Courtroom

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Robert A. Merhige Jr., a federal judge known for desegrating Virginia schools in the 1970s, was honored in Martinsburg Monday for coming to the aid of his colleagues in West Virginia nearly 20 years ago to handle a deluge of drug-trafficking cases. "He's a hero among heroes to judges on the bench," said chief U.S. district Judge Irene M. Keeley in a dedication ceremony for the magistrate courtroom at the federal building in Martinsburg. Keeley was joined by Northern District judges W. Craig Broadwater, Frederick P. Stamp Jr. and Robert E. Maxwell, who along with U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

Monies sought for courtroom security By DON AINES Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Berkeley County will beef up courtroom security if a $37,038 grant prepared by the sheriff's department is approved. The county commission Thursday approved an application to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals that would be used to buy walk-through and handheld scanners, bulletproof barriers and other equipment for the two circuit courts, magistrates' and law masters' offices.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- John Brown's spirit might never leave Jefferson County. The Jefferson County Commission wants to convert the first floor of the Jefferson County Courthouse so it resembles the courtroom where the fiery abolitionist was tried, convicted of treason and sentenced to hang in the fall of 1859. The commission seized onto the idea as soon as Kirk Davis, capital projects manager for the county, introduced it at the commission's Thursday morning meeting. "It will be a bonus to historic tourism," Commissioner Jim Surkamp said.

U.S. District courtroom dedicated in Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The latest in high-tech courtroom wizardry was on display Monday as the new court room for the U.S. District Court was dedicated here. Jurors will be able to see exhibits and displays on flat-screen computers in front of them. Attorneys can plug in computers at their desks and receive nearly instant transcripts of what has just been said in the courtroom. They also will have new technology to display their exhibits and evidence, including use of a state-of-the-art podium that can serve as the base for a highly sophisticated overhead projection that will appear on computer screens or on the automatic pull-down screen across from jurors.

A Hagerstown man fled a Franklin County, Pa., courtroom Wednesday after he was sentenced to serve at least five years for leading Pennsylvania police on a high-speed chase and almost hitting an officer. Terry Wayne Anderson, of 137 Ray St., Hagerstown, waved to his sister and then ran from the courtroom Wednesday morning. Three Franklin County Sheriff's deputies caught up with Anderson in the hallway a few seconds later. In January, a jury found Anderson, 43, guilty of two counts of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering and fleeing.

pepperb@herald-mail.com A man who was at Washington County Courthouse for a Department of Social Services hearing Thursday afternoon swung his fists at two deputies - who then were jumped by his son - after he was ordered removed from the courtroom for being disorderly, Sheriff's Department Capt. Doug Mullendore said. David Creek, 46, of 13201 Woodmont Road in Hancock, was in Courtroom 2 at about 3:15 p.m. for a Department of Social Services hearing, Mullendore said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Convicted killer Juan R. Johnson was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday morning in Franklin County Court, but not before a brother of the murder victim jumped the bar in an attempt to get at Johnson. "Too slow, baby," Johnson, aka Juwan Johnson, said after Delvin Street was wrestled to the floor by Deputy Randy Stroble. Street is the brother of Gregory Jermaine Street, 24, who was shot three times in the back of the head as he sat in a sport utility vehicle on the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2008.

A Washington County District Court case against the mother of a former Maryland State Police trooper convicted of possessing child pornography was rescheduled Wednesday. Vicki A. Murphy, 59, of 3920 Wistman Lane in Myersville, Md., was charged in February with participating in a fight outside the courtroom where her son, Brian H. Murphy, was being sentenced on pornography charges. Vicki Murphy's case was rescheduled Wednesday for May 27. Deputy State's Attorney Steve Kessell said Wednesday that the case was rescheduled to keep it with related cases that have also been rescheduled for May 27. Vicki Murphy was charged with second-degree assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest in connection with the fight that occurred outside a courtroom in District Court on Feb. 13, 2008.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Franklin County Board of Commissioners Tuesday awarded more than $300,000 in contracts for a fourth courtroom in the courthouse, but the board still does not know where it will be holding its meetings next year. The contract for converting the commissioners' office and former county controller's office to courtroom space went to GRC General Contractor Inc. of Zullinger, Pa., which provided the lowest bid, $163,719.

After deliberating for four hours, a Berkeley County Circuit Court jury Friday found a former sheriff's deputy innocent of sexually abusing a woman in July 2010 while in uniform. P. Shannon Layne, 29, of Martinsburg, was found innocent of two felony counts of first-degree sexual abuse. Layne, who began working for the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department in 2006, was terminated May 2, 2011, according to county records. Upon hearing a deputy court clerk read the verdict about 6:15 p.m., some seated in the courtroom gallery supporting Layne were moved to tears and cried out in apparent elation before being reminded to refrain from emotional outbursts by court security officers.

Slide Show View all of the photos for purchase! Morgan Co. company donates robot to W.Va. police 5 Eastern Panhandle residents inducted into Order of the 35th Star BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -- The new Morgan County Courthouse got an official visit Tuesday from West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III. Morgan County Commission President Brenda J. Hutchinson and Commissioners Thomas R. Swaim and Stacy A. Dugan led the governor and his wife, Gayle, through the new building at the corner of Washington and Fairfax streets.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- In September 1921, 20,000 armed union coal miners tried to wrest a makeshift army of 10,000 mine operators and guards, nonunion miners and local "militia" off a mountain ridge near Logan, W.Va. Called "The Battle of Blair Mountain," it was one of several major incidents in the West Virginia mine wars of the 1920s. The violence got so bad that President Warren G. Harding sent in 500 U.S. Army troops to quell the insurrection. More than 700 miners were indicted for treason against the state.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- John Brown's spirit might never leave Jefferson County. The Jefferson County Commission wants to convert the first floor of the Jefferson County Courthouse so it resembles the courtroom where the fiery abolitionist was tried, convicted of treason and sentenced to hang in the fall of 1859. The commission seized onto the idea as soon as Kirk Davis, capital projects manager for the county, introduced it at the commission's Thursday morning meeting. "It will be a bonus to historic tourism," Commissioner Jim Surkamp said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A jury in Berkeley County Circuit Court deliberated less than an hour on Thursday before finding a Hedgesville, W.Va., woman guilty in connection with the death of her 7-month-old son in August 2008. Monica W. Boggs, 20, of 8791 Hedgesville Road, was convicted of three felonies -- death of a child by a parent, custodian or guardian or other person by child abuse; child abuse causing bodily injury; and gross child neglect creating substantial risk of bodily injury.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A section of wooden paneling above the entrance to a third-floor courtroom in the Berkeley County Judicial Center fell more than 20 feet to the second floor of the building Thursday afternoon, prompting a safety investigation. No one was injured. Only one person was in the hallway where the paneling landed on the tile floor outside the suite of offices for Berkeley County Circuit Clerk Virginia M. Sine and her staff about 2:30 p.m., officials said. Until other sections of the paneling are inspected, access will be restricted in the hallway, which leads to public bathrooms in the back of the 125,000-square-foot building that opened in December 2006.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Convicted killer Juan R. Johnson was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday morning in Franklin County Court, but not before a brother of the murder victim jumped the bar in an attempt to get at Johnson. "Too slow, baby," Johnson, aka Juwan Johnson, said after Delvin Street was wrestled to the floor by Deputy Randy Stroble. Street is the brother of Gregory Jermaine Street, 24, who was shot three times in the back of the head as he sat in a sport utility vehicle on the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2008.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- Employees in the Jefferson County planning and zoning, engineering and permits departments soon will move from their quarters on the second floor of an old downtown building into brand new, modern digs in the Mason Building a few doors up at 116 E. Washington St. Kirk Davis, acting director of planning and zoning, told the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday that the $305,000 renovation of the Mason building is nearly...

I happened to catch the O.J. Simpson sentencing live on Friday, where the former running back was explaining to the judge that he hadn't realized that bursting into a hotel room, holding people against their will at gunpoint and taking their possessions was against the law. Yeah. It probably wouldn't have occurred to me, either. It's one of those pesky laws, like having to turn on your headlights when the windshield wipers are on. "I didn't know I was doing anything illegal," Simpson told the judge.

A Washington County District Court case against the mother of a former Maryland State Police trooper convicted of possessing child pornography was rescheduled Wednesday. Vicki A. Murphy, 59, of 3920 Wistman Lane in Myersville, Md., was charged in February with participating in a fight outside the courtroom where her son, Brian H. Murphy, was being sentenced on pornography charges. Vicki Murphy's case was rescheduled Wednesday for May 27. Deputy State's Attorney Steve Kessell said Wednesday that the case was rescheduled to keep it with related cases that have also been rescheduled for May 27. Vicki Murphy was charged with second-degree assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest in connection with the fight that occurred outside a courtroom in District Court on Feb. 13, 2008.