Charges held against three suspects
MASONTOWN — Three men accused of an alleged kidnapping, assault and robbery had all charges held Tuesday for Fayette County Court.
Keith Arnold Johnson, 24, of Brownsville, Bernard Lewis Richardson III, 28, and Broderick Dewayne Harris, 28, both of Uniontown, each face 28 charges aggravated assault, kidnapping, robbery and conspiracy.
The men were charged with allegedly robbing three Masontown men — Ronald Packroni and his brother, Jonathan, along with their house guest Jonathan Byers — at Packroni’s home Jan. 14 on North Water Street.
During their preliminary hearing June 17 before Senior Magisterial District Judge Brenda Cavalcante, nearly all of the charges lodged against Johnson were dismissed, while all of the charges against Richardson and Harris were dismissed.
Police refiled the charges in July against the trio in Magisterial District Judge Randy Abraham’s court. Cavalcante had been filling in for Abraham.
The men had their preliminary hearing Tuesday before Magisterial District Judge Arthur K. Scott, who was filling in for Abraham.
During the course of the alleged robbery, Byers testified, he was allegedly kidnapped so he could attempt to withdraw money from an ATM at a Masontown bank.
Masontown police Officer Thomas O’Barto testified there was video surveillance footage from the bank of Byers’ bloody face at the ATM while he was trying to withdrawal cash. O’Barto said the video was also able to capture a close-up facial image of one of the men allegedly kidnapping Byers.
Byers testified that his parents’ home at Fairview Avenue in Masontown was also allegedly robbed during the course of events that night.
The complaint said a handgun, $250 in cash, a silver knife, a couple of watches and Byers’ bank card were reported allegedly stolen from the Packroni residence, while $50,000 in cash was taken from Byers’ parents’ house.
During the preliminary hearing in June, a trio of defense attorneys successfully argued that the Packroni brothers and Byers were unable to definitively identify the men who they allege robbed them.
During Tuesday’s hearing, the Packroni brothers and Byers tried again to identify the men charged.
Defense attorneys challenged Byers and the Packroni brothers testimony.
Assistant District Attorney Meghann Mikluscak countered that the witnesses had identified the men and that there was enough evidence to proceed with the charges.
The Packroni brothers and Byers testified that the trio were allegedly wearing bandannas over much of their faces, but they were still able to identify them.
When Byers was asked how he recognized Johnson, he testified that he had seen him before.
Ronald Packroni testified that not only was he able to identify Johnson from police photographs, but from his eyes and skin tone. He said he was able to get a good look at Johnson’s face as he was being allegedly threatened with a gun.
During the hearing, Scott asked if the defendants had been wearing gloves during the alleged affair.
O’Barto testified that no one was wearing gloves.
Johnson’s attorney, Susan Harper-Ritz, asked if police dusted for prints.
O’Barto testified that the only fingerprints from the crime scene were from the victims, not the defendants.
Tiberi asked about a large bag of marijuana found at the Packroni’s house when events allegedly occurred.
O’Barto confirmed that a bag of marijuana was discovered by police, but no one claimed it.
O’Barto mentioned briefly during his testimony that Harris and Richardson posted stuff about their alleged crimes on Facebook.
Attorneys sparred over Richardson’s alleged taped confession to police.
O’Barto testified that when police were questioning Richardson about the matter, he had a lawyer, Diane Zerega, present for a recorded conversation.
The criminal complaint said the recording was a confession from Richardson, who implicated Johnson and Harris.
In June, defense attorneys objected to the content of those recordings based on potential of violating Richardson’s constitutional rights particularly as it affected their clients’ cases.
Calvacante opted not to allow those recordings or their content to be used as evidence.
Tuesday, defense attorneys objected again and used a different tactic to keep the recorded confession from harming their client’s case. They claimed this conversation was protected by attorney/client privilege.
O’Barto testified that he asked Richardson, who had his attorney (Zerega) present at time he was being questioned, if he would waive his constitutionally protected rights. Richardson said it was OK to proceed with the interview, O’Barto said.
Scott said overruled defense attorneys’ objections because a lawyer was present to advise Richardson whether to waive his rights, but he chose to proceed anyway.
Harper-Ritz voiced also objections on the grounds that a confession from one person doesn’t bind anyone else charged in the case.
Mikluscak countered that because the trio were allegedly linked as co-conspirators in the case, the confession corroborates events.
Scott allowed the confession to be discussed during the hearing, but on certain conditions agreed to by the attorneys for both sides.
O’Barto testified to Richardson’s confession about the alleged events on Jan. 14. O’Barto said Richardson received either $5,000 to $8,000 for his alleged role in the matter. O’Barto testified that the alleged crimes were planned.
Following attorneys’ brief closing statements, Scott ruled that the state had met its burden to establish that a crime had been committed and that defendants could be charged.
Johnson, Richardson and Harris had been placed in Fayette County Prison on $250,000 straight cash bond each following their respective arraignments. Johnson remained in prison while Richardson and Harris were released June 17. They later returned to the prison when the charges were refiled in July.