Judge rejects dismissal of case
A Washington County judge denied a motion Thursday to dismiss a Washington man’s robbery case, stating a time lapse didn’t prejudice the defendant.
Washington County Judge John F. DiSalle denied the motion after hearing testimony from the defendant Shayne Coffield.
Coffield, 24, of Washington, is accused of participating in the robbery of a Four Star delivery driver March 9, 2013, along with co-defendants Christopher Pitzarella, 24, of Washington, and Michael Stienstraw, 27, of Claysville. Pitzarella pleaded guilty to the robbery and was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in jail. The charges against Stienstraw were dismissed after DiSalle found the district attorney’s office failed to bring the case to trial in 365 days, as required under state court Rule 600.
Coffield’s attorney, Amanda Como, filed a Rule 600 motion last month after her client’s trial was continued. The trial was scheduled to begin Sept. 9, but Como filed a motion to dismiss after she was presented with last-minute evidence that could exonerate her client.
Como said on the morning the trial was to begin she was provided with two letters written by Pitzarella. In the first letter, Pitzarella claims Coffield did not commit the robbery. In the second letter, he recants his previous statement, claiming he was threatened by Coffield to write the earlier letter.
Coffield and Pitzarella are co-defendants in another robbery case, where they were accused of holding up the Uni-Mart at 336 E. Maiden St., Washington, in March 2013 and shooting one of two clerks working that day.
Pitzarella pleaded guilty in the case. Coffield was found not guilty after a two-day jury trial in June.
Assistant District Attorney John Friedmann said he only learned of the letters the morning of the trial. One was found in the Uni-Mart file. The other was obtained from Pitzarella’s family. Neither letter was presented or used in the Uni-Mart case. Deputy District Attorney Joseph Zupancic, who handled the Uni-Mart case, was suspended with pay after DiSalle ruled that he withheld the letters from Como.
The continuance, Como argued, pushed the case past the adjusted 365-day limit of Oct. 5. She said the prosecution should have called the case in September. Friedmann and DiSalle said they were both unavailable during September because of prior court commitments.
The case is scheduled for trial Oct. 20. As a result, DiSalle said the time frame did not negatively affect Coffield.
Coffield remains in the Washington County jail. He has three other pending cases,