DA Jim Martin's shameful vendetta against assertive grieving father Bill Villa

When my husband Bill Villa's daughter Sheena Villa was brutally killed by Robert LaBarre on her 25th birthday in March 2006, Bill, quite naturally, wanted Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin to charge Robert LaBarre with the crime LaBarre had so obviously committed against his daughter Sheena: third degree murder.

Martin refused.

Then on June 1, 2006, DA Jim Martin actually (inadvertently) admitted to Robert LaBarre's third degree murder malice on TV, see 1:31 mark: Martin Admits LaBarre's Malice.

See Commonwealth v. Levin  for the well-settled legal definition of malice.

Malice may be found where the defendant consciously disregarded an unjustified and extremely high risk that his actions might cause serious bodily injury.

Readers, if you have any lingering doubts about the merits of "Bill's case" for the appropriate charge of third degree murder in his daughter's sudden and violent death, read Sheena Villa's 3rd Degree Murder. As you will see, DA Jim Martin actually had two (2) legally viable avenues to a successful third degree murder prosecution in this case, and we believe DA Jim Martin owed it to the Commonwealth, to Lehigh County, and to Sheena Villa and her family to at least try to get a third degree murder conviction against Sheena's remorseless killer.

But famously arrogant and blustery-intimidating bully DA Jim Martin refused to even try. And as you saw in paragraph 11 of Sheena Villa's 3rd Degree Murder, Bill adroitly caught DA Jim Martin's longtime Chief Deputy DA and current Lehigh County judicial candidate (!) Adra Renee Smith flat-out lying to Sheena's family regarding why DA Jim Martin would not file the appropriate charge of third degree murder against Robert LaBarre. There was no "trend of reversals," Renee.

As we see it, DA Jim Martin had no legitimate reason for not charging Robert LaBarre with third degree murder, and Martin's abuse of power play was purely socio-politico, crooked colluding cronyism at its worst: Robert LaBarre's father is Allentown attorney Don LaBarre, a partner in the powerful and influential Allentown law firm Gross McGinley.

Last month, when DA Jim Martin faced an unexpected ballot petition challenge, who did DA Jim Martin cling on to for his legal defense? Malcolm J. Gross and Patrick J. Reilly from Gross McGinley. And if this crony cozy connection doesn't speak (scream) volumes to you, then you're deaf (and blind) on purpose like one of Gross McGinley's 

longtime clients, The Morning Call "newspaper," and Morning Call collusion seems to be the best explanation for why the public was never informed about Robert LaBarre's Killer Vacation in Belize and an array of other jaw-dropping irregularities in DA Jim Martin's attempted special handling of Robert LaBarre's case ...

... like DA Jim Martin's secretly moving up a pivotal Robert LaBarre court hearing by 10 days, and informing LaBarre's family about it, but not telling Sheena's family about it. This was an 11th hour try at fixing the case with us not present in court to protest it. Read Martin's Tricky Secret Switcheroos for all the dirty facts on DA Jim Martin's attempted (but thwarted) Robert LaBarre case fix, and thwarted thanks (only) to an anonymous phone tip! Much too close a call.

Readers, obviously, my brave husband Bill Villa has DA Jim Martin's number, and The Morning Call's number. Bill has also been exhibiting relentlessly courageous civic-mindedness in informing and warning our community about the crooked and incompetent power mongers around here, just in case you might need to outmaneuver DA Jim Martin and The Morning Call "newspaper" to get justice in Lehigh County one day. God forbid.

Disappointedly, but not surprisingly, duped sycophant allies of "Team Martin/Morning Call" have gone to extraordinary lengths to try to intimidate/scare Bill off, crush his spirit, and silence Bill-- including filing falsely sworn affidavits in phony/bogus trumped-up "criminal harassment" complaints rigged against Bill. This is what current Lehigh County Commissioner candidate (for now) David C. Najarian tried to pull off. Then a Morning Call area "news" blogger, attorney (for now) Najarian's "Silence Bill Villa" strategy was diabolically simple:

1. Provoke Bill at his Morning Call-affiliated "Troll" blog.

Examples: Defiling Sheena and her parents. Praising Robert LaBarre. Threatening to sabotage Sheena's then upcoming wrongful death litigation.

2. Lie (on sworn affidavits) about Bill's measured, appropriate, and defensive responses to his provocations, so they'd appear (in the falsely sworn affidavits) to have been "threatening."

Example: Bill had emailed Najarian politely requesting an apology for Najarian's having created the "Troll" blog. Bill stated that if he didn't get an apology he'd come after Najarian, legally, with "both barrels." In his "criminal harassment" complaint, Najarian left out the "legally" part and deceitfully and maliciously implied that Bill was threatening him with a double-barreled shotgun. DA Jim Martin could have gotten clarification on this from Bill w/ a simple phone call and fax. Ditto AG Tom Corbett's crack "investigators."

3. File the phony "harassment" charges w/ a Magisterial District Judge who is also a personal pal, Slatington's Rod Beck; get District Attorney Jim Martin to approve the "harassment" charges against Bill; get a conviction against Bill via pally/Judge Rod Beck; incarcerate (and silence) Bill; get rewarded by an appreciative DA Jim Martin.

But Jim Martin's not as dumb as he looks; DA Jumbo Jimbo had a better strategy.

Instead of tossing Dave Najarian's frivolous and vexatious "criminal" complaint against Bill in the trash can where it belonged, DA Jim Martin seized upon the Bill Villa vendetta opportunity and cleverly cited a "conflict of interest" and arranged for Dave Najarian's transparently meritless "criminal" complaint against Bill to be investigated and (incredibly) approved by the Office of the Pennsylvania State Attorney General and now Governor Tom Corbett, who DA Jim Martin contributes many thousands of campaign dollars to each year from his Committee To Re-Elect Jim Martin slush fund [Source: Lehigh County Voter Registration]. To repeat: Pennsylvania State Attorney General Tom Corbett's office investigated and approved Dave Najarian's "criminal" complaint that Bill Villa had (accurately) called Dave Najarian a "pussy" in a 2008 blog comment. Yup.

How's that for a productive use of your taxpayer dollars, courtesy of DA Jim (hiccup) Martin.

Thanks to fair-minded Whitehall Magisterial District Judge Robert C. Halal, DA Jim Martin's shameful vendetta against assertive grieving father Bill Villa backfired.

Read > PUSSY: WHIPPED (in court)

But apparently, and incredibly, height-challenged attorney (for now) David C. Najarian still thinks he should be rewarded w/ a seat as a Lehigh County Commissioner!

And he just may be, thanks to a very important detail that's been taken care of by Morning Call "editors" and DA Jim Martin ...

keeping all this out of the "newspaper."