PJ Koury: No Costs May Be Assessed to the Innocent

On Friday, I told you about the poor experience that a Nazareth family had in front of Magisterial District  Judge Roy Manwaring II. They had gone to Bethlehem for a night of shopping and dinner, but made a return trip to their parking meter. Ryan Woodmansee used his credit card to add time, but was rewarded with a blank screen. he had no spare change and photographed the meter. Sure enough, when he and his wife returned from dinner that night, a parking ticket awaited them. Since this was a defective meter, they were sure they could appeal the citation and win. So when they went to their hearing on Wednesday, they brought their children. They wanted to teach them that, in America, the system works. What they got instead was a Magisterial District Judge Roy A Manwaring II. They feel that he treated them like garbage

PJ Michael Koury, Jr. 

During the hearing, the Bethlehem Parking Authority conceded there had been a glitch that night. Manwaring really had no choice but to dismiss the case. But he still ordered them to pay the court costs, and before they left his little star chamber.

Now I have already told you that Manwaring had no basis for imposing costs on an innocent Defendant. True, I've lost my license to practice law, but not for being a dumb ass. But still, why should anyone much care what some bottom-feeding blogger thinks?

While I understand that my own objections mean nothing, those of the President Judge of Northampton County mean a great deal. PJ Michael Koury, Jr. has instructed Manwaring to refund the money to the Woodmansees. A copy of his directive has been sent to the Woodmansees, but they feel uncomfortable releasing it.

They might get assessed costs again.

The statute establishing constable fees provides, in pertinent part, "In all criminal cases wherein the defendant is discharged or indigent or the case is otherwise dismissed, the court shall assess to the county the fee provided in this section ... ." Thus, a magisterial district judge has no discretion to assess costs against a Defendant who has been exonerated.

This determination is consistent with United States.Supreme Court rulings, including its recent decision in Nelson v Colorado. . In Giaccio v. Pennsylvania, the US Supreme Court ruled that a Pa. statute authorizing this sanction on innocent people is unconstitutional.

Even in Roy Manwaring's courtroom.

How to Beat a Parking Ticket in Nazareth

Want to know how to beat a parking ticket in Nazareth? Easy. First, get 2,000,000,000,000,000,000 parking tickets and pay them off, as I have done. Then plead not guilty to the 2,000,000,000,000,000,001th parking ticket. Judge John Capobianco found me not guilty yesterday, not because I deserved it, but because I'm a high volume customer. After pleading guilty so many times, he reasoned, I must be innocent at least once.

Basically, he gave me a discount.

"But Judge, now I have nothing to write about," I complained. "Can't you at least have me chained and perp walked?"

"Get out of here."

"How about handcuffs?"

"Get lost."

I have vowed to appeal.

Do Panto Parking Police Play Favorites in Ticket Reviews?

Is Easton fixing tickets for those who might be connected to the Mayor or someone else inside City Hall?  It's a fair question. Easton decided to stop using the courts sometime in 2013 to enforce parking tickets. Mayor Sal Panto subsequently explained that he unilaterally decided to do his own collections because he got tired of sharing the revenue with the courts. But Easton never amended its parking ordinance to replace criminal sanctions with a civil process. Instead, the Panto Parking Police just go out and boot or tow a car after five tickets go unpaid. No due process. No finding of liability. As a result, every parking ticket Easton has issued since this switch has been illegal.

While the City scrambles to prepare a new ordinance to replace criminal sanctions with civil fines, Panto has assured everyone that there is a five-step appeals process for those who feel they've been ticketed unfairly. You can have the matter reviewed by the guy who gave you the ticket, his boss, or by high-ranking city officials. They hardly qualify as independent and neutral judges. Moreover, nobody seems to know that this appeals process exists This was only discovered recently, when DA John Morganelli received a ticket improperly that he deliberately ignored to see what would happen.

In order to assure everyone that they are being fair, Easton bragged that it conducted 3,534 parking hearings in 2014. But in response to a Right-to-Know, City officials were eventually forced to admit that these are only the appeals that were granted. It kept no records of any denied appeals. Were these tickets voided after an honest review, or because the person who got that ticket knew someone inside City Hall?  I filed a Right-to-Know asking for names. Strangely, the City has no records. This puzzled me because it begs the question how the city knows any appeals were successful at all, when they are unable to tell me who won.

Earlier this week, the City supplied me with an 89-page record of all tickets forgiven, indexed by license plate and make of car.  I shared that with you, and thanks to several readers, was able to convert the file provided and sort it to determine whether some people seem to be getting breaks,  I have finished my review, and I believe the answer is yes. To be very clear, the evidence shows that some people who received tickets received very favorable treatment  In one instance, it may have been a police officer.

When I see a license plate whose first three digits are EPD, I think it's very possible that the car in question is owned by an employee of the Easton Police Department (EPD). The information supplied reveals that someone with a Dodge bearing License Plate  EPD5263, managed to have five tickets voided that had been issued in April, May and September. They were all invalidated at once.

Without running the plate, something I have no legal authority to do, it is impossible for me to determine whether this is a coincidence or an Easton police officer. but it certainly looks suspicious.

This suspicion is intensified when the record reveals that a very large number of tickets were voided for a special few. Altogether, 1135 tickets were forgiven for just 395 people

One individual, driving a Ford with License Plate YMA7245, had 21 tickets invalidated. These were issued at numerous dates throughout the year and were invalidated at several of these "hearings". Who is this special person?

This person is by no means alone. Eleven people managed to get 144 violation notices forgiven.

YMA7245 - PA - 21 tickets - Ford TICKETS ISSUED AT NUMEROUS DATES THROUGHOUT YEAR AND EXCUSED ON OTHER DATES.
HWF2922 -PA - 15 tickets (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Dec)
GPG2779 - PA - 14 tickets (Feb, Mar, May, Jun, Aug, Nov.)
GSM9477 - PA - 14 tickets (Mar, May, Jun, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov)
KRATEST - MA - 13 tickets
JDT9558 - PA - 13 tickets NISSAN (tickets on different months)
JHY3815 - PA - 12 tiCkets (TICKETS IN DIFFERENT MONTHS)
JCS3073 - PA -12 tickets -  PONT (Jan, May, Aug, Nov, Dec) tickets forgiven at different times
X6113C -NJ - 11 tickets - CHEV
ZFV3935 - PA - 10 tickets -  FORD (MAY, JUN, JUL, SEPt)
VKC94B - NJ - 9 tickets  HYUN ( Mar, Apr, Jun, Oct) (all forgiven at same time)

Another two people managed to make 16 tickets go poof.

EML5528 - PA - 8 tickets - saa (April, May, Jun, Oct, Nov, Dec - tickets forgiven at different times, indicating a pattern)
HTX2821 - PA - 8 tickets 

Four people who had collected 28 violations got them excused.

HWH8934 - PA - 7 tickets- MAZDA
HTX2821 -PA - 7 tickets - FORD (TICKETS issued different dates)
VKC94B - NJ - 7 tickets
HMX2586 - PA - 7 tickets- DODGE

Five people who collected six tickets apiece got them excused.

BHN5855 - TX - 6
6BC2455 - MD - 6
DBH8946 - PA and NJ - 6
EDY9994 - PA - 6 - CADILLAC (April, Aug, Sep. Oct Nov)
JMJ3507 -PA - 6 - NISSAN (JAN, FEB, MAR)

Another 11 people managed to have 55 tickets forgiven once they hit the magic 5 number, at which cars can be booted or towed.

EPD5263 - PA - 5 - DODGE (tickets rec'd in April, May and September. All forgiven at once)
FOH5039 - OH - 5
GDS5606 - PA - 5
HTX2443 - PA - 5 - ACURA (all tickets issued same day)
HZS2373 - PA - 5 - NISSAN
JCK9959 - PA - 5 - BMW (Feb, Mar, Nov)
GPH4439 - PA - 5 - LINCOLN -
LUTES - PA - 5 (5 DIFFERENT DATES, 5 DIFFERENT REVIEWS)
JKK8457 - PA - 5 - BUICK
JLS9698 - PA - 5 - HONDA (Jun, Sep, Oct, Nov)
L82CNP - NJ - 5 - MAZDA (Feb, Jul, Sep)

Thirty people managed to get four ticket apiece forgiven.

BHN5866 - TX - 4
DCB9692 - PA - 4
DCF7247 - NJ - 4
EHK8842 - PA - 4
EKA8529 - PA - 4
FCB5068 - PA - 4
GDA1539 - PA - 4
HLF9475 - PA - 4 - VW
HLK7581 - PA - 4- BMW (Jan, Feb, May)
HFG2382 - PA - 4 - KIA
HKH1335 - PA - 4 - MITS
HST7272 - PA - 4 - HONDA
HVP6851 - PA - 4 - HONDA
HYE1025 - PA - 4 - LANDROVER
HYL7417 - PA - 4 - MITSU (March, April, October) Forgiven different dates.
JBN7699 - PA - 4 - HONDA
JFL8357 - PA - 4 - MITSU
GCF8111 - PA - 4 - NISSAN
GGY5691 - PA - 4 - SUZI
GNC4838 - PA - 4 - LANDROVER & VW
GPG2233 - PA - 4- JEEP
JCK9959 - PA - 4 - BMW
JCN8997 - PA - 4 - CHEV
JDD7178 - PA - 4 - DODGE
JDM4772 - PA - 4 - TOYOTA
JGR6653 - PA - 4 - GMC
JJC0052 - PA - 4 - CHEV
JNK8465 - PA - 4 - SUBARU (Jun, Jul)
JNP4758 - PA - 4 - JEEP (Apr, May, Sep)
JPA8606 - PA - 4 - SCION (Jun)

Seventy-eight people who had collected three tickets apiece had them voided. Another 254 people had collected two tickets each.

Is this conclusive proof that tickets were forgiven based on connections? No, but it raises some serious suspicion of ticket fixing that should be addressed.

On a lighter note, I came across some interesting license plates while researching this matter.

AAA had two tickets forgiven. 2

ATDPREZ, driving a Lincoln, had a ticket voided. I'd give him another.

Some dude in a BMW, with a LAFAYETTE license plate, had two tickets written off.

His license might say DUMMY, but this Bentley driver had a ticket expunged.

If you drive a BMW, I don't think it's a good idea to have a license plate that reads, DRSUGAR. But a Mini-Cooper that says MYZIPPY is ok. So is NANNY3X .

RUBYSRU  - Probably not a good idea to drive this in the West Ward.

SHESBAK - Depending on who this is, this could be good or bad news.

VENUS27 - in a BMW. Damn! Where's my Viagra?

Are Panto's Parking Police Playing Favorites?

As you know, Easton's parking ticket enforcement is illegal. District Attorney John Morganelli first raised concerns about this last month, when he went under cover and got a ticket himself. In his opinion, the seizure or immobilization of someone's car without notice or an opportunity to be heard, is a blatant violation of due process. Easton Mayor Sal Panto would later explain that the city has decided to enforce tickets as a civil procedure. But he was unable to state what authority he has to proceed civilly. He had none. Easton is currently revising its ticket ordinance so that it can proceed civilly, but it has yet to implement the review process demanded by the due process clauses of our state and federal constitution. My concern is that this review, in which police officers act as judges,might be an invitation to corruption in which tickets are voided based on who you know,as opposed to the circumstances. A response to a recent Right-to-Know request appears, ast least superficially, to justify that concern.  

Easton voided 3,534 parking tickets last year, but has no record of the appeals that were denied. I filed a Right-to-Know with Easton, seeking the identity of the persons who won their appeals. If I see one person has 10 or 15 tickets voided, that would tell me we have a problem. Unfortunately, the City responded to tell me it has no record of these voided tickets by name.

But the City does have records by license plate, and I got them yesterday.All 89 pages, which you can read yourself here if your suffer from insomnia .

It's too early for me to tell for sure if certain people are getting special favors, but it's beginning to look that way in these cases.

• A person driving a Toyota with plate number GPG2729  had 13 tickets voided in 2014. 
• A dude driving an Accura with MA plate number KRATEST had 11 tickets forgiven. 
• Another person driving a Chevy with NJ plate X6113C was able to poof 8 tickets. 

In order to determine how many tickets were voided for a given plate number, I am going to go through the pdf file supplied. If any of you know of any program that will allow me to search words like  GPG2729 within a pdf file, let me know. I am aware of the search feature in the Adobe reader, but it does not work.