FROM COURTROOMS 6 & 11

Now that I've finally gotten hold of court records from some of last week's cases, here's a recap of last week's other cases from the courtrooms of Judge Howard F. Riley, Jr. and Judge Phyllis Strietel...

Starting in Courtroom #11, Michael Stanely Wilson, Jr., 20, of Philadelphia, faced charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Drug Paraphanalia, and traffic offenses after an incident earlier this year. On January 11 at 13:15, Ofc. Greg Cugino pulled Wilson over on a traffic violation. As Wilson opened the door to his car, a clear plastic ziploc bag fell to the ground. At that point, Wilson was arrested; in a search incident to arrest, a clear plastic bag containing suspected marijuana was found. Wilson had applied for Drug Court, however, he was rejected. At the time of his trial, he was scheduled to have a pre-trial supression hearing, however he ultimately pled guilty to one count of disorderly conduct, had a $100 fine and $105 Lima Lab fee, and court costs imposed (CP-15-CR-0000542-2007)...

Erika M. Devaughn, 20, of West Chester, faced charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Drug Paraphanalia, and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. On Febuary 21 at 19:26, Ofc. Chris Daly responded to a residence on the 100 block of South Adams where the reporting party told police that her son found an empty marijuana bag. Further investigation led to the apartment complex at 201 South Matlack Street where Ofc. Daly was interviewing a potential suspect. Devaughn came out of her apartment and was asked if she had spoken to the reporting party earlier in the day. Eventually, Devaughn allowed Ofc. Daly to enter her apartment where he observed three juvenile males smoking marijuana.

Upon obtaining a search warrant, police found three bags that later tested positive for cocaine, a baggie of what later tested positive for marijuana, and a bag of suspected crack cocaine along with a digital scale. Devaughn pled guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphanalia and was sentenced by Judge Strietel to two years probation (CP-15-CR-0001677-2007)...

Up in Courtroom #6, Neil Dennis King, 46, of Kennett Square, entered an open guilty plea to DUI following after being stopped for speeding. On February 11 at 17:32, Ofc. Rey Melendez clocked King driving 44 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone on the 400 block of Price Street. After observing signs of intoxication and initiating 5 field sobriety tests, all of which King failed, he was taken to the ER at Chester County Hospital where a blood test determined his BAC was .21 at the time of his arrest. His sentencing is scheduled for October 12 in front of Judge Riley (CP-15-CR-0001944-2007)...

Christopher David Myers, 19, of West Chester, pled guilty to two open drug cases. On November 25, 2006 at 21:47, Ofc. Bill Viebahn responded to Seven Oaks Apartments for a report of a drug overdose. Upon arrival, the defendant admitted that he had taken Oxycontin earlier in the day. Heroin and related paraphanalia were found in the defendant's apartment at the time of the incident. Myers initially was admitted into Drug Court in December but was removed in May (CP-15-CR-0005057-2006).

Myers was awaiting trial on these charges in front of Judge Riley when he was arrested on July 24 on a new set of drug possession charges. On that day at 14:30, Myers' father contacted WCPD to report that he had found what he suspected was heroin in his son's stereo at their Marlin Drive home in East Bradford. Cpl. Ryan Collins obtained the suspected drugs, which 24 individually wrapped packages of what later tested positive for heroin (CP-15-CR-0003179-2007).

Myers was sentenced to 1-to-12 months at CCP plus 1 year consecutive probation and ordered paroled into an in-patient program once a bed became available. He was also ordered to pay $210 in Lima Lab fees...

Jared Michael Spieller, 23, of West Conshohocken, Montgomery County, faced DUI charges after a night of drinking earlier this year. On January 26 at 22:49, Cpl. Pam Baumann spotted Spieller driving his car the wrong way on the 100 block of South Walnut Street. After being stopped at Walnut and Barnard Streets, Spieller admitted he had been drinking at 15 North earlier in the night. After failing three sobriety tests, Spieller was taken to CCH for blood work; his BAC was determined to be .16 (CP-15-CR-0002110-2007). He had applied for ARD, but was refused, apparently due to a previous arrest by WCPD.

In that case, Spieller was charged with Furnshing Alcohol to Minors and related offenses after WCPD broke up a party on September 8, 2006. On May 17, Spieller pled guilty to two summary disorderly conduct counts in front of Judge Ronald Nagle and sentenced to 6 months probation and fined $600 (CP-15-CR-0004723-2006).

As a result of his DUI plea, Spieller was sentenced by Judge Riley to 72 hours to 6 months in jail, fined $1,000, and ordered to pay the $70 Lima Lab fee...

Meanwhile, a couple of Misc. Lists cases in front of Judge Riley this week caught my attention...

Franklin Phillip Elliott, 37, of West Chester, pled guilty to DUI after a traffic stop near a suspected drug house in the East End. On February 1, Cpl. Josh Lee spotted Elliott's vehicle near a suspected drug house on the 200 block of Mechanics Alley. After failing field sobriety tests, Elliott was arrested and taken to CCH for a blood test; his BAC came back .16 (CP-15-CR-0001605-2007). Elliott was sentenced to 30 days to 6 months at CCP, fined $1,000, ordered to and pay the $70 Lima Lab fee.

Elliott has two prior DUI charges - a July 25, 1993 arrest in West Conshohocken, Montgomery County that was disposed of via ARD (CP-46-CR-0004952-1993) and a January 15, 1995 arrest by Sgt. William Camlin in West Goshen, to which he was sentenced to the Intermediate Punishment Program by Judge Thomas Gavin (CP-15-CR-0001105-1995).

Elliot also has a robbery conviction stemming from a March 5, 1997 robbery at the Sunoco gas station on the 1100 block of West Chester Pike in West Goshen in which he was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months at CCP by Judge James MacElree II (CP-15-CR-0001116-1997). His accomplice in that case, Chris Allen Dollinger, ended up serving a 5-to-10 year state sentence for his role in that robbery (CP-15-CR-0003344-1997) and three other robberies in 1996 and 1997 (CP-15-CR-0001930-2007, CR-0001950-2007, and CR-0003345-2007)...

And finally, there's the sad saga of one Julie Anne Holmes. Holmes, 20, of West Chester, had appared in front of Judge Riley on Wednesday on a probation violation on four separate drug possession charges that were documented in excrutiating detail in June and a guilty plea to an April 26, 2006 hit-and-run accident in the East End (CP-15-CR-0002944-2006). In that case, Holmes was sentenced to 10 days to 12 months at CCP by Judge William Mahon in October 2006 and was re-sentenced to 11 1/2 months at CCP by Judge Riley on May 25.

Holmes earned herself a trip back to see Judge Riley after absconding from parole almost the moment she was released from prison. On June 12, Holmes was slated to be paroled into a rehab facility to continue out-patient treatment as part of her parole. When they stopped at her residence to pick up her belongings, she fled. A bench warrant was issued a week later and executed a few days after that. Additionally, Holmes had failed to complete other treatment requirements, changes her address without permission from the Adult Probation Office, and had an overall poor reporting record.

As a result of the new violations, Holmes was re-sentenced to the balance of her maximum sentence - 11 months and 19 days - and saw three years of consecutive probation revoked and reinstated; she becomes eligible for re-parole in 5 months (with credit for time served)...

Next week, Judges MacElree and Nagle start their respective two week trial terms while the second weeks of Criminal terms for Judges Gavin, Mahon, and Sarcione (Rotation I) also commence, which should make for a very busy week. There's a homicide trial scheduled to start Monday in Judge Sarcione's court - Commonwealth vs. Michael J. Sheller (CP-15-CR-0001320-2006). Also, there are trials tentatively set to begin in Judge Mahon's court and Judge Gavin's court; it's not known just yet whether or not the other two courts have trials scheduled, but it wouldn't be shocking if that were the case...