Aug 6, 2020 3 min read

Washington County Court convened its first jury trial this week since the novel coronavirus pandemic struck the United States, and many changes were evident.

The court administrator’s office conducted a mock trial a few months ago to work out the logistics. Seating was removed from some courtrooms to reduce the maximum occupancy. 

On Tuesday, jury selection took up three courtrooms so prospective jurors could remain distant. 

During jury selection Tuesday, 50 jurors were split between the two largest courtrooms, and jurors were individually directed to a third courtroom where the judge and attorneys conducted the selection process.

When testimony began Wednesday, members of panel were spread out over a third of available space in a fourth courtroom to maintain distancing. Some wore face shields while others opted for masks.

Everyone inside the courtroom was masked, although Judge Gary Gilman instructed witnesses to remove their masks while testifying. 

Those involved with courtroom proceedings have said it’s important to be able to see witnesses’ facial expressions as part of their  demeanor. 

At the trial Wednesday of Valerie Bobro Powell, jurors had to weigh testimony in the case of a motorcyclist, Todd E. Walker, 40,  who was struck by a rock on Second Street in Monongahela on May 26, 2019. He said he continues to suffer from injuries he received that day.  

Charged with propulsion of a missile – the rock – at an occupied vehicle, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault was Bobro Powell, 44, of Second Street, who was doing masonry patching on hillside steps.

Although she told police motorcycles were being driven too fast on her street she testfied she did not intend to strike Walker, whom she had never met.

Bobro Powell told the jury she was tossing rocks down the hill to a grassy strip between the sidewalk and street to lessen wear and tear on her injured knee. 

“The Commonwealth would have you believe that Valerie Bobro, with the precision of Michael Jordan, hit (Walker) in the face on a speeding motorcycle,” Bobro Powell’s public defender, Rose Semple, told the jury in her closing argument.

It was up to the jury to decide if the defendant intended to harm someone.

Assistant District Attorney Dominic Carrola noted in his remarks to the jury that as part of a renovation of her home’s steps, Bobro  “was chucking rocks over the hill” and that she had just testified that she had been screaming at motorists and motorcycles that were driving too fast on her street.   

The jury heard only the barest reference that charges against Walker had been dismissed that morning in court.

According to documents on file, Monongahela police also charged Walker that day with simple assault on Bobro and criminal mischief when he struck a parked car with his motorcycle helmet as part of a fight that broke out.