COMMON PLEAS RECAP - 8/1/07

It's been a fairly active and interesting week thus far in Common Pleas Court. With four active criminal terms and two miscellaneous terms this week, it's been nothing if not active, with some terms being shifted to other courts due to trials and other reasons...

We begin in Courtroom #7, where Kristopher Francis Smith faced the music for his Friday Night Flight through the West Side of West Chester. Smith, 22, of West Chester, pled guilty on two separate cases. On January 13 at around 20:00, Ofc. A.J. McCarthy was on patrol when he stopped a vehicle driven by Smith on the 400 block of North Everhart Street. In a search incident to arrest, Smith was found to be in possession of a total of 6.57 grams of cocaine found in a total of 10 ziplock baggies.

Almost two weeks later, on January 26 at around 20:53, Ofc. Jason Malicki attempted to pull Smith over at Bradford Avenue and West Market Street for a traffic violation. Smith drove off and failed to stop when Ofc. Malicki activated the overhead lights of his patrol car. After racing through several West Side streets, and even going the wrong way down West Union Street, Smith was eventually boxed in at West Nields and North New Streets, where he bailed from the car and was apprehended after a brief foot pursuit. In a search incident to arrest, Smith was also found to be in possession of a small amount of marijuana.

On the charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent to Deliver, Smith was sentenced to 1-to-5 years in state prison with credit for nearly 6 months time served, a $5,000 fine, ordered to submit to a DNA sample to the state database, and pay the $105 Lima Lab fee (CP-15-CR-0000483-2007). On the charge of Fleeing and Eluding a Police Officer, Smith was sentenced to a two year probation term, consecutive with his state sentence, pay a $500 fine and a $105 Lima Lab fee (CP-15-CR-0000570-07).

This morning, Smith had another year tacked on to his state prison sentence as part of his violation of parole hearing in front of Judge Sarcione. In addition to his guilty pleas, Smith had 12 technical violations of his parole, along with an arrest in Perry County (northwest of Harrisburg) on Simple Assault and Harassment charges stemming from an August 11, 2006 arrest...

In Courtroom #4, Stephen Giffing, 51, of West Chester, pled no contest on two separate cases in front of Judge Ronald C. Nagle. During Judge Nagle's last trial term, Giffing had yet to undergo a mental health evaluation as required by the court. Giffing had also taken issue with the fact that he was denied ARD in spite of several previous convictions. On Tuesday, however, his evaluation had been completed and he had a change of heart, wanting to plead no contest in the two cases.

The first case was a DUI case from PSP/Embreeville. On September 22, 2006, Tpr. David Dannehower arrested Giffing as part of a DUI checkpoint on Route 322 at Shadyside Road in West Bradford; Giffing's BAC at the time of his arrest was .12. He was sentenced to 40 hours to 6 months in Chester County Prison and the other statutory fines and punishments for a first offense/second tier DUI (CP-15-CR-0002127-2007). Giffing also pled no contest to Simple Assault charges relating to an assault of his stepmother on Mother's Day; he was sentenced to 3-to-23 months at CCP, with credit for time served, and was granted immediate parole (CP-15-CR-0002127-2007).

Up in Courtroom #8, Deborah Owens, 54, of West Chester, pled guilty to a felony count of Retail Theft. On January 7 at 12:37, Ofc. Christopher Daly was dispatched to the Rite-Aid, where a loss prevention officer caught Owens placing a stick of deoderant in her purse - valued at $1.37 - and attempted to leave without paying for it. A preliminary review of court records indicate several prior convictions for misdemeanor Retail Theft, hence the felony grading (the statutory grading for a third or greater offense of Retail Theft). Judge William Mahon sentenced Owens to 2 years probation and 200 hours of community service. Despite the fact that this was a felony charge, which normally requires convicted defendants to submit a DNA sample, Mahon waived the order of the sample, as he seemed it was overkill over a $1.37 stick of deoderant (CP-15-CR-0000526-2007).

Two other defendants, however, weren't looked upon by Judge Mahon as favorably...

Tracy Wade, 32, of Phoenixville, pled guilty to drug dealing on two separate cases. In the first case, Wade was accused of making four separate cocaine deals to undercover officers in Phoenixville in 1999. The second case invovled a fifth transaction in Phoenixville. Interestingly enough, Wade's pre-trial hearing, involving the severance of both cases, was heard during a Drug Court session two weeks ago. The motion to sever the cases was denied, and it appeared that Wade's case was a lost cause, hence the guilty pleas to 6 separate counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent to Deliver and 4 separate counts each of Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphanalia (CP-15-CR-0003385-1999 and CP-15-CR-0003280-1999). Wade has multiple cases filed in Montgomery County.

Meg Grab, 50, of Honey Brook, plead guilty to 5 counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent to Deliver. On 5 separate occasions over the latter part of 2005, Grab sold between 12 and 25 grams of cocaine to an undercover officer, at a total cost of $4,800 (CP-15-CR-5349-2006 through CP-15-CR-5353-2006 et seq.). To this point, Grab's only conviction has been for a DUI offense, though records for that matter have not yet been confirmed.

Both defendants are scheduled to be sentenced at later dates. It wouldn't surprise me if one of these two defendants - or possibly both - get their sentences handed down during one of Judge Mahon's Thursday Drug Court sessions (he has been known to sentence defendants convicted of drug charges during these sessions to scare Drug Court applicants straight)...

In Courtroom #1 (where Judge MacElree's cases were moved due to the "340" trial), William Pressley, 43, of Philadelphia, pled guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent to Deliver after selling 20 pills of Hydrocordone to undercover WCPD detectives at Fuggett Park behind Borough Hall on November 26, 2006. He was sentenced by President Judge Paula Francisco Ott to 3-to-23 months in Chester County Prison, ordered to pay the $105 Lima Lab fee and submit a DNA sample required of convicted felons (CP-15-CR-0005046-2006). Pressley, you may recall, failed to appear in front of Judge MacElree last month and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He surrendered to Philadelphia Police about three weeks ago and had been at Chester County Prison waiting his day in court...

More cases will be posted later this week...