Thursday, September 22, 2011

DA Jim Martin frees drunk driver who hit police car, fled, fought with officers, had prior DUI and careless driving arrest


["Reporter" Manny Gamiz responds. See comments.]

[UpDated 9/25/11] Readers, turns out accused drunk driver/cop car crasher Christopher Nobile had a prior DUI on 2/8/05 and a prior (same date) arrest for careless driving and public drunkenness. Q. Did DA Jim Martin, the cops, or the arraigning judge check for priors prior to bailing out and releasing Chris "Crash" Nobile?

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Possibly thinking (?) that people who live in glass houses shouldn't (hiccup) throw stones, on Saturday night 9/17/11 local police and DA Jim Martin curiously OK'd granting bail to, and releasing, a Lower Macungie Township man who, driving drunk, had crashed into a police car and then drove off with the cops in hot pursuit, at one point driving the wrong way on Route 100 and forcing other cars off the road, and then resisting arrest and fighting with the police officers who eventually captured him.

Chris Nobile, 43, admitted to the roughed-up cops he had been drinking.

He was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude police, drunk driving, simple assault, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, harassment and accidents involving damage to attended vehicle or property.

Nobile was also charged with a number of traffic violations, including careless driving, reckless driving, driving the wrong way, running stop signs, driving without lights to avoid identification or arrest, failing to stop at a red signal and failing to yield for an emergency vehicle.

He was released after posting just $25,000 bail, i.e., only $2,500 of his own money via bail bondsman.

As mentioned above, defendant Christopher Nobile had a prior DUI on 2/8/05 and a prior (same date) arrest for careless driving and public drunkenness.

Q. Would you or I have been granted the same leniency? On our third offense. It's not likely, and LVS is in the process of trying to find out what makes Chris Nobile so special to DA Jim Martin. Not surprisingly, The Morning Call "newspaper" has no interest in finding out-- that's the distinct impression I got after speaking on the telephone w/ Morning Call "reporter" Manny Gamiz.

Read Manny's (helpfully, 3 days late) Morning Call "newspaper" account from 9/20/11: Police: Alleged drunk driver fled after striking police car

69 News has not yet covered this story in any way.

34 comments:

Doug said...

"He was released after posting $25,000 bail."

He must have posted it to the Committee to Reelect Jim Martin fund. Disgraceful.

Bill Villa said...

Indeed.

FYI, members of DA Jim Martin's reelection Finance Committee include Abe Atiyeh, Dexter Baker, Dean Browning, Greg Butz, Judge Edward Cahn, Jack Daddona, Mike Keenan, Jamie Musselman, Joseph Fitzpatrick, Esq., David Jaindl, Mark Lieberman, Wm. Platt, Esq., Charles Snelling, Matthew Sorrentino, Esq., John Waldron, Esq., Wayne Woodman & Lisa Scheller.

Members of DA Jim Martin's reelection Host Committee include Air Products PAC, Angelo Almonti, Esq., Dr. John Altobelli, State Rep Pat Browne, Lee Butz, Congressman Charlie Dent, The Very Rev. Daniel G. Gambet, Sally Gammon, Elmer Gates, Malcolm J. Gross, Esq., Rev. Grant E. Harrity, William Heydt, Gavin P. Holihan, Esq., Tony Iannelli, Bob Lovett, Dr. Raymond Singer, A. Renee Smith, Esq., Robert G. Tallman, Esq., Judge Thomas A. Wallitsch, and John Yurconic.

Bill Villa said...

Readers, Chris Nobile's drunken driving careening and street fighting w/ police took place this past Saturday night, Sept 17, but it took the Morning Call "newspaper" until the late afternoon of Sept 20 to "report" on it after it was already nice and cold.

It should have been in the online "newspaper" on the 18th, or the 19th, the latest.

Smacks of a metro editor Mike Miorelli maneuver to me.

McJudas said...

Looks like Lehigh County is honoring Chris Nobile w/ a "Julia Brenner Deal."

LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

Thanks for reading LVS, Doug ...

Domain Name > pahousegop.com (Commercial)
IP Address > 192.216.120.# (Pennsylvania House of Representatives)
ISP > Level 3 Communications

Time of Visit > Sep 22 2011 12:57:27 pm

LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

Readers, not surprisingly, the IP address "LehighCounty.org" is spotted stalking LVS for damaging and exposed dirty facts hundreds or more times each day, and these gold-bricking folks would of course include DA Jim Martin, "Executive Aide" (wink wink) Debbie Garlicki, County Executive (for now) and Jim Martin lapdog Don Cunning-Ham, DA Jim Martin shield/sycophant/notary Merrily Starkey, Detective Dennis Steckel, and Chief Deputy DA Dog Renee Smith among others (e.g., judges McGinley, and Reibman).

Domain Name > ptd.net
IP Address > 204.186.62.# (PenTeleData)
Host > LehighCounty.org
City > Allentown, PA

Time of Visit > Sep 22 2011 1:27:27 pm

Anonymous said...
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LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

Readers, The Morning Call "newspaper" is spotted stalking LVS continuously, nearly 24 hours a day, every day, including weekends & national holidays, and these folks of course include DA Jim Martin water-carrying "columnist" Bill White, adorable DA Jim Martin lapdog Kevin Amerman, really determined truth concealer/"editor" Mike Miorelli, colluding and mortified "reporter" John Micek, deaf, dumb, and blind "reporter" Manny Gamiz, and DA Jim Martin bootlicker extraordinnaire, Paul Carpenter.

Domain Name > (Unknown)
IP Address > 163.192.12.# (Tribune Company)
ISP > Tribune Company

Time of Visit > Sep 22 2011 1:55:12 pm

Anonymous said...
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455 W. Hamilton St. said...

Everybody knows about Martin's mid-80s DUI that magistrate Ted Russiano made ("hiccup!") disappear. Just sayin'.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...
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Doug said...

Doesn't Debbie Garlicki have better things to do?!

LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

Doug, we don't smell garlic, we smell "B.O."

Domain Name > ptd.net
IP Address > 204.186.244.# (PenTeleData)
City > "Walnutport" (wink wink)

Time of Visit > Sep 23 2011 2:56:01 pm

Visit Length > 38 minutes 5 seconds

Doug said...

Mea Culpa.

Bill Villa said...

Readers, Manny Gamiz has contacted me by email. He's been looking into my concerns about the DUI arrest, prior DUI arrest(s), and quick bail-out and release of Chris Nobile early last Sunday morning. We are swapping emails and information. I've asked a third party to lend an objective (and trained) legal eye to our exchanges. When we've reached a conclusion, I'll publish my email exchanges w/ Manny Gamiz here in their unedited entirety.

Keep checking back and thanks for reading LVS.

Consigliere said...

"I've asked a third party to lend an objective (and trained) legal eye to our exchanges." -BV

Let me guess...Pat Reilly...(I'm jealous)

Bill Villa said...

Good one ... Readers, Manny Gamiz and I are almost resolved and I'll be posting our complete e-exchange shortly, keep checking back, although (yawn) I am getting tired ... so maybe tomorrow .. or (yawn) tonight .. i dunno .. just keep checking back ...

Bill Villa said...

PART 1

Email, Incoming, from Manny Gamiz.

Fri, Sep 23, 2011 6:58 pm

Hello Bill,

Looked at your concerns with the Chris Nobile charges. In his most recent arrest, Nobile was charged with DUI (first time offense), even though technically it’s his second offense.

The 2005 DUI charge was dismissed after Nobile successfully completed the ARD program for first-time offenders. In that other case you mentioned, Nobile pleaded guilty to a turning violation and the careless driving, public drunkenness and two other turning violations were withdrawn. He paid a $131 fine for that plea.

So if state police ran his criminal background after busting him, they wouldn’t see a prior DUI, just the traffic violation. The arraigning judge would also see this as Nobile’s first criminal offense and would likely set bail as she would for a first-time offender.

DUI ARD Info

What will I have to do as part of the ARD program for my DUI?

If you are accepted into the ARD program, it is very similar to being on probation for your DUI. You will not have to serve any jail time for the DUI charge, but you will receive supervision for a period of two years while you are in the program. If you complete the required conditions of the ARD program, the criminal DUI charges against you will be dropped. It will be as if you were never charged with DUI and you’ll have a clear record.

Nobile has other traffic violations – three speeding tickets and a careless driving ticket – in Lehigh, Berks and Lancaster counties since January 2000. Some of these infractions have surely disappeared off his driving record with time. I don’t know if these would have played any factor in his bail.

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((Me)) Fri, Sep 23, 2011 7:56 pm

Manny, unless they changed it, a first offense DUI processed through ARD stays on your record for 7 years-- i.e., it gets dropped from your record, as if it never happened, only if you don't get arrested for DUI again within 7 years after your first DUI. If you do ... like Chris Nobile just did ... that first DUI counts, and makes the second DUI, your second DUI.

Can you find out if the ARD rules changed? Because if they didn't, Nobile's 7 years wouldn't expire until 2/08/12, and his DUI arrest last Saturday night would be, legally, his 2nd offense.

I can't believe (as intimated in the DUI ARD info excerpt) that they changed the period of time you have to remain DUI-arrest-free from 7 years, to 2.

Who (other than Jim Martin) would lobby for that?

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((Me)) Fri, Sep 23, 2011 8:32 pm

Manny, in this white paper from a local lawyer, see the section, "Benefits of the ARD Program" ... it indicates the period of time that needs to elapse between 2 DUIs for the first offense to "not count" as being 10 years.

What is the ARD Program?

I've been scouring the PA code ...

PA Code: ARD

... and I can't find anything that says how long you need to remain DUI-arrest-free in order for a first offense DUI to be expunged.

But I know, from personal experience, that it was 7 years.

Was this changed? To 2 years?

I think we both need to find out for sure.

BV

Bill Villa said...

PART 2

Email, Incoming, from Manny Gamiz.

Fri, Sep 23, 2011 9:48 pm

I couldn't say for sure, but I think 10 years sounds right according to PennDOT.

I just know that by looking at the charges on the 2005 DUI and last week's DUI, he was charged as a first-time DUI offender in both cases, possibly meaning the state trooper who filed charges this week didn't see that first offense because it was expunged from Nobile's record.

That could change once the case gets to trial, but it may have played a role in his bail.

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Email, Incoming, from Manny Gamiz.

Fri, Sep 23, 2011 10:09 pm

This appears to be PennDOT rules, and it says 10 years is what they go by:

DMV DUI Legislation

And from what I've read, sounds like 10 years is the rule on ARD grads. Not clear if that's primarily a sentencing guideline or charging one.

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((Me)) Fri, Sep 23, 2011 11:00 pm

Yes, that is correct, I've learned independently from a criminal defense attorney (not Pat Reilly) that 10 years is indeed the "look back period," and that it was actually toughened from 7 years, to 10 years, about 3 years ago.

But respectfully, Manny, you're dead wrong about the cops "not seeing" Chris Nobile's 2005 DUI arrest on Saturday night because it was "expunged via ARD."

Nobile's 2005 DUI couldn't have been expunged until 2015. Ten years, remember? And now, because of Saturday night's second DUI before 10 years expired, it won't be expunged.

But even if it had been expunged, it would still show up on Nobile's "rap sheet" that the arresting officers surely had (or should have had) in their possession when standing before the magistrate (live or via video) w/ Chris Nobile early Sunday morning.

Did they have it? Now there's an excellent question that deserves to be answered by the arresting officers and DA Jim Martin.

Bottom Line: Chris Nobile's DUI arrest last Saturday night 9/17/11 is his second offense. And it should be prosecuted (and sentenced) as such.

To that end, LVS will be watching DA Jim Martin's DUI Mistress (make that Dis-misstress) deputy DA Renee Smith to make sure she doesn't violate the Pennsylvania Code (again) and grant Chris Nobile ARD for a second time ... as ARD is only available to first time DUI arrestees, in every other county in Pennsylvania, that is.

You're right about the bail but I'm surprised (sort of) that you didn't know anything about the "look back period" whereby an ARD "graduate" must remain DUI-arrest-free for 10 years in order to have his or her first DUI offense expunged from the record.

And even more disturbing is your apparent lack of knowledge about "rap sheets" considering that you "cover" the police & crime beat. Jesus! Manny! Rap sheets! Important! Come on!

In closing ... would you be interested in keeping our productive (and civil) dialogue going?

I have so many more excellent questions on so many more cases you've "covered" that I'd really enjoy discussing & dissecting w/ you, as we've done here.

Whad'ya say?

Bill Villa
610.428.xxxx

The City Official said...

"I couldn't say for sure ..." -Manny Gamiz

This disclosure really should accompany all of Manny's Morning Call articles.

LVS SiteMeter(R) Spotlight said...

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Consigliere said...

Manny's either 'dumb like a fox' or as dumb as a fox. It's one or the other.

Angie Villa said...

BV: excellent catch ... ;D

Bill Villa said...

Merci, Honeykins, just doing my civic duty.

McJudas said...

Bill, your revealing exchange w/ Manny Gamiz sheds new light on why Glenn Kranzley refused (229 times) to meet w/ you. Just sayin'.

Bill Villa said...

Yep.

Hey, let's see if Debbie Garlicki can break Pappy Glenno's record of 229 refusals to confront The Inconvenient Facts.

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Email, Outgoing, to DA Jim Martin "Executive Aide," Debbie Garlicki, cc'd to Jumbo (hiccup) Jimbo (left).

On Saturday 9/24 around 11:30am Bill Villa wrote:

Subject Heading: You Getting Back To Me

Hi Debbie, on Sept 20, I spoke (briefly) w/ deputy DA Craig Scheetz who, after refusing to answer a query by Morning Call "reporter" Kevin Amerman also refused to speak w/ me (a Lehigh County taxpayer) about the stunning upset acquittal of Roberto Rios.

Instead, deputy DA Craig Scheetz directed me to speak w/ you, Debbie.

As you know, I left you a polite and detailed voicemail message on Sept 20 that not even former PA State Attorney General Tom Corbett and your boss (for now) DA Jim Martin could construe as (wink wink) "harassment."

When you blew me off, I politely emailed you on Sept 22 asking when can I expect you to get back to me-- per deputy DA Craig Scheetz's directive to me that I speak w/ you, Debbie, and I'm not one to ignore a directive from law enforcement.

Again you blew me off.

Debbie, as a taxpayer and citizen exposé journalist, I am politely asking you for a [3rd] time to please arrange a time to speak w/ me in person, or over the phone, to discuss the stunning acquittal of Roberto Rios and also your role in DA Jim Martin's and Renee Smith's blatant, 11th hour fixing of the Chris Squires DUI homicide case.

As of now, my Monday 9/26 is wide open,
let me know.

Relentlessly,

Bill Villa
610.428.xxxx

Doug said...

Bravo Bill. You're like a mongoose.

Bill Villa said...

Thanks, Doug.

455 W. Hamilton St. said...

Villas, is 11:55 "Doug" ....... this Doug?

Angie Villa said...

"We couldn't say for sure ... "

Get more insider insight, here ... ;D

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

No last word from Manny Gamiz?