That was the sensationalistic and insensitive headline The Morning Call "newspaper" chose to run with the day after my daughter Sheena's killer was sentenced to 5.5 to 12 years in the PA State Penitentiary for killing her. It was printed in large and bold "all caps" type in its original hardcopy version, and not the "CYA" shrunken size the "newspaper" has retroactively and deceitfully rigged for this archive version. By contrast, the same day, The Express-Times reported Sheena's previously unknown pregnancy (unknown beyond her immediate family) starting on line 14 of its balanced coverage (we'd link to it but we can't find Express-Times reporter Bevan Milavsky's report out there anywhere).
Sheena's family always perceived The Morning Call's sadistically cruel "DUI CRASH VICTIM PREGNANT" headline as being akin to the referees sucker punching the winning team as we walked off the court. Obviously, the "newspaper" and its crony-connected "club member" higher-ups were pulling for Sheena's killer, whose "club member" father was a partner in the juggernaut local law firm that has been representing The Morning Call for many years.
But the real shocker in "DUI CRASH VICTIM PREGNANT" is what The Morning Call "newspaper" did NOT tell you, to protect its colluding crony-connected "club president" DA Jim Martin.
I was there. Here's what The Morning Call "newspaper" never told you ...
It was Judge Steinberg who brought up Sheena's pregnancy at her killer's sentencing hearing, not DA Jim Martin "prosecutor" Richard Director, as the "newspaper" deceitfully leads you to envision in Manny Gamiz's skillfully edited article, see: paragraphs 1 through 4, page 2 of 3.
Get the court transcripts and you'll see that as his 2nd to last detail (2nd only to the sentencing itself), Judge Steinberg ominously declared to defense attorney Phil Lauer and DA Jim Martin "prosecutor" Richard Director that, "Now I need to address the one issue that neither of you has addressed." Judge Steinberg and the two attorneys then left the courtroom for a private conference about Sheena's pregnancy in Judge Steinberg's chambers. It was a moment of palpable high drama in the courtroom, but apparently one that somehow completely eluded Morning Call "reporter" Manny Gamiz, and/or his editor(s), as nary a rancid whiff of this 15- to 20-minute absence from the courtroom by the conferring Judge and the two attorneys ever made it into the "newspaper."
Readers: if DA Jim Martin "prosecutor" Richard Director had indeed "prepared a legal memo and asked the judge to consider the fact that Sheena was pregnant in sentencing," as The Morning Call helpfully reported the next day, then Richard Director apparently, what ... FORGOT (?) to reference his memo when standing in front of Judge Steinberg on sentencing day! This was either jaw-droppingly gross incompetence on the part of DA Jim Martin's office, flagrant crony-crooked collusion, or both.
No thanks whatsoever to DA Jim Martin's office, Judge Steinberg cited Sheena's early pregnancy, along with her killer's surrealistically high crash speed, and thrice the legal limit blood alcohol content, as his rationale for a sentence of 5.5 to 12 years in state prison or nearly double Pennsylvania's mandatory minimum state prison sentence of 3 years for vehicular homicide while DUI-- a token consolation, we felt, for the third degree murder conviction and sentence Sheena's killer earned and should have gotten.
BTW, the oh so remorseful convicted Sheena killer The Morning Call couldn't stop sobbing about wanted to stick Sheena's family with the trauma unit/hospital bills he created when he killed Sheena (he also expected an immediate release from prison) but the PA Superior Court quickly and comprehensively rejected his appeal.
Bottom Line: The Morning Call "newspaper" purposefully concealed the truth from you.
In our next "Allentown" post, we'll examine other equally newsworthy items The Morning Call "newspaper" purposefully concealed from you regarding DA Jim Martin's shamefully lackluster prosecution of Sheena's killer and Allentown's in-progress persecution of Sheena's dad for calling out DA Jim Martin and The Morning Call "newspaper" for their gross incompetence and crony-colluding crookedness.
44 comments:
Hey Bill... I couldn't believe it myself when I read that 'original article'... I couldn't believe how cold and cruel it felt, wow. Keep fightin' the good fight my friend.
Oh, here's a thought... maybe you and Billy Joel could get together and re-write the lyrics to that old song 'Allentown'. THAT would be interesting! Just sayin...
Hey Dave, an update (nationally) on Billy Joel's take on Allentown is exactly what I'm after, and after all this time we are finally starting to attract some heavy-weight out of town media talent. Stay tuned.
FYI, readers: DA Jim Martin, Judge Robert Steinberg, and The Morning Call "newspaper" have all refused, repeatedly, to discuss w/ me the "prosecution" and sentencing of Sheena's killer, and the "newspaper's" skillfully incomplete coverage of it all. As you may recall, The Morning Call "newspaper" denied my polite request(s) for a "Welcome Mat Meeting" (i.e., an open-door policy since discontinued by the "newspaper" because of me) 229 times to date.
"Steinberg read from one of 100 letters he received from Villa's loved ones, gave Bill Villa the book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," and told him Sheena "would prefer that you smile rather than grieve.""
How the fuck would Judge Steinberg (or anybody else) know what "Sheena would prefer?" Knowing Sheena as I did its just as likely that Sheena would "prefer" her dad to kick all the crooked asses that tried to screw her out of justice to the gates of fucking hell and back again.
Knowing Sheena as I did, I second that emotion.
It's amazing how the newspaper account can be so different from reality. Knowing what to write about and what to leave out can change the entire picture of an event.
How 'bout it.
Re-writing reality is a longtime Morning Call specialty.
Our next post will zero in on the "newspaper's" colluding-crony-crookedness in this area.
So you had a Phil Lauer experience! The cronyism in this region is criminal and not a laughing matter. Lauer was hired by my closet case stalking neighbor. When we went to the preliminary hearing, the arresting officer,made an announcement at the door that our neighbor had hired Lauer. Like we should have been shaking in our booths and Lauer wanted us to accept a plea which we refused to do. Lauer separated us. My testimony was given without my partner in the room. He was called after my testimony and was asked the same questions and gave the same answers. The magistrate ruled in our favor and bound the matter over for trial. In our interviews with the assigned Assistant DA, she told us that one sure sign of guilt is hiring Lauer. She was very hostile towards us. The story gets better.
We waited for 18 months to receive the copy of the transcript of the preliminary hearing- 5 days before the hearing with Judge Mcfadden. The transcriber was employed by Lauer. We were told by the Ass DA to review the transcript because Jauer would be following it at trial. At the preliminary hearing Lauer appeared to be very unprepared, he was sloppy. He and our neighbor thought it was going to be a slam dunk, like the magistrate would rule in their favor because that the way things are around here and Fags don't deserve Justice. We didn't read the transcript immediately, when we did it was evident that the transcript was not the testimony that we had given. It wasn't accurate, it had me saying things that I didn't say and the same with my partner. We brought this up with the Assist DA of northampton county, who gave us the impression that she was avoiding the issues but also gave us the impression that she knew it was altered. We we force to the court house for the hearing. We believed that we were railroaded by the Northampton Courts to drop the charges. Lauer had this very uneasy look about him. Like someone who knew we were on to him
"So you had a Phil Lauer experience!"
Actually Phil Lauer had a Bill Villa experience.
Deftly out-maneuvering both DA Jim Martin and The Morning Call "newspaper," we kicked Phil Lauer's ass. Twice. He's got nuthin'. He also picks his ass in court, dunno if you noticed that?
Sorry to hear about your troubles. The number of colluding crony-crooked bums who need to be de-throned around here is definitely a daunting task. Our strategy is to "cut its head off" (figuratively speaking of course) and all the crony-connected hangers-on beasts will choke, die, and decay.
And Allentown and all of Lehigh County will be a much better place for it.
It's only a matter of time ...
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"I was mildly surprised by the number of private emails asking where I was, and if I was giving up the blog.
The fact of the matter is, I am busy with many projects and I am attempting to better manage my time. I am trying to limit my time online to twice a day and no more than an hour each time. It's tempting when you start answering emails, it can take a lot of time.
I am going for quality of Blog posts, not quantity. That is not to begrudge those who have more time, but I have much on my plate presently, and I need to prioritize." -Chris Casey
That's Casey's 19th "retirement" too (but who's counting?) nice work breaking him, Villas.
Merci City O, it was really easy.
"I am trying to limit my time online to twice a day and no more than an hour each time." -Chris Casey
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Let's stay on topic everyone, and a BIG MERCI to LVS readers, we (you) just surpassed the single day record for most visits to LVS, and it's early yet ... ;D
Q: How much stalking and snarking can one accomplish in an hour?
A: Depends on one's level of expertise and experience.
Betcha $5 Chrissy's not at City Council tomorrow night.
Ironic, since Casey's the "guy" who dared Bill to come to City Council in the first place :)
Let's try to stay on topic everyone, and a BIG MERCI again to LVS readers, we (you) just surpassed the single day record for most visits to LVS again, and it's early yet ... ;D
That's actually a pretty nice photograph of the Allentown Ethics Board, did Mike Molovinsky take it?
Chris Casey (at his blog), said:
"Okay, faithful Rock n' Roll readers, who sings this verse?
"Somebody's going to emergency, somebody's going to jail." Name the song and the artist, and you might win a free large cup of coffee from Dunkin Donuts courtesy of me. Name the album and i will throw in the pastry of choice
Tomorrow I will post the answer with a U-Tube video, and on Thursday I will have a report of what I observe at Allentown City Council on Wednesday evening. I am going all by myself, no posse, no bodyguards, just lil' old artificial hip, plastic elbow, urethane in his spine me. When I die they are going to have to remove those before they cremate me. So don't be afraid to stop by and say hello. I will be in the back near the press table, taking notes."
Bill, you mentioned in a comment at a previous post that Morning Call Harrisburg politics reporter JOHN MICEK was looking into your story on the attorney (for now) Dave Najarian case fix attempt involving magistrate Rod Beck, DA Jim Martin, and PA State Attorney General Tom Corbett. What's the latest on this?
(almost forgot)
and will you be publishing the email(s) from Cedar Crest College Provost Dr. Powell (I read the news today oh boy on your right sidebar's "Upcoming Justice Events" about next week, well done!)
City O, our Cedar Crest endeavors we're keeping confidential (for now), on the other item:
Email, Incoming ...
On Aug 16, 2010, at 3:54:16 PM, John Micek wrote:
Bill:
On vacation. Returning 23 August. I'll check it out when I get back.
thx.
JLM
________________________
John L. Micek
State Government Reporter
The [Allentown] Morning Call
524E Main Capitol
Harrisburg, Pa., 17120
(717)783-7305 (o)
(717)705-5022 (f)
http://blogs.mcall.com/capitol_ideas
http://blogs.mcall.com/
________________________________________
From: alacarbv [alacarbv@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2010 12:08 PM
To: Micek, John L.
Subject: Jim Martin/Tom Corbett Collusion
Hi John, did you receive attorney (for now) Dave Najarian's phony/bogus (and unsuccessful) private criminal complaint against me that I mailed to you last week, and will you be calling my attorney this week do you think?
Bill Villa
610.428.xxxx
Excellent! And I owe you $5.
Great news on both fronts, may I be the first to second the kudos?
Oui.
You Villas make all this look so easy but I know it isn't.
Thank You for your community service even though it is so shamefully under-appreciated.
Well said, and thank you.
Re: attorney (for now) Dave Najarian, I would recommend a civil lawsuit and (after winning) a complaint be filed w/ the Disciplinary Board of the PA Supreme Court which could result in his disbarment. Just sayin'.
They can dish it out
but they can't take it.
(well said) and it really is that simple.
So now they can both take this, fuck 'em.
My Take...
Chris Casey is a total zero who has been "persona non grata" around the area Democratic Party scene long before you hammered these finishing nails in his political coffin. Don't waste your time on him. Only the likes of fellow lying snakes in the press box Bill White and Jarrett Renshaw get close to Casey and their days in their respective positions of power seats are numbered.
Over & Out...
Always an astute insight, LCD, merci.
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;D
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Richard Director probably figured that if Judge Steinberg never looked into the Levin case (which Bill has blogged about having sent the judge, several times), then maybe the good judge hadn't found the mention of Sheena's pregnancy buried in the DA's report and it was worth a shot to not remind of it at sentencing so that the "binge" drinker would get a lighter sentence.
Congratulations, you are the winner of the LVS Best Comment Of The Week Award.
One does have to wonder if Judge Steinberg ever did check out any of the several copies of Commonwealth v. Levin I had sent him well in advance of the (secretly moved up 10 days) guilty plea hearing -- I of course had sent Levin (and Commonwealth v. Urbanski, Kling, Scales, and Pigg) to DA Jim Martin too.
Reason I say this is because at the guilty plea hearing, Judge Steinberg incorrectly cited PA's most recent DUI/third degree murder cases as being "12 years old." At the time Judge Steinberg said this, the Levin case was 4 years old. And still "good law," i.e., it had been challenged but was still standing strong.
The same was true of Commonwealth v. Urbanski, Kling, Scales, and Pigg-- all still "good law," regardless of their ages.
The Pennsylvania Dutch are known to say, "Ach, don't act so dumb."
That's because people around here do "act dumb," if it serves their purpose.
And their purpose was getting Sheena's killer off as lightly as was possible-- thankfully, and miraculously, we managed to make that impossible for them.
I think Judge Steinberg, DA Jim Martin, Richard Director, and The Morning Call "newspaper" were all "acting dumb" when it came to the appropriate charge of third degree murder for Sheena's killer.
Thank you again for your comment, we should make this into its own post, and we will ...
Here's The Morning Call "newspaper" "report" from 2007 where Judge Steinberg acts dumb and says the most recent DUI/third degree murder case in PA is "12 years old."
Judge Steinberg was dead wrong by 8 years.
Also note how Morning Call "newspaper" "reporter" Manny Gamiz somehow heard me mutter "Happy Birthday" to Sheena's killer under my breath ... but Gamiz didn't hear me stand up and yell "LEVIN" (twice) to Judge Steinberg at this same hearing.
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