Court briefs
Mixed verdict A Uniontown man was found not guilty of possessing individually wrapped baggies of cocaine with the intent to deliver them Tuesday in Fayette County Court.
State police charged Robert Anthony Mullin, 22, of 295 Edison Ave. after they responded to an accident along Barton Mill Road. Jurors convicted Mullin of possession of the seven individually wrapped baggie corners, and driving under the influence of alcohol, the apparent cause of the Oct. 11, 2003 accident.
Judge Ralph C. Warman will sentence Mullin at a later date.
Jurors deliberate
Fayette County jurors on Tuesday were deliberating the fate of a Markleysburg man accused of having sex with a minor.
Mark D. Warman, 29, of 162 Clovertop Road is charged with statutory sexual assault, corruption of minors and furnishing liquor to a minor for an alleged July 9, 2002, encounter with a 15-year-old girl at his home.
The teen went to police on July 17, 2002, claiming Warman offered her beer and the two had sex. Several months later, police questioned Warman and he reportedly admitted to the sexual contact.
The trial was held before Judge John F. Wagner Jr.
Man convicted
A Fayette County jury convicted a Belle Vernon man of stabbing another man in a throat with a screwdriver on Sept. 25, 2003.
Charles Sillings, 50, of 1344 Fayette Ave. was found guilty of aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person for injuring John Tabron when he found Tabron sleeping in the backseat of his car.
Sillings told Washington Township police that he was defending himself against Tabron’s attacks when he stabbed him. He also told police that as he stabbed Tabron, he thought he was hitting his leg or foot with the screwdriver. The screwdriver hit an artery.
Police found Tabron bleeding in the parking lot of the Starlight Bar.
Police indicated at trial that when they went to interview Sillings shortly after the attack, he had only one red mark on his head.
Judge Steve P. Leskinen will sentence Sillings at a later date.
Trial postponed
The trial for a couple accused of leaving their infant son in a car while they partied at a bon fire in the mountains was continued until January.
Michael and Jennifer King are charged with the death of 5-month-old Jonathan King, who authorities allege died of hypothermia as a result of exposure to the 35-degree temperatures in Stewart Township in November 2001. Both are charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children.
State police alleged the two were drinking alcohol while Jonathan and his then-22-month-old sister, Courtney, sat in the car. The couple said they checked on the children frequently, but at an inquest into Jonathan King’s death, others at the party indicated that they did not.
The Kings found their son not breathing in the car later in the night. Police initially believed the baby died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, but further tests determined he died of hypothermia.
The child’s sister was diagnosed with bronchitis and respiratory infection, but survived.
Not guilty verdict
A Smithfield woman accused of scratching her neighbor’s car with a key was found not guilty Tuesday in Fayette County Court.
State police alleged that Tami Coburn, 29, of 187 Yasenlski Road used a key to scratch Sandy Marie Long’s 1999 Mustang on Nov. 24, 2003. She was charged with a single count of criminal mischief.
State police allege the scratches caused $2,500 in damage to Long’s vehicle.
The trial was before President Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi.
No contest plea
Charged in multiple sexual abuse cases, Mark Kerik entered a no contest plea earlier this week in Fayette County Court.
Kerik, 25, of 376 Braznell Concrete Road, Jefferson Township pleaded to four counts of indecent assault in three different cases. The plea calls for him to serve 11 1/2 to 23 months in county prison and to serve five years’ probation once he is released. Eleven sexual abuse-related charges were dismissed as part of the plea bargain.
Kerik formerly sought to have some of the charges transferred to juvenile court because he claimed that some of the allegations of abuse stemmed from a time before he was 18. A judge rejected that claim, noting that Kerik seemed too old to respond to juvenile court treatment.
The victims came forward to state police in 2002, claiming that Kerik assaulted them over an eight-year period of time.
Judge Gerald R. Solomon will sentence Kerik at a later date.