A full docket and some interesting moments came out of Wednesday's Criminal Day at 15-1-01. Students from Widener University's School of Law observed today's proceedings, though were probably disappointed with the fact that out of the 16 cases scheduled for hearings, only one preliminary hearing took place. Five defendants waived preliminary hearings (one involuntarily), two cases were withdrawn, and the remaining cases were continued to next month.
In the day's lone hearing, Commonwealth vs. James R. McGeehan (15-1-01, CR-0000172-07), the defendant was charged with Fleeing/Eluding a Police Officer, Escape, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Furnishing Alcohol to a Minor, Accident Causing Damage to an Unattended Vehicle, Driving the Wrong Way on a One Way Street, and Speeding. On June 9 at 00:15, Sgt. Jeffrey Ditz was conducting surveillance at Sam's Pizza Island on Hannum Avenue and West Washington Street when he observed what he suspected to a transaction involving the furnishing of alcohol to underage subjects. Sgt. Ditz observed the driver of a gold Ford Taurus loading seven bottles of a malt liquor product into a black Ford Explorer allegedly driven by McGeehan. Both vehicles then turned eastbound on Washington Street.
Sgt. Ditz then initiated a traffic stop of the defendant's SUV on the 200 block of West Washington Street when McGeehan pulled over briefly then allegedly took off in a matter of seconds. Sgt. Ditz hadn't even provided the called in the traffic stop to dispatch before the defendant fled, going the wrong way on Darlington Street and then going westbound on West Chestnut Street, at one point going nearly 60 mph. The 17-year-old passenger of the SUV testified that McGeehan allegedly said "I'm going" after he pulled over. Sgt. Ditz then attempted to intercept the SUV by taking a different routing than the SUV. The SUV eventually crashed into a tree on the 100 block of North Brandywine Street. After the accident, both McGeehan and his passenger ran up the hill behind the former Bishop Shanahan campus and jumped several fences before the passenger was arrested.
Judge Bruno dismissed the Escape charge against McGeehan after his attorney successfuly argued that McGeehan's actions did not meet the legal definition of escape, which requires a defendant to be in "official detention" which had not been executed at the time of the traffic stop; McGeehan was held for trial in Common Pleas Court on the remaining charges. McGeehan had been at Chester County Prison after absconding from Drug Court, which he later withdrew from. He remains at CCP in lieu f $7,500 cash bail...
While that was the only hearing, there were some other noteworthy events that took place today:
Carl G. Donato, Jr., 25, of Malvern, was scheduled for a hearing on charges filed by Chester County Detective Harold Dutter that he provided a false urine sample during a drug test at the Adult Probation Office. Donato, who was charged with Attempting to Furnish a Drug-Free Urine, Obstructing Administration of Law or Other Governmental Function, and Tampering With Evidence, failed to appear for court. As such, Judge Bruno issued a bench warrant for his arrest (15-1-01, CR-0000206-07)...
Tamal James Forchion, 24, of Willingboro, N.J., pled guilty to a summary charge of Disorderly Conduct after an incident at the Landmark Americana bar shortly after midnight on August 18. Forchion had made restitution following the incident and had agreed not to return to the establishment. He had admitted that he used bad judgement when he said he was trying to play peacemaker; suffice to say that didn't work too well, hence the charges. In exchange for the payment of restitution and guilty plea, a misdemeanor charge of Criminal Mischief was withdrawn (15-1-01, CR-0000229-07).
Forchion's friend, who had bailed him out not too long after being arrested and seeing his bail set at $1,500 cash, was in attendance. There's no doubt that Forchion, a professional basketball player who plies his craft overseas, will never hear the end of it from his boys over in Willingboro. At least Forchion manned up and accepted responsibility for his actions, which is more than most knuckleheads who pass through the system do...
Which brings us to Brian Thomas Ems...
Ems, 20, of Trevose, Bucks County, was scheduled for a 09:00 preliminary hearing on charges of Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphanalia, Underage Drinking, and Disorderly Conduct (15-1-01, CR-0000096-07). Ems' co-defendant, Daniel Easton, 20, of Levittown, Bucks County, faced similar charges, however he successfully completed a summary agreement where he ended up pleading guilty to Disorderly Conduct in exchange for a withdrawl of the remaining charges (15-1-01, CR-0000097-07). Ems had been slated to recieve the same disposition, however there were a couple slight snags in the plan:
(1) Ems showed up at 11:30, claiming he had transportation issues, yet he never notified the court, and (2) while going over his summary agreement, Ems didn't seem to take the proceedings seriously.
After mulling over his options, Judge Bruno ordered Ems' $2,500 unsecured bail revoked and committed him to CCP in lieu of $2,500 cash bail. Additionally, his hearing was continued to next week at 09:00; assuming he is unable to post bail, he should at least show up for his hearing. And he's not even the knucklehead of the session...
Which brings us to Michael Scott McClinton...
McClinton, 24, of Exton, was arrested twice in the past week by Cpl. Josh Lee on two separate incidents. Early Wednesday morning, McClinton was charged with Theft by Unlawful Taking and Recieving Stolen Property after allegedly stealing an unknown amount of cash from a tip jar at Barnaby's (15-1-01, CR-0000232-07); then, early Saturday morning at around 02:30, Cpl. Lee again arrested McClinton on charges of Criminal Trespassing, Harassment, and related offenses after a domestic-related incident on the 200 block of West Union Street. He remains at CCP in lieu of at least $2,500 bail on the theft charge and $5,000 bail on the trespassing charge.
This is on top of his 1543-B conviction in front of Judge Knapp last week and a separate pending case in the same court that's scheduled for a preliminary hearing on September 14. While waiting to be transported back to CCP, McClinton could be heard in the courtroom complaining about the food at CCP, so much so that his behavior was disrupting court proceedings. This guy has "state penitentary" written all over him...
Meanwhile, another defendant who was scheduled for a 1543-B hearing today got a rather startling surprise from the Commonwealth of Virginia in the form of a bench warrant and extradition request. Stephen Antoine Strickland, 22, of West Chester, appeared in court to answer to a 1543-B charge after a traffic stop by Sgt. Marty Deighan on June 5. Upon his arrival, he was informed of a bench warrant issued for felony charges of Grand Larceny and Burglary filed in Rockingham County, Va. He was committed to CCP on $25,000 cash bail with an extradition hearing scheduled for September 24 in the Court of Common Pleas (15-1-01, AR-0000144-07)...
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