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Posted by Breaker
on June 18, 2009, 5:00 pm, in reply to "Ed Rendell is way out of line."
Agreed.
--Previous Message--
: This is a prime example why this asshole needs
: to be voted out of office. Today he's busy
: trying to raise the state sales tax to 6.5%
: because septa in phila needs more money to
: shuttle the niiggers around the city. And
: you and I will have to foot the bill. This
: govner needs to go.
:
:
: Judge blasts Rendell’s suggested sentence
:
:
: Share This Story:
: Yahoo! Buzz
: BY BEN WOLFGANG
: STAFF WRITER
: bwolfgang@republicanherald.com
: Published: Thursday, June 18, 2009 4:13 AM
: EDT
: From the bench Wednesday afternoon, county
: President Judge William E. Baldwin
: criticized Gov. Ed Rendell’s recent
: interjection into the sentencing of
: Shenando-ah-area teens Brandon J. Piekarsky
: and Derrick M. Donchak.
:
: “I’ve never before heard of a head of state
: giving a suggested sentence for a specific
: criminal case. I am not giving consideration
: to the governor’s recommendation,” Baldwin
: said, referencing a letter Rendell sent to
: county District Attorney James P. Goodman on
: May 28.
:
: A copy was provided to The Republican-Herald
: on Wednesday by Rendell spokesman Chuck
: Ardo.
:
: In that letter — the second time the
: governor has weighed in on last July’s
: high-profile death of Luis Eduardo Ramirez
: Zavala, an illegal Mexican immigrant —
: Rendell asks for the harshest possible
: sentences for Piekarsky, 17, and Donchak,
: 19.
:
: “I also believe ... the maximum sentence is
: warranted given both the sheer brutality of
: Piekarsky’s and Donchak’s deadly attack and
: that the crime appears to be racially
: motivated,” Rendell said in the letter,
: which Goodman later shared with Baldwin and
: defense counsel.
:
: On May 1, Piekarsky and Donchak were
: acquitted of the most serious charges in
: connection with Ramirez’s death. On
: Wednesday, they were sentenced for simple
: assault charges and alcohol-related charges.
:
: Piekarsky must serve six to 23 months, while
: Donchak must serve seven to 23 months in
: county prison.
:
: Rendell had previously urged federal charges
: against the teens in a May letter to the
: Department of Justice — a move that drew
: harsh rebukes from county Commissioner
: Francis V. McAndrew and U.S. Rep. Tim
: Holden, D-17.
:
: Goodman said such a letter from a sitting
: governor is “clearly unusual,” while
: Frederick J. Fanelli, Piekarsky’s attorney,
: echoed Baldwin’s opinion.
:
: “I’ve never before seen a head of state
: interject himself in a case like this,”
: Fanelli said in court Wednesday, adding
: Rendell’s comments amount to “unprecedented
: intervention.”
:
: Before handing down the sentences Wednesday,
: Baldwin blasted Rendell’s involvement.
:
: “I can only conclude he must have been
: misinformed about the nature of the
: verdict,” Baldwin said.
:
: While Rendell again stressed in the letter
: he does not wish to “second guess” the jury,
: he specifically cites charges Piekarsky and
: Donchak were acquitted of.
:
: “This kind of senseless criminal behavior
: and ethnic intimidation is never
: appropriate,” the letter states.
:
: Piekarsky and Donchak were each found not
: guilty of ethnic intimidation.
:
: Baldwin said he “could not nullify the
: jury’s verdict” by considering any sort of
: ethnic or racial components during
: sentencing, since the jury acquitted the
: teens of such crimes.
:
:
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