Pennsylvania Criminal Law Blog

Five individuals in northeastern Pennsylvania have been arrested and charged with serious drug-related crimes, including heroin trafficking. Law enforcement organizations including the Pocono Mountain Regional police and the Monroe County Drug Task Force believe the individuals they have detained and charged were responsible for selling thousands of bags of heroin in the Poconos each month.

In mid August, police reportedly searched a vehicle driven by Roger L., of Scotrun, and Amber B., of Mount Pocono, incident to a traffic stop and found approximately 600 bags of heroin and thousands of dollars in cash. Police suspected that they were on their way from Allentown to sell heroin in Monroe County and possibly deliver it to others that would then sell it in Newark and Patterson, New Jersey.

A 23-year-old Lower Gwynedd man was recently sentenced in connection with a drunk driving-related car accident that resulted in the death of one of his passengers. Matthew Lynch was tried before a Montgomery County judge earlier this year and convicted on numerous criminal charges, including homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol, homicide by vehicle, recklessly endangering other persons, DUI, and reckless and careless driving.

Judge Thomas Branca sentenced Lynch to a prison term of between three and six years for his role in the January 2009 crash that claimed the life of 20-year-old Isaiah Washington. In addition to the prison sentence, the judge also ordered Lynch to serve seven years on probation.

A 20-year-old man was recently acquitted by a Chester County jury on charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence. Brian J. O'Neill had been charged with numerous crimes in relation to a fatal car crash occurring on a Route 202 exit ramp.

The accident giving rise to the criminal charges occurred in the early morning hours of September 6, 2009. O'Neill had allegedly been smoking marijuana and drinking beer since the prior afternoon when he drove his car the wrong way on a Route 202 exit ramp and crashed into another car. The two occupants of the second car, Diane Washington and George Parker, were killed in the accident.

When police responded to the accident, O'Neill reportedly attempted to flee, but was detained by an officer. Later, when the officer was not looking O'Neill again attempted to escape by jumping over a guardrail and falling more than 30 feet.

A 20-year-old assistant fire chief for the North Bangor Volunteer Fire Co. was recently cited for drunken driving and a number of other misdemeanors after overturning a fire tanker. Zachary R. Romano was allegedly driving with a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit when he rolled the truck over shortly after having driven the same truck in parade procession.

In relation to the crash occurring July 10, Romano has been charged with drunk driving, underage drinking, and reckless driving among other related counts. According to police, he registered a blood-alcohol content of 0.16 after rolling the truck over. Normally the legal limit is .08, but since Romano is under the legal drinking age, a blood-alcohol level of 0.02 or higher is considered over the legal limit for him.

A man that had been held in federal custody since last October was recently found not guilty by a jury on assault charges related to an altercation at the Nix Federal Building in Center City. David Barr, a 40-year-old postal worker that had been off work on disability, was alleged to have assaulted a security guard at the federal building after getting into an argument about using the wrong door and showing proper identification.

Before the trial began, there had reportedly been a plea bargain worked about between Barr and the U.S. Attorney's office. That agreement would have resulted in Barr receiving a sentence of time serviced in exchange for his guilty plea. However, Barr backed out of the deal and opted for a jury trial because he refused to agree to the prosecution's version of events.

Two men are awaiting the decision of a jury regarding whether they will face life in prison or the possibility of lethal injection for their role in a bank robbery that resulted in the killing of a police officer. Levon T. Warner and Eric DeShann Floyd were both convicted of the first-degree murder of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, who died in May of 2008 after being shot by a third man who was later shot and killed by police.

Death penalty cases are generally divided into two parts, the guilt phase and the penalty phase. The penalty phase of Warner and Floyd's trial is close to concluding as the judge has given final instructions to the jury and will soon let them begin deliberating.

We have previously mentioned that Pennsylvania courts impose more serious penalties for second or habitual DUIs then they do for first time offenses. For someone facing one of these charges it is important not only to defend against the most recent charge, but also to do everything possible to prevent the prior convictions from making your situation even worse. The recent sentencing of a woman convicted on her third DUI provides a good example of what can happen in these habitual DUI offense cases.

Rebecca Bindschusz, of Hatfield, was sentenced to a jail term of six-to-23 months in the Montgomery County Correctional Institution. That jail sentence is to be followed by an additional three years of probation. In addition to the lengthy incarceration and term of supervision, she was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,500 and pay restitution for the damage she caused in her DUI-related car crash.

The death of a 12-year-old girl in a recent DUI-related boat crash and the resulting plea bargain for the driver of the boat has led to public push for harsher criminal penalties in these types of cases. However, it is not quite clear what sort of legislative changes might be proposed.

Valerie Heidt was killed last year when the boat she was riding in was struck by a second boat being driven by a man under the influence of alcohol. The operator of the second boat, John E. Englert II, had at least three previous DUI convictions for offenses taking place on land. The crash resulted in the death of Heidt as well as injuries to several others.