Feb 9, 2017 3 min read

A Washington County jury found a Canton Township man not guilty in a criminal case stemming from an alleged carjacking last year.

Ryan D. Penvose, 31, was acquitted Wednesday on charges of robbery of a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property, theft, simple assault and driving under the influence after a two-day trial before Judge Michael Lucas.

“I think it was apparent that the jury didn’t believe the alleged victim’s testimony,” Keith Emerick, Penvose’s attorney, said Thursday.

South Strabane police filed charges in connection with an early-morning incident April 6. Police first received a report from John Brunet at the 50 Yard Line Sports Pub in Washington. Brunet said he’d left the bar earlier and given a ride to a man he’d met at the pub.

The pair was traveling on North Main Street when Brunet said Penvose suggested stopping at Trio Lounge in South Strabane for a few drinks. Brunet said that after the pair left that bar, Penvose struck him in the right side of his face then pushed him out of the vehicle when Brunet stopped near Oak Grove Road.

A short time after Brunet made his report, Washington police were dispatched to a report of an accident involving a dark-colored sport utility vehicle identified as the same one Brunet had been driving. Police said they found Penvose, who was later treated for injuries at Washington Hospital, standing about 100 feet from the vehicle. He allegedly admitted to drinking heavily but denied driving, police said.

Assistant District Attorney John Friedmann said he’d spoken after the verdict with a few of the jurors who had “questions about the story, the chain of events as the victim described it.”

Police processed blood samples found on the driver’s and passenger’s side of the vehicle. On the final day of testimony, Jeffrey Fumea, a forensic scientist and DNA expert from the State Police Crime Laboratory in Greensburg, told the jury blood matched a DNA sample provided by Penvose. The chance the blood could come from another Caucasian was 1 in 63 octillion, which Fumea said is 6.3 followed by 27 zeroes, a number much greater than the Earth’s population of roughly 7 billion.

“I thought the blood evidence was going to be favorable for us,” Friedmann

Emerick said he didn’t think the DNA evidence “moved the jury one way or another.”

He said the verdict vindicated his client.

“Ryan and his family were relieved. They were emotional when the verdict was read,” he said. “In my profession, I’m kind of buoyed anytime you see evidence that the system works.”

Staff writer Barbara Miller contributed to this report.