THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS	Local Friday, June 20, 1997

Gelman is 54 and runs a one-man law office near Independence Hall. He is a study in contrasts, a student of Greek history and an admitted horse-racing addict.

While he represents some of the toughest guys around, including mob boss Nicodemo ``Little Nicky'' Scarfo and Warlocks motorcyclist Bobby Nauss, Gelman can get sappy over animals, especially cats.

Last February, Gelman was to deliver his closing address to the jury trying Scarfo for the 1985 murder of Frank ``Frankie Flowers'' D'Alfonso when one of his cats, Big Boy, died at 8:30 that morning. Big Boy was 15 and Gelman said he was so stricken by the cat's death he had to postpone his speech for a day.

``Big Boy died of kidney failure,'' said Gelman, who is single and lives in Chestnut Hill. ``I've got another 15-year-old cat named Dylan, after Bob Dylan, the singer.''

Gelman delivered his speech the following day and, after deliberating less than two hours, the jury found Scarfo and five associates not guilty. Scarfo originally had been convicted of the charge in 1989, but Gelman had the conviction overturned on appeal.

``I'm basically an appellate lawyer who also tries cases,'' Gelman said.

Gelman represented Einhorn in 1993, when Einhorn was tried and convicted in absentia for the murder of his girlfriend, Holly Maddux. When, and if, Einhorn is extradited, said Gelman, he will try to win a new trial for the counter-culture guru.

Einhorn's mother, Bea, and Swedish wife, Annika Flodin, have asked him to continue representing Einhorn, Gelman said. He has retained an expert in extradition law to handle matters in France, said Gelman, adding that he has not yet talked to Einhorn.

A graduate of Penn Law School, Penn State University and Cheltenham High School, Gelman was a Philadelphia assistant district attorney from 1969 to 1974, when he went into private practice.

Since, he has become an expert on the death penalty and has been called as an expert witness on that subject. He also has worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

``Norrie is a very good lawyer and he's always well-prepared,'' said Richard A. Sprague, Gelman's boss when he was in the DA's office. ``He's also a decent human being.''

In his appellate work, Gelman has succeeded in getting reversals of 35 state court convictions, including the vacating of nine death sentences.

In a federal case, Gelman won a new trial in March 1991 for Charles Diggs on grounds that the DA's office had systematically excluded blacks from the jury that convicted him of murder. But in a retrial in October 1991, Diggs again was convicted of stabbing a West Mount Airy woman 69 times and killing her.

The previous year, Gelman finally won an acquittal for Catherine Spear Fried, then 52, for the 1976 suffocation murder of her physician husband, Paul.

``I don't go away,'' Gelman said, referring to the fact that Fried had twice before been convicted and then won new trials. ``I believe very strongly that it is the obligation of lawyers to uphold the values of the Bill of Rights and to make sure they are applied to criminal prosecutions.''

Greek history fascinates him, said Gelman, because ``there were 60 certified geniuses all living during a 100-year period, and that society was so advanced it's almost unbelievable.''

``I like race horses,'' the lawyer said, of his other passion. ``I like to bet on them. I own a couple of them and I race them. When I ever find the time, I'd like to write a book about the history of thoroughbred racing.''

Philadelphia Online -- Philadelphia Daily News -- Local News Copyright Friday, June 20, 1997