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Attorney for South Connellsville Police Chief asking that oppression charges be dropped

By Mark Hofmann mhofmann@heraldstandard.Com 3 min read
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The attorney for the South Connellsville police chief charged with official oppression wants a Fayette County judge to dismiss the charges filed against him or suppress evidence in the case.

Michelle L. Kelley, the attorney for Russel P. Miller, contended her client did not engage in official oppression as the borough’s police chief when he asked that a South Connellsville resident be cited for harassment following a borough council meeting.

According to the motion, on May 12, 2016, Miller sent a letter to the resident, Mary Lubich-Riley, informing her to no longer harass Miller or his family. During a council meeting that October, Riley allegedly yelled at Miller to be respectful and to stop playing with his phone.

Following the meeting, Miller asked a patrolman to cite her for harassment. The borough’s solicitor recommended the citation be withdrawn, but it was not. The matter went to a hearing, and the motion stated that Miller did not appear at the hearing because his wife was in labor. The citation was ultimately dismissed.

Miller was later charged with official oppression.

Kelley argued in her motion that Miller did not commit an illegal act by requesting the patrolman to file a citation against Lubich-Riley as Miller did not order the patrolman to do so, only made a request of him.

“The commonwealth is unable to marshal sufficient evidence to establish that a crime ‘probably occurred’ and that this particular defendant (Miller) ‘probably committed the offenses,'” Kelley wrote, contending the charge should be dismissed.

Kelley also asked that the search warrant issued on Oct. 26 be quashed because it lacked probable cause because among the various items collected from the South Connellsville Municipal Building was a cellphone belonging to Council President Karen Holbrook.

“The search warrant does not reference the search for or seizure of any cellphones as such the seizure of the same was improper and exceeded the scope of the warrant,” Kelley wrote.

Because the warrant was improper, Kelley argued that any evidence obtained as a result of those items not listed in the warrant — including cellphones — should be suppressed.

A judge will make a decision on the matter at a later date.

Miller, along with Holbrook, were also the subjects of federal lawsuits over freedom of speech violations filed by Lubich-Riley and four other individuals.

One of those lawsuits was dismissed in June. Lubich-Riley’s suit has been referred to early neutral evaluation, the federal court’s system to move cases along in an efficient manner.

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