Jury mulls sentence in Philly officer's slaying

A Philadelphia jury has begun its deliberations over whether a man should be sentenced to the death penalty or life in prison for fatally shooting a police officer.The deliberations began Tuesday morning after jurors heard closing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial for 23-year-old John Lewis.Defense attorney Bernard Siegel told jurors that his client was a young man who had thrown himself at their mercy.But prosecutors say the circumstances call for the death penalty.Lewis was convicted of first-degree murder last week in the shooting death of Officer Chuck Cassidy.Cassidy, a 25-year veteran, was shot in the head as he walked in on a doughnut shot robbery in the city's West Oak Lane section on Oct. 31, 2007.He died the next day.___Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com