Posted by John on February 19, 2007 at 14:58:12 (EST):
In Reply to: Re: What is going on in the DA's office??????????????? posted by Chase on February 19, 2007 at 12:40:57 (EST):
: : Are you saying the leader times reported false information when they reported she changed her plea when Andressi agreed to drop attempted homicide charges on the unborn infant? i don't think so. I don't think he would allow them to print that if it were not true. How many high profile trials have you seen him work????
: Scott Andreassi does not allow or disallow the Leader Times to print any information - they print what they print. There originally was a second count of Attempted Homicide with the fetus named as the victim. In order to prove that charge the Commonwealth would have had to prove that Conner had a fully-realized intention to kill the baby. However, the facts did not bear that out -- the evidence was that she was trying to steal the baby and raise it as her own. The Information was amended to delete that second count as a matter of housekeeping in preparation for trial, as we had no evidence whatsoever to support it. Hindsight being 20/20 the second count would never have been included in the first place. But that occurred a week or two prior to trial, and was not related to Conner's decision to plead guilty so far as I know.
: In response to your second question, Scott Andreassi has personally tried numerous major felony cases. The homicide cases that I can name off the top of my head include Terrence Mastarone (whose drunk driving killed several members of a family in Gilpin Twp., and Mastarone's own passenger as well), and Chase Silvis (who murdered a young woman in Kittanning Borough). Those are just two high-profile cases that spring to mind. There have been other homicides, of course, but Scott and the assistants all share the workload of major cases and not-so-major cases. Many District Attorneys in other counties never try a case, and act more as administrators of the office. Not so here.
I applaud you for standing up and setting things straight. Too many times people go off half-cocked on this webboard and try to convince people that whatever they say is correct, without the facts to back it up.
Thanks for helping to eliminate the confusion and for doing a hell of a job trying to see that justice is caried out appropriately in Armstrong County.