the legal timing of an appeal which, according to family lawyer Gismondi, is a big factor in the district attorney's decision.

"I don't think anybody would suggest they're trying to go easy on [DeAngelis]," Gismondi told ABCNews.com. "They [the district attorney] thought their chances of winning the appeal were slim ... [and] they thought it would take a couple years for the appeals to go forward."

Because DeAngelis is 17, if the appeal process takes several years and is then lost, any sentence handed down by a possible guilty verdict in a juvenile case would last a year or two, at most, Gismondi said.

If they get a conviction now, Gismondi said, "we have him under our thumb for three years."

But DeIuliis says three years is not enough for what happened to her daughter, who she says suffered permanant damage to an eye as a result of the attack.

"His records would be sealed at the conclusion of the juvenile's court jurisdiction," she said. "These violent acts he's been charged with will not follow him. No one will be pre-warned. We would hope that Mr. Zappala would, at all times, keep primary in his mind the concerns for public safety of this commonwealth [of Pennsylvania]."