ADDITIONAL CASES SUCCESSES
Commonwealth v. Cote (Court of Common Pleas of York County, 2008). Mr. Cote was sitting in the backseat of a vehicle that a police officer pulled over for speeding. Although Mr. Cote was not suspected of committing any crime, the police officer ordered Mr. Cote to exit the vehicle. Furthermore, without any probable cause to believe that the vehicle contained weapons or contraband, the officer went ahead and searched the vehicle anyway. In the search of the car, the officer allegedly found drug paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana. When confronted with the alleged contraband, Mr. Cote allegedly confessed to criminal activity. The officer charged Mr. Cote with various drug offenses. We moved to suppress all of the evidence and the alleged confession, arguing that the officer violated Mr. Cote’s constitutional rights by ordering him out of the vehicle, searching the car, and questioning him without probable cause. The Court of Common Pleas of York County agreed and granted Mr. Cote’s motion to dismiss. Left without any evidence of criminal conduct, the prosecutor dropped the charges against Mr. Cote.
Commonwealth v. Williams (Court of Common Pleas of York County 2008). Mr. Williams was charged with first and second degree murder following a shooting death of another individual in the City of York. There was no question that Mr. Williams fired the fatal shot; however, we maintained that Mr. Williams did not act with premeditation and that he was not involved in the commission of a felony, which are required elements of first and second degree murder. Following a jury trial, the jury agreed with the defense and Mr. Williams was convicted of only the lessor offense of third degree murder.
Commonwealth v. Evans (Court of Common Pleas of York County, 2009). Mr. Evans was convicted of indecent assault and corruption of minors. We were retained after conviction and alleged that Mr. Evans’ prior counsel was ineffective in his representation of Mr. Evans and requested relief under the Post-Conviction Relief Act. The Court of Common Pleas of York County agreed and granted Mr. Evans a right to appeal his conviction.
Commonwealth v. Clugston (Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin County, 2009). Mr. Clugston, and several of his neighbors, witnessed police officers arrest a drunk driver in his neighborhood. However, after making the arrest, the officers singled out Mr. Clugston, who was standing over forty feet away from the incident, and an altercation ensued. Mr. Clugston claimed to have been attacked by police; two police officers said that Mr. Clugston struggled and resisted arrest. During the arrest, the officers grabbed Mr. Clugston by his hair and slammed him on the ground so hard that his shoe flew off. Based upon this incident, Mr. Clugston went to a jury trial on the charge of resisting arrest. Following a two-day trial at which several witnesses testified on Mr. Clugston’s behalf, Mr. Clugston was found not guilty.
T.G. v. County of Dauphin (U.S. Dist. Court, M.D. PA 2009). T.G. was a 12 year old juvenile who was taken to the Shaffner Youth Detention Center after a minor altercation at school. The problems at school were resolved by way of a consent decree. While at Shaffner, however, one of the counselors grabbed T.G. and threw him to the ground, breaking his collarbone. We filed suit in federal court alleging that the counselor used excessive force. Following mediation in the matter, Dauphin County agreed to pay T.G. $125,000.00.
Burrell v. Foose and Bailey (U.S. Dist. Court, M.D. PA 2009). Police officers responded to a mall parking lot to investigate a report of a “suspicious individual”. Upon arriving at the scene, they found Mr. Burrell who was lawfully sitting in his vehicle, and not doing anything illegal. Nevertheless, police placed Mr. Burrell under arrest and when he protested his arrest, he was tasered by the police. Subsequently, Mr. Burrell was found not guilty of all charges before the Court of Common Pleas of Union County. We then pursued a federal civil rights suit against the police officers, that was settled on the eve of trial for $28,000.00.
Davis v. Schnectedy Community College (U.S. Dist. Court, N.D. NY 2009). This case involved a violation by municipal police officers and community college officials who attempted to prevent Mr. Davis from preaching in an area open to the public and videotaping in public. The federal court held that Mr. Davis has a right to videotape, ordered the municipality and the community college to allow him to continue videotaping, and directed that the community college and police pay Mr. Davis’ attorney fees in the amount of $52,000.00.
Commonwealth v. Bozeman and Simpson (Court of Common Pleas of York County 2009). On Christmas Eve, Ms. Simpson and Ms. Bozeman went to the home of a neighbor to see Ms. Simpson’s husband who she believed was fixing some items in need of home repair for the neighbor who was a widow. When she arrived at the neighbors home, her knock at the door went unanswered, so she entered the neighbors home where she discovered her husband and the neighbor in the midst of an affair. A melee then ensued between Ms. Simpson, Mr. Simpson and Ms. Bozeman, Ms. Simpson’s daughter who was coming to her aid. Ms. Bozeman called the Pennsylvania State Police for assistance; however, when the trooper arrived, he charged Ms. Simpson and Ms. Bozeman with serious felony level charges, including burglary and attempted burglary. Following a jury trial, Ms. Simpson and Ms. Bozeman were acquitted of all serious charges.
Commonwealth v. Cook (Court of Common Pleas of McKean County 2009). Mr. Cook is a building contractor operating in Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania. In 2007, he entered into a contract with two churches to repair their roofs, and he received down payments from both churches. Due to circumstances beyond Mr. Cook’s control, his bank accounts were wrongfully frozen by the IRS, and he was not able to purchase the supplies or pay the employees he needed to repair the roofs in question. He was therefore arrested, extradited from New York and charged with felony theft by deception. Following discussions with the McKean County District Attorney, all charges against Mr. Cook were dismissed.
