Testimony

A Berkeley County jury on Monday found James G. Cross Jr. and Thomas A. Grantham guilty of second-degree murder, attempted murder and malicious assault in the stabbing death of one man and the serious wounding of another. Cross, 33, and Grantham, 36, both of Martinsburg, were indicted on first-degree murder in the slaying of Andre Jackson, 21, of Hedgesville, W.Va., and the wounding of Jacques Taylor of Kearneysville, W.Va. The jury deliberated 2 1/2 hours Friday afternoon and three hours Monday morning.

HAGERSTOWN -- The trial of a state prison inmate charged with assaulting a correctional officer ended abruptly Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court after the testimony -- and handwriting -- of a state witness were called into question. Robert Jackson, an inmate at Roxbury Correctional Institution, was charged with second-degree assault on a corrections employee in an incident at the prison Jan. 31, 2009. After testimony by the alleged victim, Officer Marvin Gillespie, the state called Officer Aaron Miller to the stand.

By BRENDAN KIRBY / Staff Writer photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer Some Washington County residents who on Monday watched the televised tape of President Clinton testifying about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky expressed sympathy for the president and disgust with his critics. Some area residents directed their ire at Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr for probing in such lurid detail into the president's sex life.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - With jury selection a week away, Franklin County Judge John R. Walker on Monday closed a hearing during which videotape testimony was taken in the double-homicide trial of Albert Reid. Citing state law, Franklin County District Attorney John F. Nelson said testimony from two prosecution witnesses should not be made public "until and unless it is admitted at trial. " Walker agreed that making the testimony public could complicate the selection of a jury and possibly result in the trial having to be moved.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Close-range gunshots that killed Carla Reid and her daughter while they slept last December failed to wake up young children sleeping beside them, according to testimony during a Thursday preliminary hearing for Albert E. Reid. Reid, 49, is charged with two counts of criminal homicide and burglary in the Dec. 27, 1996, deaths of his estranged wife, Carla Reid, 36, of 2204 Sollenberg Road, and her daughter and Reid's stepdaughter, Diedra L. Moore, 14. District Justice Gary L. Carter found probable cause Thursday to send Reid's case to Franklin County Court for trial.

Testimony continues in federal trial By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer, Charles Town MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A federal jury Wednesday heard testimony from a Kearneysville, W.Va., woman who said she regularly purchased crack cocaine from a man charged in the death of a Hedgesville, W.Va., woman in 1999. Raymonda Winston testified she used crack up to four times a week and at one time bought up to $300 worth of the drug from Andrew Charles Jackson, also known as "Sway.

A Maugansville man who testified 11 years ago that Ronald Harshman told him where he dumped a body claimed in court Thursday that he lied. “You've never spoken to (Harshman) in your life?” an attorney asked. “No, I haven't,” Keith Granlun said. As Harshman's attorney seeks a new trial, he is trying to demonstrate witnesses perjured themselves in July 2001 in exchange for special consideration from the Franklin County (Pa.) District Attorney's office. Harshman was convicted of first-degree murder in the presumed death of Melvin Elwood Snyder, whose body was never found.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Evidence of other similar charges in Maryland may be introduced today in the Franklin County jury trial of a Mercersburg, Pa., man charged with sexually assaulting a boy in 2000. David S. Ardinger, 35, of 12211 Buchanan Trail West, was charged by Pennsylvania State Police in February 2002 with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault and indecent assault. The jury of six men and six women heard sometimes conflicting testimony from the victim and other prosecution witnesses in the first day of the trial Monday.

Judge says Bartlett's court testimony was at least 'evasive' By MARLO BARNHART / Staff Writer Washington County Circuit Judge John H. McDowell Wednesday characterized a series of false fire calls made by a functionally illiterate 16-year-old boy as "understandable" given his inappropriate placement in a regular high school. continued McDowell's comments came during a hearing Wednesday for the teenager whose removal from the Washington County Job Development Center earlier this year was the focus of testimony at a juvenile hearing a week ago. Superintendent of Schools Herman G. Bartlett testified at that hearing that he had no plans to close the Job Development Center, which serves older, special needs students.

Witnesses to a fatal shooting Oct. 22, 2012, in the borough of Chambersburg took the stand in court Wednesday to describe the chaos that night. Three people who were inside an East King Street home when Victor Hugo Campos-Olguin died testified during a preliminary hearing for Jason C. Shauf, 38, of Sollenberger Road west of Chambersburg. Shauf is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and multiple counts of kidnapping, unlawful restraint, robbery and conspiracy.

A Maugansville man who testified 11 years ago that Ronald Harshman told him where he dumped a body claimed in court Thursday that he lied. “You've never spoken to (Harshman) in your life?” an attorney asked. “No, I haven't,” Keith Granlun said. As Harshman's attorney seeks a new trial, he is trying to demonstrate witnesses perjured themselves in July 2001 in exchange for special consideration from the Franklin County (Pa.) District Attorney's office. Harshman was convicted of first-degree murder in the presumed death of Melvin Elwood Snyder, whose body was never found.

Witnesses testifying Monday in an evidence hearing for a 2009 slaying described a victim who prayed for her safety, sought legal protection, and changed her phone number and locks. Franklin County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas Judge Richard Walsh heard testimony throughout the morning as the lawyers and judge determine what evidence will be used in Marcus Wallace's December trial. Wallace, 41, is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, burglary, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault.

The man on trial for the deaths of Angela Devonshire and her 3-year-old son testified Friday in Berkeley County Circuit Court that his account of how two armed men caused their deaths in June 2010 was not a work of fiction like a book he wrote. Antonio Prophet, 36, of Lorton, Va., was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson in the deaths of Devonshire, 22, of Bunker Hill, W.Va., and her son, Andre White. Police allege Prophet set Devonshire's apartment at 69 Sydneys Way off Sam Mason Road on fire after she and her son died the morning of June 6, 2010.

A Berkeley County jury on Monday found James G. Cross Jr. and Thomas A. Grantham guilty of second-degree murder, attempted murder and malicious assault in the stabbing death of one man and the serious wounding of another. Cross, 33, and Grantham, 36, both of Martinsburg, were indicted on first-degree murder in the slaying of Andre Jackson, 21, of Hedgesville, W.Va., and the wounding of Jacques Taylor of Kearneysville, W.Va. The jury deliberated 2 1/2 hours Friday afternoon and three hours Monday morning.

The prosecution in the murder trial of Thomas A. Grantham and Robert G. Cross rested its case Thursday following testimony from 18 witnesses over three days. Grantham, 36, of Martinsburg, and Cross, 33, of Kearneysville, W.Va., are charged with murder, attempted murder, malicious assault and conspiracy in the fatal stabbing of Andre Jackson, 21, and wounding of Jacques Taylor, both of Martinsburg, following an argument on April 23, 2011. Defense attorneys Craig Manford and Christopher Prezioso told presiding 23rd Circuit Judge Christopher Wilkes that they were considering putting their clients on the witness stand today.

Gov. Martin O'Malley urged a Senate legislative committee on Tuesday to approve a same-sex marriage bill this year, calling for “equal respect for the freedom of all.” “It's not right, and it is unjust that the children of gay couples should have lesser protection than the children of other families in our state,” he said, kicking off hours of testimony on the divisive topic. A same-sex marriage bill narrowly passed the Senate last year, but withered in the House when supporters fell just short of the minimum vote total.

The Berkeley County Council voted 3-2 Thursday to dismiss the county's facilities director after listening to about two hours of testimony in a rare public personnel hearing. The motion to accept the recommendation of county administrators to terminate Jay Russell was made by Councilman Douglas E. Copenhaver Jr. and supported by Elaine C. Mauck and Anthony J. "Tony" Petrucci. Council President William L. "Bill" Stubblefield and Councilman James "Jim" Whitacre voted against the motion.

In an interview with a West Virginia State Police sergeant, Flor Demaria Slone denied she shot her ex-husband, but her recorded statement, obtained shortly after the Oct. 21, 2009, shooting, apparently was lost, the police officer testified Wednesday in circuit court. Indicted in May 2010 on felony counts of kidnapping, attempted first-degree murder, attempted malicious assault and malicious assault, Slone is accused of shooting her ex-husband, Stephen K. Slone, after learning he had removed her from his health- and life-insurance policies.

Stephen K. Slone testified Tuesday in Berkeley County Circuit Court that his ex-wife's last words were vicious after she shot him at his home on Oct. 21, 2009, and then fled. Flor Demaria Slone, 42, was indicted on felony counts of kidnapping, attempted first-degree murder, attempted malicious assault and malicious assault in connection with the incident. A jury of eight men and four women was sworn in Tuesday morning for Slone's trial, which attorneys suggested could continue into next week.