COMMON PLEAS RECAP

And now, a few local cases of interest from Common Pleas Court...


Laura Marie Paxson, 21, of West Chester, pled guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance after an incident late last year. On December 17, 2006 at 23:49, Ofc. Gerry DiNunzio responded to an EMS call for a patient in cardiac arrest on the 100 block of North Church Street. Upon arrival, a 20 year old male acquaintance of the defendant was shaking uncontrollably on the floor after he had reportedly injected himself with heroin. While checking for ID, Ofc. DiNunzio found a purse on the floor behind the TV stand which was partially opened. The purse contained a syringe which was in plain sight. Initially, Paxon denied the purse belonged to her; after a search of the purse, a checkbook belonging to Paxson was found. As a result, she was arrested and transported to WCPD headquarters. Found in the purse were 2 needles, 12 empty blue wax baggies, 1 container of Fentanyl, and 5 packs of an unknown substance in blue wax paper which later tested positive for heroin. Paxson had been admitted to Drug Court, but withdrew on June 28, thus reinstating the charges. She was sentenced by Judge Anthony Sarcione to 12 months probation, ordered to undergo a drug & alcohol evaluation, and ordered to pay the $105 Lima Lab fee (CP-15-CR-0000021-2007).

Andres Declet, 36, of West Chester, pled guilty to Possession of Drug Parahpanalia following a ped stop last fall. On October 18, 2006 at 11:56, Ofc. Greg Cugino stopped the defendant on the 300 block of Hannum Avenue after it was determined that he had an active bench warrant on an unrelated traffic matter in District Court. When he was placed under arrest, a cylandrical tube hit the ground, which was burned at both ends and had copper wiring on one end, making it consistent with use for smoking cocaine. He had failed to appear for his preliminary hearing in front of Judge Bruno and was declared a fugitive on January 16. He was arrested a short time later and waived his prelim on January 27. He was sentenced by Judge Ronald Nagle to 12 months probation (CP-15-CR-0000221-2007).

Dontaye James, 28, of West Chester also pled guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance in front of Judge Nagle last week. On routine patrol in the area of North New and West Chestnut Streets, Cpl. Josh Lee attempted to arrest James on an active WCPD bench warrant. James attempted to flee from Cpl. Lee and was later arrested. Police recovered a small pink object from a nearby sewer grate, containing what was later determined to be .55 grams of cocaine. James was sentenced to 12 months probation and ordred to pay the $105 Lima Lab fee (CP-15-CR-0001336-2007).

Gary Brooks, 46, of Reading, pled no contest to one count of Recieving Stolen Property in front of Judge Sarcione. On March 13 at around 06:20, West Goshen police were dispatched to the report of a disabled vehicle at Boot Road on the US 202 overpass. Brooks told police that he was on his way home from work. A records check of the vehicle indicated that the vehicle did not belong to him and was reported stolen from the Kennett Square area earlier in the day. Brooks has an extensive criminal history dating back to the 1970's, with convictions in court cases from Montgomery, Berks, Schuylkill, and York counties. Brooks was sentenced to 7-to-23 months at CCP with 4-and-1/2 months credit for time served. Brooks also has an active case out of York County that has yet to be addressed (CP-15-CR-0001413-2007).

And so ends another week of interesting cases in the Court of Common Pleas. The second week criminal terms in front of Judge Mahon and Judge Nagle begin tomorrow as does the second "team" criminal term in front of Judge Sarcione, which should provide for, well, something to write about...