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Fayette DA’s office bows out of case involving indicted former cop

By Susy Kelly skelly@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read
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The Fayette County district attorney’s office has recused itself from handling the case of a McClellandtown man fighting for the dismissal of a 2009 drug case that was initiated by a former drug task force member now under indictment.

Semori Wilson, 44, came before Senior Judge Gerald R. Solomon on Wednesday, represented by attorney Paul Gettleman, who last month filed the motion to remove the district attorney’s office from the case. Gettleman has filed several motions in the case since the arresting officer, Ryan Reese, was indicted by a statewide investigating grand jury in April.

Reese, formerly also a sergeant with the Connellsville Police Department, was arrested on charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communication facility, official oppression and two counts of indecent assault. According to court documents, Reese allegedly coerced a 15-year-old girl to have sex with him in exchange for dropping drug charges against her and her boyfriend.

Wilson was arrested in October 2009 by Reese, who was working as an agent of the drug task force, and charged with drug possession, possession with intent to distribute, and fleeing or attempting to elude police. He went before a jury on those charges in 2012; however, that resulted in a mistrial when another officer testified he witnessed Wilson conduct the drug deal, though prosecutors never included that in information that was to be given to the defense prior to trial.

Shortly after Reese’s indictment, Gettleman moved for county prosecutors to step down from Wilson’s case, stating in court documents that “it would be a conflict of interest for the Fayette County District Attorney to prosecute a case where their star witness is a high ranking member of their office.”

He argued that Assistant District Attorney Mark Brooks, the head of the drug task force’s narcotics unit, is allegedly both a victim and a witness in the case, which involved car chase in which Brooks reportedly pursued Wilson at high speeds.

Court documents indicate Wilson was found with roughly a kilogram of cocaine, and Gettleman claims Reese is the only one who can place Wilson in the blue Lincoln Navigator where the drugs were allegedly found. Gettleman is also asking the court to compel the prosecution to disclose the identity of the confidential informant in the case, arguing Reese was the only person who dealt with the informant.

Assistant District Attorney J.W. Eddy represented the prosecution at Wednesday’s brief hearing, and said the commonwealth would recuse itself from the case, meaning the state Attorney General’s office will be asked to step in.

Gettleman indicated in court filings that in at least eight other cases in which Reese was the only witness, the district attorney has declined to pursue charges.

“The defendant is in the same and/or similarly related circumstances and his case should be dismissed as well where Reese’s fingerprints are all over this case,” wrote Gettleman. “It would be a denial of equal protection of law if one case were treated differently than all the rest where Reese was an integral part of the prosecution of these matter(s).”

A man convicted in an unrelated case involving Reese also called upon the courts to intervene.

Nigi McKenzie, 26, of Connellsville, who is serving a 3 ½ to 7 year sentence on a trio of drug convictions, filed a post-conviction relief act (PCRA) appeal in Fayette County Court last week, claiming his guilty pleas were all “involuntary and unintelligent.”

According to McKenzie, who is representing himself in the appeal, Reese coerced him into claiming possession of drugs and guns that were not his. McKenzie argued Reese told him Children and Youth Services would come and his “children will disappear” if he did not claim the illegal items.

McKenzie alleges his attorney was ineffective for urging him to take the plea, claiming she told him to “plead guilty because who is going to believe you (McKenzie) over a police officer”.

Additionally, McKenzie alleges prosecutorial misconduct, saying the district attorney’s office knew or should have known Reese was “corrupt.” He wrote in court filings that the alleged corruption didn’t become known to him until Reese’s resignation and indictment were publicized.

A hearing on that matter has not yet been scheduled.

In an unrelated attempted homicide case, John Wrote, 66, of Connellsville, represented by attorneys Brian Aston and Shane Gannon, filed a motion in March asking to dismiss the charges stemming from an August incident in which Wrote allegedly shot his former son-in-law.

Wrote’s attorneys argued that Reese is the only person who can testify against him, and that he commonwealth has produced no other witnesses to corroborate Reese’s report that he spoke to neighbors who said they saw the shooting occur.

Judge Nancy Vernon is expected to rule on that motion after reviewing the record from Wrote’s preliminary hearing.

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