After less than an hour of deliberations, a jury of seven women and five men convicted Thomas Edwin Phelan of 24 counts of Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse, 18 counts of Statutory Sexual Assault, 42 counts of Indecent Assault, and one count each of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Corrupting the Morals of a Minor, and Unlawful Communication with a Minor. Phelan had been acting as his own defense attorney, assisted by Assistant Public Defender James McMullen; Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Bonnano Pitts prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth (CP-15-CR-0004430-2006).
Judge Howard F. Riley, Jr. is expected to impose sentence within the next 90 days, during which time, both a pre-sentence investigation report and a sexual offender's evaulation are expected to be conducted. Testimony began on Wednesday and finally concluded this morning, Phelan presented no witnesses on his behalf. The jury instructions began shortly after 14:00 and concluded at around 15:30 or so. The jury had informed the court that a verdict had been reached at around 16:05...
Meanwhile, testimony is continuing in the McFall trial in front of Judge Strietel. I guess the info that I got earlier today that closing arguements were occurring was a little premature. In any case, it wouldn't be surprising if, just like today, some plea dispositions were moved from Judge Strietel's court to either to Judge MacElree or Judge Nagle (both of whom have Misc. Lists scheduled for tomorrow)...
Also, a pretty full docket appears on tap for Judge Bruno's Criminal Day, including a "frequent flier" with two cases pending; this particular defendant already answered to charges in front of Judge Knapp last Friday. To find out who this particular defendant is, check in tomorrow for the West Side Criminal Day recap...
No comments:
Post a Comment