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| Jack McMahon, lunatic |
Banach should take a moment out of her busy day to read the Sixth Amendment. It gives every criminal defendant the right to an attorney. Even if that attorney is from out of town. But Banach had a hissy fit a few months ago when Fitzgerald's lawyer, Jack McMahon, was unable to appear at some bullshit status conference. He happened to be in the middle of another trial. He was unwilling to drop everything there just to pay homage to her. Banach said she wasn't "going to put up with much more" and that Fitzgerald could find a good local lawyer who would just have to "walk up the street."
This parochial disdain for lawyers from outside of the County is a common problem among many local judges. It's unfortunate to see in Banach, but is pretty evident. In addition to her complaint about his absence, she refused to let jurors listen to a potion of video that McMahon believed to include a disparaging reference to Fitzgerald's girlfriend. And she also stated he was "acting like a lunatic" when he dared complain about her refusal to instruct the jury on the justification defense.
It's hard enough to get an acquittal when the prosecution brings all its resources to bear on someone accused of a crime. Banach, who was a prosecutor between 1987 and 2003, seems to have forgotten that she has a different role now.
Given the dynamics of the case, I would think it foolhardy to use local counsel.
ReplyDeleteKb hates men, plain and simple. She has shown her butt (no a pretty sight). Any appeal judge will kick it
ReplyDeleteAn important post--thanks.
ReplyDeleteYutes? What's a yute?
ReplyDeleteLawyers who disrespect the court and its proceedings do a disservice to their clients and the system at large. The system is only as good as its players. In this case, the players are like the '62 Mets.
ReplyDeleteMcMahon is a looney bird who took this case on because it is high profile, allowing him greater exposure by the press for his melodramatic antics. Playing an incoherent audiotape of a cell phone video over and over again ad nauseum, hoping that anyone with a hearing disorder could hear his "secret word" just demonstrated how nutz he is. Banach was right to call him out on this grandstanding play.
ReplyDeleteWas hoping you would cover this Bernie. Banach was once one of the better judges in Lehigh but that has not been the case for a few years. Not sure what happened.
ReplyDeleteI've heard the judge is married to a retired police officer.
ReplyDeleteIs that true?
McMahon may very well be a looney bird, but he is one cuckoo who wins a lot of cases and has much more impact on a jury than you or Banach think he deserves.On the record, Banach actively tried to get Fitzgerald to drop him for someone who can "just walk up the street." To me, that is outrageous. Defendants have a sioxth amendment right to effective representation, and Fitzgerald made his choice. How dare she interfere! Now she is calling him a lunatic and is denying an important jury instruction. She makes the mistake many make after ascending to the judicial heavens. She apparently has begun to think that the sun rises and sets upon her. A judge has a duty to be courteous, and that includes courtesy to lawyers outside of Lehigh County. This is a common problem among judges in Bucks and Monroe County. I thought it ended in Lehigh County with Coyne. Apparently not. Also, she no longer works for the lehigh County DA. She might want to remember that.
ReplyDelete"I've heard the judge is married to a retired police officer"
ReplyDeleteThat is true. A retired Allentown police officer who was very good. I have no complaints with him.
Our legal system as a whole is biased and crooked by those serving same!
ReplyDeleteI've seen this firsthand as a defendant in a magisterial court case. The Other Guy was from Philadelphia and the second he presented himself to the Magistrate I could see the hostility. Of course, hard to complain because I was the *beneficiary* of the bias, but I agree with your point.
ReplyDeleteThis does not exist everywhere. Bucks and Monroe County both had notorious reputations at one point. Northampton County's bench, to its credit, has always been courteous to out of town lawyers and pro se litigants.
ReplyDeleteMcMahon looks like Uncle Fester on a bad day.
ReplyDeleteAnd he gets acquittals.
ReplyDeleteI had a supposed good lawyer who literally had to "walk up the street". That didn't workout too well, it cost a doodle
ReplyDeleteBernie,
ReplyDeleteThis man changed his changed his look from curcus ringmaster when first on the seen to an escapee from the norristown state hospital for the criminally insane¿ He may have been there for an evaluation at the first verbal bashing by the judge to keep chums in the circle of life in the valley¿
redd
patent pending
If the defendant was not the Son of a local police chief and the chief's original comment was not 'I stand by My son' the public would never have heard of this incident. 'So it Goes'
ReplyDelete@12:53PM I don't agree at all. Detectives arresting a guy for (allegedly) pulling a gun on them over a road incident? Absolutely this is newsworthy. What may not have happened is that a lunatic lawyer takes the case.
ReplyDelete@ 12:53 P.M. My point being is that I see very little courtroom coverage on The Morning Call web site.The paper is unavailable to Me and I have to get My L.V. news via the net.I stand corrected if The Call does cover criminal trials on a daily basis.I heard a former Allentown political leader was arrested by the A.P.D. a few weeks ago and never saw it on The Morning Call web-site.
ReplyDeleteWhat former political leader I can check that out
ReplyDeleteI agree about the machismo between both parties, however you would expect the so called detectives to use some restraint. Two scruffy looking guys in an unmarked car tailgating....on 7th street. I would be concerned for my safety and my family's too, especially if I was employed as a Corrections Officer. In my mind should be a defense verdict. As for the Judge, something happens once you slip on that robe. I doubt whether a prominent Attorney like McMahon gives a crap about a tongue lashing fron Banach. Fitzgerald was smart to hire an out of towner who has business only to gain and not lose. He showed the local yocals in Northampton County how to try a Murder case. The DA's Office is still licking their wounds.
ReplyDeleteBernie O'Hare said:
ReplyDelete"That is true. A retired Allentown police officer who was very good. I have no complaints with him."
I don't have any complaints with him either.
It just seems odd that a judge who is married to a retired police officer is assigned to a case that involves an incident between a citizen and two police detectives. I would think that (at a minimum) it gives an appearance of bias that could have been easily avoided by having another judge hear the case.
Maybe it's just me. Or maybe it helps explain the behavior in this case.
The jury just found for the Defendant, not guilty all charges.
ReplyDeletethanks for letting me know. I hoped the jury would see thru the horseshit.
ReplyDeleteJury got this one right! Hopefully the judge and APD take note!
ReplyDeleteI had no dog in this hunt...other than the hope for a just outcome. From the start, however, it seemed that there should be a way to call 'no harm, no foul.' Fitzgerald had a legal gun and was himself a law enforcement officer. The plain clothes detectives thought he was acting erratically, like so many city dwellers.
ReplyDeleteI was once followed by a lunatic on a side road near Orefield and was in fear for the safety of my family. Had I had a gun I would have brandished it. It seems the sad part of this story is the untruth told by one of the officers (as demonstrated on video).
And the judge was a disgrace.
Because he wis in a stressful situation, I will not condemn the officer whose memory may have been different from what actually happened. But I believe Kelly Banach should take stock of her own demeanor. She had a weekend to reflect, and coming back on Monday to demand an apology just before instructing the jury was another indication of bias on her part. She was unfair.
ReplyDeleteI WAS AT THE TRIAL FROM OPENING STATEMENTS, UNTIL THE JURY CAME BACK WITH A NOT GUILTY VERDICT.
ReplyDeleteI DO NOT REMEMBER SEEING ANY OF YOU IN COURT, FOR THE FOUR DAYS OF THE TRIAL....
CHRISTOPHER WAS A GENTLEMAN FROM HIS INDIGHTEMENT UNTIL THE JURY RETURNED A NOT GUILTY VERDICT.
COPS DO NOT ALWAYS ACT WITH GOOD WILL.......AS WE HAVE SEEN IN A NUMBER OF RECENT VIDIOS.
THINK ABOUT THE NUMBER OF POLICE KILLINGS WE DO NOT SEE ON VIDIO OR WHICH HAPPEN IN THE DARK OF NIGHT.
NO MATTER, IF THIS NUMBER IS SMALL; ALL SOCIETIES NEED POLICE....AND WE TOO NEED POLICE BUT
I WANT ONLY HONEST POLICE.....NOT COPS WHO STOP A BLACK DRIVER BECAUSE THEY THINK THERE MAY
BE REASON FOR A N ARREST. CURRENTLY THERE IS LITTLE WAY TO GET BAD COPS OFF POLICE FORCES.....WHY?
WHY DIDN'T FREY AND CRUZ, CONTINUE ON THEIR MISSION WHICH WS TO STOP COUNTERFEITING GOING ON IN THE LEHIGH VALLY. CHRIS WAS RIGHT TO BE SCARED AND NOT STOP UNTIL HE SAW A UNIFORMED COP. 238 BLK OR BROWN MEN GOT SHOT IN 2014 BY POLICE & THEY WERE NOT ALL HONEST OR RIGHTOUS KILLINGS, AS THE POLICE SAY. Art.
How did Kelly Banach act? Please do not use capslock in your reply. It annoys people.
ReplyDeleteNot just a civilian and two police officers ,But the son od Allentown Police Chief. These guys had to know if they had called in plate .One way or other as an observer of the news 20 miles away .I would have to say -Something else was involved here-.
ReplyDeleteJust deleted the Blog Mentor. You've been sued by the Lehigh County DA for defamation. Don't come on here anonymously and post your shit. And that's what it is. Pure shit.
ReplyDelete