Defendant on ‘thin ice’ after referring to self as lawyer in hearing
Scott Edmonds, who has been jailed for nearly nine years while awaiting trial in his wife’s 2014 shooting death, nearly got himself into more legal trouble Monday when he referred to himself as “counsel” while representing himself at a preliminary hearing on charges he allegedly forged his former attorney’s signature on court documents.
Deputy Assistant District Attorney John Friedmann halted Edmonds after he called himself both a “defendant and counsel,” which could be construed as him misrepresenting himself as a lawyer in court.
“You’re on very thin ice, sir,” District Judge Kelly Stewart told Edmonds while suggesting he consult with defense attorney Mark Adams, who was at the hearing to assist if needed.
Edmonds, who was shackled and wearing an orange prison jump suit while being supervised by a state constable during the hearing, spoke to Adams for a minute and then apologized to Stewart while asking if he could correct the record. She allowed him to do so without further issues, although the nearly two-hour preliminary hearing on felony forgery charges was dominated by Edmonds asking questions to the witnesses and Friedmann objecting over and over again.
“A lot of it’s beyond the scope,” Stewart said to Edmonds. “A lot of it is argumentative. A lot is speculation.”
In fact, Edmonds asked a total of 81 questions during his cross-examination of two witnesses with 43 of them being objected to by Friedmann and then sustained by Stewart.
“These are arguments,” Friedmann said of the defendant’s line of questioning. “These aren’t questions.”
“I’m not an attorney,” Edmonds told Stewart. “I’m just trying to get the truth out and it’s difficult with all of these sustains.”
Indeed, Edmonds is not an attorney, but he has butted heads with the numerous defense lawyers who have represented him over the years while he demanded that he be permitted to represent himself at his upcoming homicide trial. He is accused of shooting his 49-year-old wife, Louise M. Weis-Edmonds, in the back of the head inside their North Strabane Township condo on March 25, 2014. Adams currently represents him in the homicide case.
Monday’s preliminary hearing before Stewart did not involve the homicide, but instead accusations that he forged the signature of his former attorney, Rose Semple, on court documents in June. Semple testified she filed the proper legal paperwork attempting to challenge whether Edmonds has been detained too long without trial, but Edmonds allegedly took a copy of those documents and signed her name with a “squiggle” meant to be Semple’s signature so he could submit them on his own terms.
“I cannot determine what is there,” Semple said of the signature line. “It is not my signature.”
While investigating, county Detective Michael Filosi said he also learned that Edmonds continues to initial the letters “PT” at the end of his signature – which is typical for physical therapists – even though his license expired in 2014. Filosi filed the charges in the forgery case Aug. 11.
During the preliminary hearing, Edmonds and Filosi had a terse back and forth as the two went over the case.
“That’s a yes or no answer,” Edmonds proclaimed at one part of his questioning.
“Don’t tell me how to answer your questions,” Filosi responded.
During closing statements, Edmonds argued he did not injure Semple by allegedly signing her name because she had already filed the documents earlier. He also claimed that “PT” could be an abbreviation for something else.
But Stewart disagreed and ordered Edmonds to stand trial on the two felony forgery counts, along with a misdemeanor charge of falsely pretending to hold a professional license. Edmonds, 59, has been held without bond at the Washington County jail since his arrest on the homicide charge the day after his wife’s death. He is currently scheduled to go to trial in December.