Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Coach to be Tried Separately

The Express-Times reports that Nazareth's recently hired football coach Rob Melosky will be tried separately from James Sweeney (read the article here) as a result of a decision made by Judge McFadden on Tuesday.

The Court of Common Pleas has a public reporting tool which documents each case, it identifies the charges, persons involved, and steps taken (view it here). While it was not updated with the information from yesterday, it does indicate that a trial date of August 4, 2008 in criminal court was set on June 12.

Yesterday I had sent some questions to an attorney regarding some of the motions so I could better explain them, but I've not yet heard back. The section in question was made by Rob Melosky on June 10, which indicates "Waiver of PA.R.Crim.P.600 & Application for Continuance".

The actions after that were the trial date being set, the filing of the transcripts from 5/23 and I'd expect once updated possibly Tuesday's ruling.

The timing is getting to be rather interesting. The current court date is one week prior to the start of Fall sports (according to the PIAA). It appears the NASD is comfortable with having Melosky coach the team due to his explanation to them of the matter and if he is cleared on all counts then legally they are 'supported/covered', however, what happens if:
  1. Melosky is convicted and the season is about to start
  2. Melosky settles the case and no court verdict as to guilt is made and the season is about to start, or
  3. The case is not heard on 8/4, but later in the season and he is convicted or settles.
It is certainly going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

How does it play out?

1. He get's probation, NASD says justice is done and no need to punish him any further, gets to keep job.

2. Since he is not pronounced officially "guilty" NASD says justice is done and no need to punish him any further, gets to keep his job.

3. The interesting one and will probably depend on how well the team is doing. If we are in a winning season, even if found guilty, NASD will let him keep his job (unless he gets sent to jail, which most likely won't happen). If the team is losing and he is found guilty, he will most likey keep his job, but an outside possibility that he could be fired.

Net, I would say that regardless of when and what the verdict is, we will most likely have this guy around until he decides to either beat up a kid in the school or possible do something worse that will bring a mojor lawsuit against the district. So, basically we lose.

CID1 said...

Here's an explaination of Waiver of PA.R.Crim.P.600:

RULE 600--Trial Terms
A. Criminal Trial Terms. Criminal cases (excluding those listed in paragraph B) shall be tried during a two-week period in the months of January, March, May, July, September and November.

B. Separate Trial List. All DUI cases and other cases where the most serious offense involves simple assault, (including cases involving alleged domestic abuse), bad checks or cases requiring expedited handling due to speedy trial concerns shall be tried during a two-week period in the months of February, April, June and October.

C. Notice. All cases listed for a trial session shall be subpoenaed by the Court Administrator at least one (1) month prior to the start of the trial term when time permits. The Court may direct the listing of any case for any term as it deems necessary or appropriate.

RossRN said...

thanks - saw where ARD required waiver of it, and it was referenced in a lot of cases, but no where could I get a definition of it.

lineflat said...

So, let's say the guy is found guilty and given a slap on the wrist. And Nazareth keeps him. Someone please tell me that this guy will address the students and say "what I did was wrong, and I'm sorry it happened." Or are we just going to send the message that "Hey, I paid my dues (aka got away with it). No harm no foul."? I can't believe Nazareth is that desperate for wins that they would get into this situation. What a horrible example for the kids. Just sad.

whowherewhenwhy said...

I doubt if it was a math or science teacher up for a job position they would even be interviewed. This is disturbing.

Anonymous said...

ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition) is never recommended by The DA in cases where a crime of violence is charged. One would think that no exception would be made here, especially because it was a crime of violence against a MINOR. A conviction of a crime against a child will prevent him from getting the clearances needed
to coach and/or teach ever again.

If the DA recommends ARD, then you will see an absolute political deal being cut. Can't believe that this guy or little man Vic are that well connected.

Moreover, any judge that would approve such a recommendation(provided the evidence shows Melosky really did assault a child) should and will be referred to Wild Bill O'Reilly for the appropriate national humiliation.

RossRN said...

I'm sorry if in my note earlier it came across the wrong way, but I never intended to say that the DA was recommending ARD.

I said that the waiver was submitted by Melosky in the post.

In the thank you comment, I noted that the information related to Waiver of PA.R.Crim.P.600 that I found through google indicated in some cases it was required to be waived if one wanted ARD.

My understanding, as noted in the last comment, is that the charges against Melosky would make him ineligible for ARD.

And I agree if this was discussed at a teacher's interview the person would not get hired.

iamroodandcantspil said...

since it involves football in the lehigh valley, my guess is that he ends up coaching somehow (regardless the outcome of the case).

I am thinking he will get out of the charges or get some type of reduced charge/probation.

And Nazareth football will go 2-8 and request and get more budget money.