Last weekend, a woman riding a LANTA bus got off in Bethlehem. On her way out the door, she left her baby with the bus driver and asked him to call the police because she was unable to care for him. She walked away in tears. The child was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital. Though his diaper was saturated with what babies do, he was otherwise unharmed. The hospital determined this baby was 32-days old.
By Monday, Bethlehem Police identified and located the mother, Ashley Leann Walters, 26, of Whitehall. She gave police several stories, some of which were later determined to be untrue. Police filed reckless endangerment charges at the lowest level possible. Walters, who had numerous outstanding warrants for minor offenses, was remanded to jail after being unable to post bond. Walters was carrying no drug paraphernalia.
When Morganelli became aware of this matter, he learned that Walters was abusive, uncooperative and combative. She was erratic, even with pretrial services. Morganelli asked for a mental health assessment, and Chris Broubalow of the county's mental health team recommended that Walters be committed for 72 hours.
So Walters has been committed and Mrganelli directed that the charges against her be dismissed. "“We have tough calls to make in the DA’s office," he said to a Fox News reporter who questioned whether he was being too lenient. "Is this the kind of case that's in the public interest to prosecute?" he asked.
Bethlehem Police Chief Mark DeLuzio agreed that it's better to see Walters in mental health treatment than sitting in a jail.
"I don't like to punish people who may be suffering from a mental illness," said Morganelli.
Mercy and justice were on display in Morganelli's decision, and in that order.
It's why he'll be sorely missed as District Attorney. It's why he'll be an excellent judge.
MAGA-NELLI is the personification of the "Peter Principle" he should lay off whatever is making his nose so red and resign from the race.
ReplyDeleteTom Carroll for DA!
she is white poor lady !!!! is the baby black???
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure the District Attorney's office approved the charges before they were filed.
ReplyDeleteThis certainly calls for a press conference or two. One for mercy. One for justice.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Morganelli did the humane thing. However, it needs to be done more for the people suffering from mental health type issues, such as a person that has just been kicked out of his/her house by a spouse then makes some off the cuff remarks from being hurt, then have a bogus PFA done by the vengeful spouse and thrown in jail, and many other situations. Putting these people, with obvious issues that could be handled by a mental heath person, in jail with much higher level criminals is not the answer to these situations. Get with it Northampton County.
ReplyDeleteWas this Rudolf the red nose reindeer or a DA?
ReplyDeleteThe tears were laughable. So you can abuse your kid and abandon them and say oh its mental illness?
Sick Sick... that's why he does not have my families vote. Wow another press conference... way to go show boat Johnny.... Whats with the red nose? Is that a Bethlehem thing? The "humane thing" was to see this child had justice for being abandoned on a bus. So is it humane now not to enforce the laws? Can we have a .BAC of everyone in the DA office please before a press conference? Is Bourbon for lunch the new quick lunch gonna be up in the judges chambers?
"I'm pretty sure the District Attorney's office approved the charges before they were filed."
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. They were approved by an ADA, and it was based on information that the ADA and police had at the time. As they became more familiar with this woman's fragile mental state, their thinking changed. Morganelli made clear, if I did not, that BPD and the committing MDJ made the right call at the time.
MAGA-NELLI is an expert at not filing charges when it suits him exhibit A being the Kelly Gross LTCF application leak. Red nose might cut it if RCN decided to do a local version of Peoples Court thats about it.
ReplyDeleteMezzacraycray go away. No one is interested in anything you say bc you are a proven liar.
ReplyDeleteSo the child is not A VICTIM? No child endangerment here folks... leave your kids to free range.. move along-. Only in JM's world.. FREE RANGE Children?. How many parents did he lock up for endangerment in his career and for a weird and I mean WEIRD reason... this is a mental health issue? So all domestic abuse should be let go- that is mental illness and abuse kids... etc.. The man has lost it. To much MAGA tweets I guess
ReplyDeleteBernie This is a case that demonstrates the need for more help in the Mental Health field.
ReplyDeleteDA Morganelli did the right thing and if the trolls can't see that then they need to stay under the Bridge
"It's why he'll be sorely missed as District Attorney."
ReplyDeleteAnd why neither one currently running for his vacated office is fit to replace him. We really need a block for "none of the above."
There should also be a block that reads, a"but listed above".
DeleteAnd no one.....
ReplyDeleteNO ONE took responsibility for the monumental screw-up in the Karla Dewey FIRESTARTER case that Zach Handley was sent to Abraxis for ? She had been a firebug for many years before she was the only "witness" in this case !!!
Why is that candidate Morganelli ? Did anyone even say they were sorry???? Justice served huh???
Leave your child and walk away is now mental health issue? The talk at C&Y is they are stunned As many have said he is not competent for DA or Judge and this proves it? I wonder if the joker's outfit is available instead of a robe for the swearing in? Lets check Morganelli's mental health first.
ReplyDeleteIf there was justice in this world there'd be no human race. Mercy makes us possible.
ReplyDeleteJudges should take the opportunity where appropriate to leave space for healing and redemption.
John did the right thing as he did with the 25 murders touted on his political mailers when running for DA.
A tough District Attorney when running for a Judgeship might also market this opportunity to soften their well developed prosecutorial persona. A brief and successful follow-up story on a mailer or friendly blog, would be most effective at demonstrating the value of mercy and the promise of a fair and benevolent Judge.
Despite what rational people may think, this mother did the right thing, that is, she got herself and her baby help, and tied herself and her baby's story and their subsequent success, to a politicians political ambition.
Proper treatment involves sterilization of both parties and disbarment for the red nosed Dino.
ReplyDeleteFirst off no one here knows her state of mind. The amount of guilt she may be suffering or if there's a degree of callousness, Mental health will determine this. Secondly I don't see how locking her up is going to improve the situation for the baby. She's certainly no threat to the community. Before we spend thousands of dollars on incarceration I'd prefer we spend it on trying to rehab her so perhaps the baby could be reunited with it's mother.
ReplyDeleteFolks should also realize she could be recharged if it turns out after a mental evaluation she could be held more culpable then the DA's initial impression of her. If I were DA I'd rather have a little more information before I decide to lock someone up in a cage.
Most of these comments are focused on Morganelli rather then what best serves both the mother, child and society as a whole.
LVCI
ReplyDelete"Before we spend thousands of dollars on incarceration I'd prefer we spend it on trying to rehab her so perhaps the baby could be reunited with it's mother."
I knew we'd find common ground somewhere.
Do you think if we had a National Healthcare and Child Welfare system as highly developed as the Justice System this may have never got to the DA's office.
The opener to this story may have been the Caduceus and not the County Seal.
"what's best for the mother and child? Perhaps surgery to see that this woman does not procreate after all its her body right vertical or horizontal. She made choices. To make a baby and also dump the child off with a bus driver. No responsibility here folks... move along.
ReplyDeleteCarroll’s led by Mezzacraycray, are out early.
ReplyDeleteAs unlikely as it is that a parent reading Bernie's Blog is in such dire straits, on the outside chance there is, and you can no longer handle the crying, can no longer afford diapers and formula, you are at wits end and the voices in your head are telling you to do the bad, bad, thing, please, leave the baby with the bus driver, or the mailman, or the teacher, or the nurse, or the fireman...
ReplyDeleteAll of us at a minimum really have to understand this, as John has.
"Police filed reckless endangerment charges"
ReplyDeleteOut of desperation or mental illness or both, a woman surrenders her baby unharmed to a mandatory reporter(contract bus driver) with instructions to call police and is charged with reckless endangerment? Savages! If not dismissed it'd be worthy of a counterclaim.
"We have tough calls to make in the DA’s office," This is the right call, not a tough call, not even close, defensive even.
No article or nothing on Mezzacappa being found not guilty last week huh?
ReplyDeleteI was there, and may write about it. Judge Yetter concluded that calling someone an asshole, by itself, is not disorderly conduct. I agree. He also concluded that he refused to believe a single thing she said. I agree. At one point, he threatened to charge her with contempt. He should have. She also expressly violated his no-contact order.
ReplyDeleteFunny that there has not been a mental health evaluation and ordered assistance after all that is the new thing- like a go fund me of criminal acts
ReplyDelete@11:11 there is no victory there. She's an incompetent habitual liar who needs her license to carry taken away and non working title as constable withdrawn. She's an embarrassment to the PA State Police and her day is coming
ReplyDeleteRehab, 72 hr mental health blah, blah, blah. A revolving door that dumps disfunction on the community to deal with. Why do I have to sit on my porch and watch people parked outside my house shooting up in a car, od, revived with narcan only to come back in three days so I can watch a rerun. I can,t keep my window or door open without hearing every young person that walks by yelling “fuc-“ every other word in a sentence. Why do I have to tell people to stay away when they follow me in the grocery store parking lot wanting a ride because “people” are following them and hiding behind every light pole. I’m supposed to be in a “good” neighborhood. What,s a bad one like? I’m a veteran. Went to night school and paid my own way for a college degree. I worked hard for all my life, did what I was told, and played by the rules only to be subjected to everyone else’s freedoms in the name of humanity. “Bull...” What all the freedoms for me and my family.
ReplyDeleteGood for him and that is his job. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteMercy and Justice are mere words for the most part. Criminal issues are just another part of county business and revenue. It is a meat grinder and this one incident smacks of a political op for the DA in his endless search for another gig. I ain't buying it!
ReplyDelete