Public Defender

Lawsuit filed over copying fees MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Berkeley County's public defender's office has filed a civil suit against the county's prosecuting attorney, claiming it should be exempt from paying for copies of documents because its clients are indigent. A hearing on the suit is scheduled for Friday before Judge David H. Sanders in Berkeley County Circuit Court. Public Defender Vito Mussomeli said his office wants the prosecutor's office to provide copies of discovery for magistrate court cases - evidence to be used at trial, such as the defendant's statements and witness lists - at the state's expense.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA. When John F. Nelson was hired by the Franklin County District Attorney's Office in 1977, the staff consisted of District Attorney John Walker, Nelson, a part-time assistant district attorney and two secretaries. Now the district attorney, Nelson, employs five full-time assistant district attorneys, three part-time attorneys, a restitution coordinator, four clerical and administrative workers and several contract employees, not all of whom can fit into the suite of offices on the fourth floor of the courthouse annex.

An assistant district attorney in Franklin County, Pa., this week announced his intention to seek election for a judge position in the Court of Common Pleas. Jeremiah Zook is running for a vacancy in the 39th Judicial District, which serves Franklin and Fulton counties. That vacancy was created with the retirement of Richard J. Walsh. “My entire legal career has been spent in the courtroom - a litigator presenting and arguing cases as a private practitioner in Waynesboro, as an assistant public defender, and for the last seven years as an assistant district attorney for Franklin County,” Zook said in a news release.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Almost three months after being charged with criminal homicide, a Chambersburg man has been appointed outside counsel by Franklin County President Judge John R. Walker. Walker on Thursday appointed David R. Yoder and Thomas S. Diehl to represent Timothy J. Ross, 25, of 280 Miller St. He has been charged by Chambersburg police with the March 1 shooting death of Drake Luckett, 34, of 217 Linden Ave. Ross was arrested early on the morning of March 2. According to the affidavit of probable cause, Luckett was shot as he opened the West Catherine Street door of Dave's Tavern, 401 S. Main St. Ross, who has been held in Franklin County Prison since his arrest, has yet to have a preliminary hearing.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - An attorney charged last month in a 112-count federal indictment with defrauding the state by submitting false vouchers to Public Defender Services entered a not guilty plea Monday during an arraignment hearing. Heidi J. Silver Myers, 29, of 1314 W. King St., was released on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond set by U.S. Magistrate judge David J. Joel, who set a trial date of Aug. 28. Myers' lead defense counsel, William B. Moffitt, entered the not guilty plea on behalf of his client and requested a jury trial.

An 18-year-old admitted Wednesday in juvenile court to absconding from his placement. He escaped June 1 from a juvenile home in Olney, Md., and was captured later that month, Deputy State's Attorney Steven Kessell said in court. The man faced new drug charges through the Hagerstown Police Department and elected to be waived into the adult system, Assistant Public Defender Michael A. Wilson said. The juvenile system could not offer the offender any more in terms of rehabilitation, Washington County Circuit Judge Donald E. Beachley said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Two men with 13 drunken driving convictions between them were sentenced Wednesday in Franklin County Court to serve one to five years in state prison. Anthony Wayne Benner, 47, of 302 S. Locust St. in Hagerstown, was sentenced by Judge Carol Van Horn for driving under the influence. His previous seven convictions were in Maryland, Public Defender Michael Toms said. Benner was charged with driving under the influence in December 2007 by the Washington Township Police Department.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Greencastle, Pa., man charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence in the death of a New Jersey woman in an April crash had his preliminary hearing continued Tuesday in Franklin County Central Court. Christopher L. Haines, 25, of 227 Tyrone St., is charged in the April 2 death of his passenger and girlfriend, Megan E. Sullivan, 31, of Bedford, N.J., according to the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause filed by Pennsylvania State Police.

A judge on Monday appointed a new attorney for one of two men charged in the stabbing death of Andre Jackson of Martinsburg after ruling that a potential conflict existed with the public defender’s office, which was representing him. Attorney Eric Black was appointed by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes to represent Thomas Anthony Grantham, 35, after Chief Public Defender Deborah Lawson disclosed in court that she represented co-defendant...

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. ? A Greencastle, Pa., man charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence in the death of a New Jersey woman in an April crash had his preliminary hearing continued Tuesday in Franklin County Central Court. Christopher L. Haines, 25, of 227 Tyrone St., is charged in the April 2 death of his passenger and girlfriend, Megan E. Sullivan, 31, of Bedford, N.J., according to the criminal complaint and affidavit of probable cause filed by Pennsylvania State Police.