EAST SIDE CRIMINAL DAY - 8/10/07

With 17 cases listed on yesterday's list, one would think that everything would be wrapped up before noon. But, this being District Court 15-1-04, that would normally be asking too much, particulary when the Public Defender's office decides that five of her clients want full preliminary hearings (a 6th PD-eligible client was represented by Curt Norcini, who was appointed conflict counsel as one of the 5 PD clients was a co-defendant with Norcini's client). As for the remaining cases, four defendants waived their preliminary hearings, 6 cases were continued, and one defendant was in complaince with a summary agreement and has his misdemeanor charges withdrawn in exchange for a guilty plea to Disorderly Conduct. And now, on to the hearings:

The first hearing involved two defendants from Philadelphia who attempted to join the long list of out-of-town morons who traffic narcotics in the borough. Brian Keith Lott, 30, and James Lee Lowery, 30, both of Philadelphia, were charged with Possession With Intent to Deliver a Controlled Substance and related offenses following a surveillance operation in the East End near Baxter's and a female who overdosed on cocaine at her South Walnut Street apartment that night after allegedly purchasing cocaine from the defendants.

On August 1 at around 23:42, Ofc. A.J. McCarthy and Cpl. Josh Lee were on patrol in the 50 block of South Walnut Street when they observed one of the two defendants leaned over a car on the 100 block of Cedar Alley. Lowery allegedly leaned down towards the driver side of the vehicle as Lott stood 15 feet away, searching the area for officers. The defendants then walked eastbound down Cedar Alley before they were stopped on Matlack Street.
Ofc. McCarthy dealt with Lowery, who allegedly gave a false name while being interviewed. He had said that he was unfamiliar with the area, which made the officer suspicous. After further stonewalling, Lowery was taken into custody when he finally gave his real name. In a search incident to arrest at the station, Ofc. McCarthy pulled a clear sandwich bag containing 14 smaller baggies of suspected cocaine. The contents of the items recovered from Lowery are being tested at the Lima Lab.

Cpl. Lee spoke to Lott, who, like Lowery, allegedly gave a false name and later revealed his true identity on arrival at the police station. In a search of Lott, Cpl. Lee recovered $105 in cash. Cpl. Lee testified that he suspected that Lott was the "bankroll" of the duo's operation, under the theory that if one of the two suspects were apprehended but not the other, the thinking would be that proving a PWID case would be more difficult. Cpl. Lee also noted that no means to injest the cocaine was found on either defendant.

As for the overdose victim, her boyfriend testified that he was at the Elks Club at Matlack and Market where he had met the two defendants earlier in the evening. They eventually made their way back to the witness' South Walnut Street apartment which he shared with the victim. He testified that Lott allegedly told Lowery to "sell (the crack) to her." Lowery allegedly sold three bags of cocaine to the female for $60.00. Later that evening, GFAC, Medic 91, and WCPD were dispatched to the 50 block of South Walnut, where the victim reportedly flagged down a bouncer at Baxter's and requested EMS to the scene. Ofc. Aaron Davis responded to the scene, where he found the victim down and unresponsive. EMS transported the victim to CCH. Upon further investigation, Ofc. Davis found three small baggies that were similar in texture to the bags that Ofc. McCarthy recovered from Lowery.

Lowery was held on two counts of PWID, two counts of Conspiracy, two counts of Possession of Drug Paraphanalia, and one count of Presenting False ID to Law Enforcement Officer; he remains committed to CCP on $10,000 bail (15-1-04, CR-0000246-07). Lowery has a criminal history that includes:

• A Robbery conviction from a 1999 incident in Northwest Philadelphia for which he was sentenced to 11 1/2-to-23 months in jail and 5 years probation (CP-51-CR-0406521-1999).
• A Recieving Stolen Property conviction from a 2001 incident in West Philadelphia to which he was sentenced to 6-to-23 months in jail and 1 year probation (CP-51-CR-0407351-2001).
• A guilty plea to drug offenses stemming from a 2002 incident in South Philadelphia (4th District) and given 1 year probation (MC-51-CR-0528351-2002).

Lott was held on one count each of PWID, Conspiracy, and False ID to a Law Enforcement Officer; he remains held at CCP in lieu of $15,000 bail. His criminal history is more extensive, including:

• A 1996 arrest in Northwest Philadelphia (35th District) for Theft, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, and Fleeing and Eluding Police; he pled guilty to Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle in 2004 and sentenced to 23 months in jail (CP-51-CR-0902991-2004).
• A 1998 DUI arrest by Sgt. William Cahill of Westtown-East Goshen Police to which he was sentenced by Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas Gavin to 1-to-12 months in CCP; he was granted credit for time served at CCP due to his fugitive status for nearly 5 years (CP-15-CR-0001790-1998).
• A 2004 arrest for Robbery and Assault charges stemming from an incident in North Philadelphia (22nd District); he pled guilty to Simple Assault and sentenced to 2 years probation (CP-51-CR-1006411-2004).

For what it's worth, Lott was visibly shaking throughout a good portion of the hour long hearing...


In the second hearing, which started at 12:05, Jose Fletcha was charged with four counts of Possession With Intent to Deliver a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Criminal Use of a Communication Faclity (15-1-04, CR-0000261-07). Fletcha was accused of selling cocaine to an undercover officer on four separate occasions earlier this year:

• On January 18 at around 20:50, Fletcha allegedly sold a total of .91 grams of cocaine to the undercover officer for $140 at 317 South Adams Street - the same location where Christian Oliveras was accused of selling cocaine and where the aforementioned was murdered last month.
• On February 1 at around 19:30, Fletcha allegedly sold a total of 2.5 grams of cocaine to the undercover officer, also for $140 at the same South Adams location.
• On Feburary 8 at around 19:59, Fletcha allegedly sold a total of 7.3 grams of cocaine to the undercover officer for $400 at the same South Adams location.
• On February 22 at around 19:51, Fletcha allegedly sold a total of 7.0 grams of cocaine to the undercover officer for $400 at the Apartments for Modern Living complex.

The officer testified that all four transactions were set up by cell phone calls, hence the Criminal Use of a Communication Facility counts. Fletcha was held for trial on all counts and remains committed to CCP in lieu of $30,000 bail. After the hearing, his girlfriend tried to sneak one last kiss before he was taken back to holding, much to the anger of the constable guarding him...

The remaining three hearings were comparatively uneventul:

Jennifer Lynn Oakes, 24, of Downingtown, faces charges of DUI (2nd offense) after a traffic stop by Ofc. Jeffrey Murray. On February 16 at around 02:16, Ofc. Murray testified that he observed Oakes driving a Chevy Impala eastbound on the 300 block of Market Street at with a flat tire and visible damage to the rest of the vehicle. When he pulled her over at the Wawa, Ofc. Murray observed Oakes get out of her vehicle and observed signs of intoxication from the defendant. After failing three sobriety tests, she was taken to CCH for a blood test; the Lima Lab report indicated a BAC of .26. She was held for trial on DUI and a count of Improper Tires (15-1-04, CR-0000078-07) and is free on $1,500 unsecured bail. Oakes has a prior DUI from 2005 that was cleared through an ARD disposition (CP-15-CR-0005474-2005) following a traffic stop in West Chester by Cpl. Pam Baumann.

Frederick Earnell McBride, 45, of West Chester, faced charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphanalia. On July 16 at around 20:15, Ofc. John O'Hare spotted the defendant on the 200 block of East Market Street, where he observed McBride rolling a cigarette and sealing it, which Ofc. O'Hare contended was a sign of possible drug use. The suspect was stopped on the 50 block of North Franklin Street where he became agitated and defensive. McBride was allegedly found to be in possession of three pieces of tin foil, one of which contained suspected rock cocaine. McBride was held on both counts and remains free on $2,500 unsecured bail (15-1-04, CR-0000233-07).

Finally, William Donald Domboski, 25, of Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, appeared for his preliminary hearing on a DUI charge. On May 29 at around 00:30, Ofc. Jason O'Neill stopped a vehicle driving by Domboski which was going the wrong way on the 200 block of East Market Street. After failing three sobriety tests, Domboski was taken to CCH for a blood test, which came back with a BAC of .11. Domboski was held on all counts, including DUI and Driving the Wrong Way on a One-Way Street. Domboski is being held at Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $1,500 bail, though he's unlikely to be released (15-1-04, CR-0000185-07). Domboski has a detainer on a probation violation stemming from a 2000 rape conviction.

On July 31, 2001, Domboski was sentenced to 11 1/2-to-23 months at CCP, 5 years probation consecutive to the jail term, 100 hours community service, and ordered to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life under Megan's Law by former Common Pleas Court (and current federal judge) Juan R. Sanchez. He served a cumulative total of 20 months of his 23 month sentence with credit for "good behavior" time. Sanchez had ordered the defendant to serve his entire 23 month term at the time of sentencing, however on October 31, 2002, Sanchez ruled that Domboski is eligible for "good time" credit, hence his release three months early (CP-15-CR-0003974-2000).

And with that, a nearly 4 1/2 hour Criminal Day came to a conclusion. How strange was it that the two defendants who were not in holding cells were forced to wait nearly 3 hours for their preliminary hearings? I mean it's not as if the 5 prisoners were going anywhere...

And how is it that the District Attorney's office can send two or three attorneys or interns to a Criminal Day but the Public Defender's office only sends one? (And, to be fair, it's the same situation in every District Court in the county.)

For that matter, how much sense did it make to have as many as four officers who were supposed to be on active patrol schedule tied up for nearly three hours while the court operated at a snails pace? Not a particularly smart way to run a court. A couple of months ago, the same situation occured when most of Squad 2 was tied up in Judge Knapp's court waiting for their hearings. It got to the point where Lt. Jeff Johnson had to respond to the court to try go get things moving and get the officers back on the street.

It doesn't help that Judge Knapp lists the hearing times as 08:30 when court usually doesn't convene until 09:00. The "excuse" was that the officers weren't showing up on time. Well, that excuse flies out the window when court doesn't begin a half hour after all parties are expected to appear. It's one thing if the cases are adjudicated in a timely and quick fashion (all one has to do it watch Judge Rita Arnold dispose of anywhere between 30 and 50 cases in a typical Criminal Day in Downingtown District Court by getting the majority of the cases cleared in under an hour-and-a-half). When a session drags on as it typically does in Judge Knapp's court, West Chester and East Bradford runs the risk of having far less than a full complement of it's patrol squad on the streets, hence putting the public at risk and forcing either Lt. Johnson or Lt. Bill Morris to respond to patrol calls.

Okay, I'm done venting...