Jury Trial

A Williamsport man accused of shooting two dogs that ran onto his property has asked for a jury trial, the man's attorney said today. Jeffrey Hurd's case will be moved from Washington County District Court to Washington County Circuit Court, Attorney Lewis C. Metzner said. Hurd, 54, of 11845 Camden Road, was scheduled to appear in District Court this morning but requested a jury trial Tuesday. A date for Hurd's Circuit Court trial has not been set, Metzer said today. Hurd was charged in May with felony counts of animal cruelty and malicious destruction of property in connection with the shooting death of Harley, his neighbor's German shepherd.

HAGERSTOWN - An Inwood, W.Va., woman charged with theft and embezzling from a Hagerstown nonprofit organization has requested a jury trial in Washington County Circuit Court. Kelley Boyd Macher, 45, of 79 Minnick Road, was scheduled to go to trial Wednesday on three counts of felony theft scheme and embezzlement in Washington County District Court, but shw entered a request for a jury trial March 7. Her request was granted March 12, according to court documents. Potomac Case Management Services Inc., a nonprofit organization at 140 W. Franklin St. in Hagerstown, reported $452,208.

A man who was charged in January with five felony violations of causing the cruel killing of an animal asked a judge Wednesday in Washington County District Court for a jury trial. The case of Gregory Charles Wiles, 41, was forwarded to Washington County Circuit Court, where jury trials are heard. Wiles also was charged in January with 29 misdemeanor violations of failing to provide sufficient food and drink, according to court documents. The Humane Society of Washington County in December 2007 seized 34 cows - 15 Holstein heifers from a pasture on College Road in the Hagerstown area and 18 cows and one dead cow from a pasture on Neck Road in the Williamsport area.

A Smithsburg man charged in May with negligent manslaughter by automobile was in Washington County District Court Thursday to request a jury trial. As a result, his case will be forwarded to Washington County Circuit Court. Harry William "Billy" Shrader Jr., 45, of 12435 Pleasant Valley Road in Smithsburg, was charged in a May 25 accident on Md. 77 that killed Debra Reed Fields-Jordan, 35, of Boonsboro. Shrader was being held Thursday night at the Washington County Detention Center, a deputy said.

HAGERSTOWN -- A man accused of killing the mother of his children and Smithsburg Police Officer Christopher Shane Nicholson in December 2007 was wheeled into a Washington County Circuit courtroom Tuesday afternoon for a hearing on the status of his case. Douglas Pryor, 29, sat in a wheelchair during the hearing. Later, as he was wheeled out of the courtroom, he briefly motioned to, and spoke with, family members. Pryor was shot on the night of Dec. 19, 2007, during a shootout with police officers and used a wheelchair for court appearances.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A former Hagerstown resident charged with raping two women in Franklin County almost three years ago appeared to be on the verge of a plea agreement Friday in Franklin County Court, but instead has asked for a jury trial. "We thought we had a plea agreement ... apparently Mr. Srun just decided to change his mind," said Assistant District Attorney David Rahauser, referring to Pov Srun, who is charged with sexually assaulting two women kidnapped in their own vehicles from shopping center parking lots in Waynesboro, Pa., and Chambersburg in September 2004.

A man charged with negligent manslaughter in connection with the May death of a Hagerstown woman requested Thursday that his case be forwarded to Washington County Circuit Court for a jury trial, according to court records. Kenneth Lee McDowell, 71, of 22916 Cavetown Church Road in Smithsburg, also was charged with negligent homicide by motor vehicle while intoxicated, according to court records. Colleen Joy Parks was pronounced dead at Washington County Hospital after the May 4 crash, which occurred shortly after 9 p.m. on Jefferson Boulevard (Md. 64)

A Hagerstown woman who was charged with theft, value exceeding $500, in connection with a mobile home she was selling has requested a jury trial, Washington County Assistant State's Attorney Leon Debes said Wednesday. Anna Lois Miles, 36, requested the jury trial Wednesday, the day her case was scheduled to be heard by a judge in Washington County District Court, Debes said. The request means the case will be sent to Washington County Circuit Court, Debes said. Miles told two people who were interested in buying the mobile home that she had a lien on the mobile home for $8,500 and that she would accept the lien amount as the sale price of the home, according to court records.

HAGERSTOWN -- A man who engaged police in a 45-hour standoff at a Hancock motel in August requested Tuesday morning in Washington County District Court that his case be forwarded to circuit court for a jury trial. James A. Prevatt is charged with threatening arson by use of an explosive device and other crimes in connection with the Hancock incident, during which he told police he would kill a hostage. Police have said that Prevatt's girlfriend, 21-year-old Rene Reynolds, was "complicit" during the hostage situation, depicting herself as a hostage.

Rebecca Jean Ferguson, a former Berkeley County public school teacher, is facing up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to eight counts of identity theft in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Ferguson, 40, of 10245 Williamsport Pike in Falling Waters, W.Va., set up eight credit card accounts using her then-14-year-old daughter's name, according to testimony at a 2 1/2-hour pretrial hearing Monday before 23rd Circuit Judge Christopher Wilkes. The plea bargain calls for Wilkes to sentence Ferguson to serve a maximum of 10 years in prison.