Trial begins for Berks woman accused in children's hanging deaths | Berks regional news

Lisa Snyder's individual trial is scheduled to begin Monday in a Berks County courtroom.

Snyder is accused of killing her children, 8-year-old Conner and 4-year-old Brinley.

Authorities said Snyder's children were found hanged in the basement of their Albany Township home in 2019.

According to authorities, Snyder tried to stage the deaths as murder and suicide.

“In a single-judge trial, a criminal trial takes place before only one judge,” said John Waldron, a criminal defense attorney who is not involved in the case.

In a single judge trial there is no jury.

“The judge hears all the facts, hears all the witnesses, and he himself renders the verdict, makes all the evidentiary decisions and ultimately decides the final outcome – guilt or acquittal,” Waldron said.

Waldron said there are several reasons why someone should be tried in a single-judge court.

“First of all, the facts in this particular case are quite gruesome and often a trial before a single judge is chosen because you don't want a jury to hear these gruesome facts. Judges are used to hearing all kinds of facts, especially in criminal cases,” Waldron explained.

He said there was another reason.

“In addition, when a case involves procedural issues, intent, specific conduct or certain statutory elements of a crime and there are many legal arguments, the decision should be left to a judge rather than a jury because the judge understands all of those issues better than a jury,” he said.

69 News will have a team reporting from the opening day of the trial.