Coverage of the homicide trial of Brian Hummert

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Rick Lee

Brian Hummert

Click here for live courtroom coverage of the retrial of Brian Hummert, accused of killing his wife Charlene in 2004.

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A cops reporter visits the Police Heritage Museum

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Rebecca LeFever

My boyfriend and I were walking along Market Street during Sunday’s Olde York Street Fair when he suggested we stop in at the Police Heritage Museum. I’d walked by numerous times and heard about it before, but hadn’t taken the chance to take the tour.

So we ponied up $2 and went inside.

There were plenty of old weapons, including some guns from the 1800s. The drop floor that used to be used in York County Prison for hangings was on display and from more modern times, there were a few police scooters.

We wandered down the rows of artifacts and re-created prison bars. What interested me the most were the photos of police, particularly York City Police, from decades ago.

In fact, I took some pictures.

You might not be familiar with all of these guys, but I’ve interacted with them numerous times for stories. I recognized each one of the men pictured below. Even Lt. Tim Utley, who is now sporting a slightly gray-er mustache (Sorry, Utley). And Chief Wes Kahley? Looks exactly the same as when he was an officer on the force.

So here are a few blasts from the past:

Chief Tom Gross, formerly of York City Police, is now chief of York Area Regional Police.

George Swartz Jr., who is now Chief of Police for Spring Garden Township.

This is Lt. Tim Utley, who is now head of the detective division with York City Police.

Now a detective, this is Jeff Spence from a few years back.

Center, is Chief Wes Kahley when he was an officer with York City Police.

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Rebert credits the late Judge “Bud” Blakey with saving his legal career

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Rick Lee

Recalling the passing this week of former York County Judge Albert “Bud” Blakey, Stan Rebert, former York County District Attorney, focused on Blakey’s legal representation of him when he was called before the state disciplinary board.

Rebert had been accused of prosecutorial misconduct in the 1988 rape and murder trial of Carlos “Zeke” Moose. As DA, he allegedly failed to disclose the use of a jailhouse snitch as an informant to Mooses’s attorney before trial. Read the story here.

The accusation resulted in Moose, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole, later getting a new trial. Moose instead pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for a 15-to-30-year sentence.

And for Rebert, beginning in 1994, it became hearing after hearing before subsequent levels of the disciplinary board.

A courthouse reporter even back then, I was among those subpoenaed by the disciplinary board to testify at one of Rebert’s early hearings.

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Maryland court rules pit bulls are inherently dangerous

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Rick Lee

While finding Chester Little’s pit bulls were dangerous, Judge Craig T. Trebilcock pointedly declined last month to rule that pit bulls are an inherently dangerous breed.

Trebilcock said, despite “too many” stories of pit bulls attacking children, his ruling was limited to these “two specific dogs and not to the breed in general.”

“The court is not the legislature,” he said, “and, in the absence of testimony, I’m not going to find this is an inherently dangerous breed.”

One or both of Little’s dogs — Angel and Midge — escaped their fenced-in Hanover yard in June 2010, mauling 8-year-old Ajia Brown, chewing off his ears and tearing his scalp.

Two days later, the Maryland Court of Appeals held that both pit bull owners and any landlord who rents to pit bull owners can be held liable in pit bull attacks because pit bulls are inherently dangerous.

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Nice shoes, guy

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Rick Lee

I’ve got to applaud those York County men who will don feminine footwear next week to sashay, saunter and possibly stumble through the city streets to support a national endeavor to eliminate rape and sexual violence against women and children. 
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It takes someone confident in his manhood and willing to make a stand against domestic crime and sexual assault to take part in the third annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes parade. 
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Registration is open online at ywcayork.org. and continues until 4 p.m. May 11, at Sovereign Bank Stadium, where the walk is set to begin at 5 p.m. 
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Participation in the walk includes admission to the 6:30 p.m. York Revolution-Somerset Patriots game and the post-walk picnic. 
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Funds raised benefit victims of domestic and sexual abuse through the YWCA’s Victim Assistance Center and ACCESS-York programs. 
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As I understand, the top fundraisers – two individuals and one team – win suites for future Revolution games. 
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For more information, or to donate or volunteer, visit ywcayork.org; or contact Katie Mahoney at 717-434-1760 or kmahoney@ywcayork.org. 

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From “purgatory” to “the land of opportunity”

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Rick Lee

Severin Fayerman described the sights, sounds and smells of Auschwitz, where he was imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II as “purgatory.”

Now 90, Fayerman said he was one of 700 prisoners forced into labor at the infamous death camp.

Speaking at the York County Bar Association and Foundation 2012 Law Day luncheon, Fayerman, who was born in Poland, said he survived largely because he was a skilled toolmaker and spoke several languages, including English.

He said one of his first reprieves came when the Germans, predicting victory, sought out English speakers to teach them the language for the post-war era. He said tutoring English meant better food than he got as a laborer.

Fayerman was in Berlin during the round-the-clock bombing by the Americans and the British. He said he was moved to another camp where he and other prisoners survived the bombardment by the Russian artillery.

He recalled the “miracle” of the Red Cross somehow making it through enemy lines, bringing food.

And, he remembered “a beautiful day in April” when the prisoners were rounded up.

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Stationary patrol?

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Amy Gulli

Yes, yes, I know you all miss the esteemed and always-entertaining Rick Lee. Forgive my invasive posting on his blog while he’s recovering at home (and, I believe, unable to have a drop of beer while he convalesces).

But I came across a phrase in an affidavit of probable cause this week, and I just had to share. In the narrative section, the officer starts off by explaining that he was “performing a stationary patrol.”

Um, that’s an oxymoron. And to me, a layman (though veteran cop reporter), that just sounds like he was hangin’ out in his cruiser, swilling a late-night cup of coffee and hopin’ nothing happened.

However, the next few sentences make it seem as though he was on a stakeout — either that, or he truly happened to be in the right place at the right time to snag a fugitive.

So help me out, legal and police community: Is “stationary patrol” an actual thing? Or is it a euphemism for a coffee break?

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Youth Aid Panels need volunteers

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Rick Lee

The York County Juvenile Probation Department is seeking volunteers for its Youth Aid Panel Program.

The court-sanctioned panels are made up of community members who interview first-time youthful offenders charged with summary and misdemeanor violations in an attempt to dispense with the charges without entering the court system. The panels are seated throughout the county.

Volunteers, 18 and older, must have no criminal record and provide state child abuse and FBI clearances. New panel members must attend a training course, tentatively scheduled for the middle of April 2012.

For details, call Lori Petraco at 771-9567 ext. 306 or Connie Briscoe at ext. 303.

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Will life go on for juvenile lifers?

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Rick Lee

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument March 20 in two cases over life without parole sentences for juvenile killers.

According to briefs filed in those cases, there are 73 people serving life sentences in the United States for murders they committed when they were 14.

One of those 73 is Wilfredo Caballero, convicted of first-degree murder in York County as an adult in 1990.

York County has eight more “juveniles” serving life sentences, all convicted between 1974 and 2008. Here in April, Jordan Wallick goes on trial for first-degree murder for the July 28, 2010 shooting of James Wallmuth III, 23. Wallick was 15 at the time of the shooting.

The cases to be heard by the Supreme Court involve murders committed by 14 year olds. One was a brutal baseball bat beating of a neighbor in Alabama. The other, the shooting of a video store clerk during an armed robbery in Arkansas.

Attorneys for the defendants are relying on prior Supreme Court cases that held that juveniles should not face the death penalty and should not be sentenced to life without parole for non-homicide cases.

In those prior rulings, the court agreed with medical and social scientists that the juvenile brain and character is not as morally developed as that of an adult. That juvenile lawbreakers should not be held as culpable as an adult who is convicted of the same crime.

The defense is arguing the same findings should apply to juvenile murderers.

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So, you think your ARD case was expunged?

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Rick Lee

Daily Record reporter Emily Opilo was working on a story about York city council members with criminal backgrounds.

Emily apparently has become the go-to reporter for people snitching on office holders with something to hide in their backgrounds.

I had an “oops” moment when Emily said she found court documents on councilman Henry Nixon’s 1984 DUI charge at York County Archives. Henry had told Emily he was sure that record had been expunged.

My hesitation was because I have been writing for years that defendants who successfully complete the district attorney’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program can have their records easily expunged.

Because of Emily’s find in the archives, I thought I was going to have to apologize to YDR readers.

ARD is pretrial diversionary program that can keep you out of jail. You only get to use it one time, so don’t waste it. But if you rack up other serious criminal charges before using it, it probably won’t do you any good to apply.

I found out , though, that expungement of ARD cases is almost automatic. After completing your ARD requirements, your probation officer will fill out a dismissal application and send it to you.

Here is where it could get difficult for some people.

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