Case dismissed, charges refiled in 2003 California Borough homicide
?WASHINGTON, Pa. 鈥� A preliminary hearing for a former Monessen man charged with homicide in a 2003 case had just started in Washington County Central Court Wednesday when Public Defender Glenn Alterio made a motion for the case to be dismissed.
John Bronson Jr., formerly of Monessen, is charged with homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide in the death of California Borough resident John Lynn Newman who was found shot to death in his car on Feb. 3, 2003.
Alterio contended that the arrest warrant for John Bronson Jr. was flawed because a grand jury presentment was not attached to the affidavit as indicated in the document. Alterio contended that violated Rule 513, which requires that probable cause be established before a warrant is issued.
Assistant District Attorney Dennis Popajas said he believed the presentment had been attached and the state trooper while filing the charges entered sworn testimony that he had filed the presentment with the affidavit when he got the warrant from Magisterial District Judge Joshua Kanalis. Following a short recess, Popajas asked that the affidavit be amended to attach the presentment at this time and presented case law showing that such action had been permitted in other cases. Magisterial District Judge Valerie Costanzo, who was presiding over Central Court, ruled in favor of Alterio.
鈥淚 have Judge Kanalis鈥� original material and the presentment is not attached,鈥� Costanzo said. 鈥淚 am dismissing it. Of course, you can refile and refile it properly.Why would you want to jeopardize this in a homicide trial?鈥�
John Ira Bronson Jr. is currently serving a federal sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Lewisburg, after pleading guilty to drug charges. Alterio requested that Bronson be returned to federal custody, though that request will most likely not be granted immediately.
Charges were filed against Bronson Wednesday afternoon before Magisterial District Judge Curtis Thompson of Bentleyville because Kanalis, who has the initial jurisdiction in the case, is on vacation. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 17, at 10:30 a.m. in Central Court.
There are two codefendants in the case who have already been ordered to stand trial. They are Howard Irwin of Charleroi and Michael Duncan of Amherst, Ohio. Both men are currently being held without bail. Duncan allegedly fired the fatal shot.
When the charges against the men were announced in January, Washington County District Attorney Steve Toprani characterized Newman as a family man who worked at a Canonsburg factory before suffering a back injury. He said Newman became addicted to the painkillers prescribed for him and, according to Toprani, he turned to dealing drugs to support his habit.