Dismissal of residential burglary charge upheld | News, sports, jobs

In a decision issued last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of charges against the alleged mastermind of a home invasion robbery that took place in Tyrone nearly four years ago.

The incident, on January 21, 2021, resulted in the arrest of three area men: James Kelly Johnson-Ross, Kyler Luckadoo and Jason Sanderlin.

Luckadoo and Sanderlin allegedly entered a home in Tyrone looking for money and drugs, but police have accused Johnson-Ross, who was not part of the entry team, of being the person who planned the robbery and transporting, clothing and had supplied the weapons used by the police. the robbers.

Mirror records show that 23-year-old Luckadoo entered guilty pleas in February on several charges, including those related to the home invasion that carried a prison sentence of 8.5 to 17 years.

Sanderlin, 24, entered pleas in July 2023 to several charges, including those related to the home invasion that carried a sentence of four to eight years in prison.

However, 25-year-old Johnson-Ross opted for a jury trial but ultimately filed a motion to dismiss the charges due to violations of Pennsylvania’s speedy trial rules.

On December 1, 2023, Blair County President Judge Wade A. Kagarise determined that the defendant’s right to a speedy trial had been violated and that the multiple charges against him warranted dismissal.

The judge ruled that the Commonwealth’s “inability to bring the defendant to trial before the expiration of the Rule 600 deadline constitutes grounds for dismissing the charge with prejudice.”

Rule 600 is Pennsylvania’s speedy trial rule, which requires individuals accused of crimes to be brought to trial within 365 days.

However, the speedy trial clock is put on hold if, for example, the defense causes delays by filing requests for hearings or for further examination of the evidence.

In his ruling, the judge emphasized that the prosecutor failed to respond “with due diligence” to repeated requests for discovery (witness statements and other evidence) requested by Johnson-Ross’ attorney, Alessandro Giribaldi of Media.

The Kagarise order resulted in the dismissal of charges against Johnson-Ross, including theft, burglary, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, harassment, recklessly endangering another person, simple assault and terroristic threats.

However, Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks appealed the decision to the Superior Court, arguing that circumstances beyond his office’s control had led to delays.

However, the judge, in his opinion, provided an example of the prosecutor’s lack of due diligence, noting that it did not respond to the defense’s most recent request to dismiss the case due to the lack of a speedy trial.

Weeks countered that his office was never notified of the petition.

Despite the Commonwealth’s argument, Kagarise wrote in his opinion: “This court takes no pleasure in dismissing the serious allegations in this case. However, the Court provided the Commonwealth with numerous opportunities to act expeditiously in prosecuting this case.”

Ultimately, it became clear that Johnson-Ross’s constitutional and statutory rights “allowed no further options,” Kagarise concluded.

A Supreme Court panel, which also included Justices Alice B. Dubow, Megan King and John T. Bender, stated in its 14-page opinion: “Accordingly, we find no abuse of discretion in the court’s decision to dismiss the charges here to reject.

“We note that the complaint against Johnson-Ross was filed on February 4, 2021. The case was dismissed on December 1, 2023, or 1,030 days later.”

In its review of the case, the appeals court noted that the delay of 637 days in bringing the case to trial was the result of defense actions – requests for hearings on the evidence and petitions for additional information.

According to the Superior Court panel’s calculations, the Johnson-Ross trial should have begun no later than November 3, 2023.

Kagarise dismissed the charges on December 1, 2023, after trial time expired.

Weeks said he is considering an appeal to the Supreme Court, but that will be decided later.

While the charges remain in limbo in Blair County, Johnson-Ross remains in jail.

He is being held at the State Correctional Institution in Greene County on a detainer’s warrant on other charges, Weeks explained.

A key factor in analyzing a challenge to Rule 600 is whether the government “exercised due diligence and whether the circumstances causing the delay in the process were beyond the Commonwealth’s control.”

If the prosecutor has not conducted due diligence, “the court will dismiss the charges and acquit the suspect,” the appeals court said.

When it came to the Johnson-Ross case, Kagarise listed three circumstances that led to his decision to dismiss the charges.

He ruled that the prosecution had manifestly failed to provide the defense in a timely manner with a report of DNA evidence collected during the investigation. The defense argued that the report would be exculpatory or helpful in preparing its case.

“The Commonwealth has never explained why the report was not turned over to the defense for months,” Kagarise said.

Citing a second circumstance, the judge referred to the jury selected at one point to try Johnson-Ross, but said the trial should be canceled because after jury selection the prosecution had given the defense a 619-page state police report containing information that was relevant to the case. defense. In challenging the cancellation, Weeks took the position that the report was a compilation of previously provided material.

Referring to the pre-trial directives, Kagarise stated: “Each of (his orders) was apparently ignored by the Commonwealth; as a result of the late production of this report, the jury trial was canceled.”

Citing a third circumstance, Kagarise said he ordered the Commonwealth to respond to the defense’s final request for dismissal, which it never did.

State court records show Johnson-Ross’ alleged accomplices are also in prison: Sanderlin at SCI Smithfield, while Luckadoo is at SCI Albion.