SUNBURY - Northumberland County President Judge Robert B. Sacavage will rule at a later date if DNA evidence will be suppressed again in the armed robbery trial of Erik Jamel Harrington, 23, of Selinsgrove.
At issue during an evidence suppression hearing Monday was whether or not a forensic scientist's judgment is predetermined when doing multiple tests of the same subject's DNA.
"It's a very esoteric argument," Sacavage said at the end of the hearing. "I will have to think about this one."
Harrington's attorney, Peter Campana, of Williamsport, argued that state police forensic scientist Jeff Sachetti's opinion was tainted because of improperly obtained evidence, and asked Sacavage to suppress any testimony from the scientist.
"It's the fruit of the poisonous tree, your honor," Campana said. "The decision was made based on blood that was taken in violation of my client's constitutional rights."
Swabs with different results
Campana's concern about the evidence dates to 2009, when Harrington, arrested for another felony, was asked to submit a DNA sample via mouth swab. That swab was given to Sachetti for testing against a DNA sample taken from a soda bottle at the scene of the July 16, 2005, armed robbery at the residence of 55-year-old James Honecker, of Paxinos, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair.
At the time, Sachetti said he couldn't exclude Har-
rington from the scene of the robbery, so on April 30, 2009, a search warrant was issued by Northumberland County Judge William Wiest for Harrington to submit a blood sample. That sample was compared to the DNA sample found at the scene and allegedly was a match for Harrington, according to Sachetti.
As a result of a ruling on April 3, 2013, the DNA evidence was thrown out due to the search warrant being improperly filled out. So the investigating officer, Trooper Ronald Zanella, of the Stonington barracks got another search warrant for a swab from Harrington, this time from a magisterial district judge.
The sample was received and sent to Sachetti for processing. He then reported that the DNA at the scene matched Harrington.
"It's hard to believe that in the first DNA swab taken, no definitive match could be made, but on the second swab, Sachetti is sure that Harrington is a match," Campana argued. "It's a tainted judgment and predetermined analysis."
"It is not a poisonous tree," Northumberland County Assistant District Attorney Michael Toomey said. "It's a brand new tree. The officer applied for a new search warrant and received a proper warrant and got new evidence. There is no way it should be suppressed."
"However, how do we know if the scientist went into testing with the memory of the last test cleared away?" Campana retorted.
Harrington is scheduled for a jury trial on Aug. 1 before Sacavage. He remains free on bail, and jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday, with a pre-trial conference set for Friday.
A criminal complaint was filed against Harrington on March 4, 2010, but the defendant reportedly fled to North Carolina, where authorities said he has relatives. He was taken into custody April 29, 2011, by authorities in North Carolina and arraigned May 17, 2011, by Magisterial District Judge John Gembic III on felony offenses of robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, theft, criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, criminal conspiracy to commit burglary, aiding the consummation of a crime and simple assault.
After his extradition to Pennsylvania, he was incarcerated in prisons in Snyder and Northumberland counties. But his bail was reduced by Wiest from $100,000 cash to $50,000 cash at a hearing May 24, 2012. The commonwealth opposed the reduction, but it was still granted, and Harrington was able to hire a bondsman to post the bail. He was released from Northumberland County Prison on Oct. 9.
Campana previously argued that police and prosecutors did not exhibit due diligence in their efforts to locate Harrington after he left the state, while Toomey disagreed. The assistant district attorney said Harrington's decision to flee the state implies guilt.
Honecker remains disgusted and frustrated that Harrington is free and hasn't been brought to trial yet.
Theft, damage
Police said Harrington, Kasey A. Sees, 26, formerly of Sunbury, and two other assailants are accused of entering Honecker's home at 1:30 a.m. July 16, 2005, and holding him at gunpoint in his living room while threatening to kill him.
Police said the robbers demanded money, ransacked the home and removed 12 rifles and shotguns, knives, ammunition, cash, jewelry, an amplifier and prescription narcotics with a total value of $5,590. Police said the robbers also caused approximately $300 in damage by pulling telephone cords from the wall and damaging two televisions.
Sees was charged by state police at Stonington on Aug. 15, 2006, and eventually pleaded guilty to felony charges of burglary and robbery. He was sentenced to 3 1/3 to 6 2/3 years in state prison and ordered to pay $300 in fines plus costs, make $4,000 restitution to Honecker and pay approximately $8,800 in restitution to Honecker's insurance company.
Sees has since completed his state prison sentence and is free, and Honecker said he's received a few hundred dollars in restitution.
The other two assailants Honecker claims were involved in the robbery were never located or charged, police said.