Judge Questions Charges

Emporium District Judge Alvin Brown accepted the withdrawal of Shawn Michael Geci's appeal of game law convictions Monday but expressed a "grave question" about how the disposition came about.


Geci, 36, a Ridgway Borough police officer, was charged April 8 with two summary counts of unlawfully taking or possessing game or wildlife.

In January, he was convicted of summary charges of using unlawful devices and methods to take wildlife and using an ATV on lands leased by the Game Commission and fined $400 plus costs. The charges filed April 8 stem from the same incident.

At the hearing in January, Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer Richard S. Bodenhorn said officers were more than lenient because of Geci's position as an officer. Bodenhorn said anyone else who had commited the acts Geci did would have been charged with two counts of taking illegal deer.

When Geci appealed his conviction on those charges, the state Office of the Attorney General recommended he face additional charges from that incident.

Geci was not present at Monday's hearing but was represented by his attorney, Karl Geci.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Bill Caye told Brown that Geci withdrew his summary appeal and, in turn, the Attorney General's office withdrew the new citations against Geci.

Brown said a ruling was already made on the incident at a hearing that he presided over, and for the Attorney General's office to bring dditional charges stemming from the same incident causes him to question if Caye's request doesn't constitute double jeopardy.

"They were separate incidents that arose out of the same investigation," Caye said. "The conviction was vacated."

Brown said the conviction was not vacated. It was heard in the county Court of Common Pleas.

"With all due respect, Your Honor, that case there indicates when there are summary violations and then a subsequent misdemeanor violation or summary violation and there is a date of appeal, once the date of appeal is filed the convictions are vacated," Caye said.

"I will remind you the people do have rights in this Commonwealth," Brown said. "You believe that anyone that is arrested under a summary violation, convicted, takes an appeal, and then you file other summary violations against them to get them to deal with you. You think that's good law?"

"Did they want to file it is one question. Should they have filed it is another question," Caye said. "They probably should have filed it at that junction."

"But you don't file it later - after you've already had a trial," Brown said. "We're done. I accept the withdrawal from the Commonwealth with real grave question, and I hope the day comes that you find that you cannot do that because that is the worst thing I've ever heard. If a person decides he wants to appeal and you're going to file other charges against him to stop the appeal - that is injustice."

Brown said the solicitor he works with at the state level said what Caye is trying to do is wrong.

When Caye tried to respond, Brown said, "I'm done," rose from the bench, left and slammed the door behind him.
Reported by Katie Weidenboerner, staff writer. Email: katiew@thecourierexpress.com.
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