Prosecution

Local prosecutor seeks state funds for prison cases By MARLO BARNHART / Staff Writer Anne Arundel County, Md., has received a $60,000 state grant to pay for prosecuting prison cases, and Washington County State's Attorney Kenneth Long said he is again going to ask when some dollars might be available for Washington County. "I've got one case right now that is taking up a lot of one prosecutor's time," Long said. That case involves a 1999 death at the Maryland Correctional Training Center south of Hagerstown.

State's attorney hopes for funds to prosecute prison crime By MARLO BARNHART / Staff Writer Washington County State's Attorney Ken Long is watching with interest a request by another county prosecutor in Maryland for state financial assistance in prosecuting felonies committed in state prisons. Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Frank Weathersbee is refusing to prosecute such cases until the state starts picking up some of the tab. Weathersbee has blocked two potential cases - a prison homicide and a felony assault - that have been ready for presentation to a grand jury for more than a month.

Letters to the Editor 8/2 Woman doesn't deserve prosecution To the editor: In the Daily Mail of July 27, I read a Pennsylvania woman is facing prosecution because of the way she disposed of a stillborn baby. First, let me state I do not approve of the callous way in which the stillborn baby was disposed of by this young lady. I must still object to this young lady facing criminal charges. She no doubt was very confused when her baby was born early; being stillborn added to her bewilderment.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The prosecution and defense agreed on one thing as the murder trial of Timothy J. Ross began Monday in Franklin County Court: Ross shot and killed Drake Luckett. The decision left to the jury of eight men and four women is the degree of guilt. Franklin County Assistant District Attorney David Rahauser told the jury it was first-degree murder, while defense co-counsel David Yoder argued the shooting could have been third-degree murder or a justifiable shooting.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge John R. Walker ruled Wednesday that a statement Timothy Ross made to police cannot be used by the prosecution in his criminal homicide trial. According to testimony at the suppression hearing, Ross was being questioned in a homicide case unrelated to his own when he made a statement to Pennsylvania State Police officers at the county prison on March 27. Ross, 26, of Chambersburg, is charged with the March 1, 1999, shooting death of Drake Luckett, 34, of Chambersburg, in a downtown bar. Trooper James Graham said he was at the prison to interview Ross and other inmates about any possible statements made by two other prisoners.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A West Virginia trooper testified at a preliminary hearing Wednesday that after Benjamin Leo Lowrey was fatally shot in February, Roger Dale Linaburg told police, "I shot (him). I hope he dies. " cont. from front page Linaburg, 31, is charged with one count of murder in the Feb. 9 death of Lowrey, who was shot once in the chest and once in the side of the abdomen with a .22-caliber rifle. During the hearing in Berkeley County Court, Senior Trooper R.C. Copson also testified that when police responded to Linaburg's trailer at Austin Mobile Home Park in Martinsburg for a reported shooting, Linaburg was standing on his porch and said, "I'm the shooter.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A prosecution witness in the murder trial of Chad Joseph Cordell told jurors Tuesday she heard the defendant say he "could shoot" 16-year-old Joey DeLoa over the stolen $2 pot in a card game less than an hour before DeLoa was shot to death on Dec. 11, 1998. cont. from front page On the opening day of Cordell's trial, Erica Wilson, 16, of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., testified she heard Cordell, 23, and Javier Howard talking about DeLoa stealing money from the pot. "'I could shoot him,'" Wilson testified Cordell said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Criminal charges against a man who ran for Chambersburg Borough Council in the Nov. 2 election have been dismissed, according to Franklin County Court records. Gary L. Hawbaker, 32, of P.O. Box 1096, had been charged by Pennsylvania State Police with theft and receiving stolen property earlier this year. According to police records, the former Franklin County Prison guard had been charged in June after allegedly failing to return about $350 worth of equipment he had been issued.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Almost five years after the Christmas night stun gun attack on his estranged wife that sent him to state prison, a York, Pa., man was back in Franklin County Court this week seeking a new trial. Robert Earl Benchoff, 46, is serving a four-to-20-year state prison sentence for burglary, criminal trespass and simple assault for the Dec. 25, 1994, incident at the Hamilton Township home of Robin Benchoff. A jury convicted him in an August 1995 trial. Benchoff is serving an additional two to 12 years for unrelated charges of interfering with the custody of children, to which he had pleaded guilty, according to court records.

A Martinsburg, W.Va., man who stalked and threatened a Washington County sheriff's deputy last year was spared prosecution Thursday, provided he continue psychiatric treatment and remain in a group home. James Maxwell Hammond, 72, of 126 S. Raleigh St., had been charged with stalking, trespassing, harassment and third- and fourth-degree burglary, court records said. The case was placed on an inactive court docket Thursday by Washington County Circuit Judge Frederick C. Wright III. As long as Hammond has no contact with Deputy Valerie Weaver and stays away from her home, the charges will not be prosecuted.