Verdict

HAGERSTOWN -- A Hagerstown man charged with carrying a handgun in a vehicle could be tried again after a Washington County Circuit Court jury this week failed to reach a verdict. Preston Dwight Weedon, 22, of 36 E. Franklin St., Apt. 2, had been charged by the Hagerstown Police Department following a traffic stop at 1:16 a.m. on Sept. 25, 2009, according to the statement of probable cause. Preston was sitting in the right rear passenger seat when the car was stopped and the .357-magnum revolver was found in a backpack under the front passenger's seat, the statement said.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - The jury seated in Raymond E. Hoak's murder trial on Friday could not reach a verdict after about 61/2 hours of deliberations in Jefferson County Courthouse, and decided to break for the weekend. Deliberations will resume Tuesday. Hoak is accused of shooting Larry G. Hose, 29, of Kearneysville, W.Va., in the parking lot of Images nightclub along W.Va. 51 near Middleway, W.Va., in February 2003. Indicted on a first-degree murder charge, Hoak first was tried in 2005.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com A jury convicted a Martinsburg, W.Va., man of second degree murder Friday in the June 28, 2001, shooting death of his girlfriend, a court official said. Michael Lee McCleaf, 39, faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 18. The jury deliberated for about four hours at the conclusion of the four-day trial, said Helen Morris, Morgan County deputy circuit clerk. The prosecution's case lasted about two days. The defense took less than a day to present its case.

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W. Va. - Saying their ability to reach a consensus "appears to be zero," jurors in the Raymond Hoak murder trial said Monday they were unable to reach a verdict. In a note passed to Circuit Judge Thomas W. Steptoe late in the afternoon, jurors said they had been discussing the case all day and were unable to reach a decision. Jurors were told by Steptoe to report to Jefferson County Circuit Court again today at 9 a.m. and make another attempt to reach a verdict.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - As a clerk announced Thursday afternoon that a jury had found Nicole Kees guilty of first-degree murder, Kees shook her head, covered her face with her hands and began to sob. Moments later, after members of the jury were dismissed, Kees screamed, "I'm going to spend my life in prison because their son wanted to get high?" Although the verdict carries an automatic sentence of life in prison, jurors decided to grant mercy, meaning Kees will be eligible for a parole hearing after serving 15 years.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Only a handful of people were in the Berkeley County Circuit Courtroom at 9:20 a.m. Thursday, when the buzzer sounded indicating jurors had reached a verdict in the trial of Michael Newell for the murder of his 7-year-old niece, Jessica Newell. By the time the verdict - guilty of felony murder without recommendation of mercy - was read just before 10 a.m., the courtroom was close to full, with more than a dozen police officers posted around the spectator area.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The second shot Kevin J. Barrett fired into Wendy Wise Schuchman persuaded the jury to hand down a verdict of first-degree murder, according to the jury foreman. [cont. from front page ] "I find it hard to believe he accidentally shot her twice," Danny Young, of Chambersburg, said after the verdict. Some family members and friends of Schuchman cheered when the verdict was announced in Franklin County Judge Richard J. Walsh's courtroom. While family and friends sobbed behind him, Barrett hugged his attorneys, Stephen D. Kulla and Eric J. Weisbrod.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Raymond Hoak was found guilty Tuesday morning of voluntary manslaughter, but the verdict in Jefferson County Circuit Court appeared to do little to calm feelings on either side of the case. After the verdict was read, Hoak's wife, Shelley, began crying. She approached the defense table and Hoak, 31, came to her for a long embrace. Outside the courtroom, Hoak's wife said her husband had to fight for his life when victim Larry G. Hose was alive. "He's got to fight for it again," she said.

A Mississippi man using methamphetamines steered his tractor-trailer toward police during a chase that spanned three states last December on Interstate 81, officers testified Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court. Thomas L. McNeel, 43, of Pontotoc, Miss., was in court to face four counts each of first- and second-degree assault, as well as charges of failing to stop after an accident, fleeing and eluding police, careless driving and reckless driving. McNeel waived his right to a jury trial.

A Berkeley County Circuit Court judge declared a mistrial Wednesday after jurors failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a woman accused of shooting her ex-husband in October 2009 after the victim removed her from his health insurance. Presiding 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes declared the mistrial in the case of Flor Demaria Slone after the jury foreman said the jury couldn't decide the case. The jury deliberated for about five hours over two days.   "I don't see any way around (the impasse)

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- A California judge found a man charged with murder in a crash that killed rookie Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others guilty Friday of driving with a suspended license. But the jury considering the three murder counts and other charges recessed for the weekend without reaching a verdict. Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey found defendant Andrew Gallo guilty of the count involving his license after a short bench trial.

HAGERSTOWN -- A Hagerstown man charged with carrying a handgun in a vehicle could be tried again after a Washington County Circuit Court jury this week failed to reach a verdict. Preston Dwight Weedon, 22, of 36 E. Franklin St., Apt. 2, had been charged by the Hagerstown Police Department following a traffic stop at 1:16 a.m. on Sept. 25, 2009, according to the statement of probable cause. Preston was sitting in the right rear passenger seat when the car was stopped and the .357-magnum revolver was found in a backpack under the front passenger's seat, the statement 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.

HAGERSTOWN -- Only one juror held out for a guilty verdict Tuesday in the case against a former correctional officer accused of beating an inmate. After about two hours of deliberation, the jury's foreman sent a note to the judge. The note said the jury was deadlocked 11-1 in favor of a not-guilty verdict but could not make a unanimous decision. Washington County Circuit Judge Donald E. Beachley declared a mistrial in the case of Scott Boozel, 28, of McConnellsburg, Pa. Boozel, along with other officers accused of beating inmate Kenneth Davis in March 2008, was fired from his job at the state prison south of Hagerstown.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- A Jefferson County jury needed a little more than two hours Wednesday afternoon to find Michael Todd Cox guilty in the death of a 2-month-old infant in December 2007. Cox, 41, of Germantown, Md., showed little emotion as the jury's verdict was read aloud by a deputy circuit clerk just after 4 p.m. Cox was found guilty of one felony count of child abuse by a custodian resulting in the death of Colton Lee James of Jefferson County in December 2007. Cox is scheduled to be sentenced June 8 by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge David H. Sanders.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Jurors seated for the trial of a man charged in the 2007 Memorial Day weekend homicide of Tina Marie Starcher were unable to reach a verdict Thursday after deliberating for about three hours. The panel's foreperson in the trial of Anthony Charles Juntilla told presiding 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge David H. Sanders that they wished to return today in a handwritten note delivered by a court bailiff just before 7 p.m. Sanders said the jury's request was "perfectly reasonable," and he asked the six men and six women on the panel to reconvene today at 9 a.m. and not to deliberate with their family or friends or read media accounts of the trial, which now continues into a fourth day. Juntilla, 39, of Hedgesville, W.Va.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA. - A woman charged with scalding her 3-year-old daughter in a hot bath last year was found not guilty of aggravated assault Friday in Franklin County Court, but was convicted on two lesser charges. Lallitra L. Coppedge, 34, of Greencastle, Pa., was on trial for the April 23, 2007, incident in which Destiny Coppedge sustained serious second-degree burns to more than 30 percent of her body. While found not guilty of the first-degree felony assault charge, the convictions for simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Raymond Hoak was found guilty Tuesday morning of voluntary manslaughter, but the verdict in Jefferson County Circuit Court appeared to do little to calm feelings on either side of the case. After the verdict was read, Hoak's wife, Shelley, began crying. She approached the defense table and Hoak, 31, came to her for a long embrace. Outside the courtroom, Hoak's wife said her husband had to fight for his life when victim Larry G. Hose was alive. "He's got to fight for it again," she said.