Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Parents Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter After Baby Drinks from Fentanyl-Contaminated Baby Bottle
It is entirely possible to get criminal charges, and even to spend years in prison, for something you did by accident. Involuntary manslaughter is the crime of accidentally causing another person’s death. It often occurs in conjunction with other crimes related to endangering other people. For example, someone who drives drunk and causes a… Read More »
Jury Convicts Elmhurst Man Of Sexually Abusing Preteen Girl Over A Five-Year Period
The story of this week’s case would still be horrific even if it were only an account of the allegations against the defendant. Physical acts of sexual abuse of children are traumatic enough in themselves, but there is much more to the victims’ ordeal than just the physical violence. The fear and emotional manipulation… Read More »
Five Alleged Co-Conspirators Charged With Trafficking A Kilogram Of Fentanyl To Butler County
The United States is one of only a few countries where we do not measure by grams in kilograms in our everyday lives; for example, you probably know your approximate body weight in pounds, but not in kilograms. For reference, a kilogram equals 2.2 pounds, so one kilogram of ground beef is enough for… Read More »
York Mother Faces Attempted Homicide Charges For Allegedly Stabbing 5-Year-Old Daughter
For the 13th consecutive month, parents across the country are at their breaking point. The emotional and financial stress of the pandemic never seems to end, on top of the emotional and financial stress that the parents of young children were already dealing with before the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Pennsylvania. … Read More »
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Overturns Bill Cosby’s Conviction Because Prosecution Violated His Right To Due Process
Years ago, when the accusations against Bill Cosby first began to surface, people who had grown up seeing him on television in family-friendly shows were shocked. Cosby’s public persona made him the last person that people would suspect of committing sexual assault; in all his public roles, he seemed like a moral and altruistic… Read More »
Police Seize Suitcase Full of Drugs After Transaction in Front of New Stanton Motel
A criminal charge for drug possession, also known as “simple possession,” usually means that the amount of controlled substance seized was only enough for a few doses; therefore, the prosecution assumes that the defendant intended to consume the drugs himself or herself. When the amount is more than enough for one person to consume… Read More »
New Episode of True Crime Series Features 2012 Pennsylvania Murder Case
Despite making up slightly more than half of the population, women represent only about 20 percent of defendants in criminal cases. When a woman gets accused of a crime for which a conviction carries a long prison sentence, such as drug trafficking or obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars through fraud, a media circus… Read More »
Eric Riddick Released from Prison 29 Years After Wrongful Conviction
In November 1991, Eric Riddick stood on a balcony in Philadelphia and watched in horror as his friend William Catlett was gunned down on the street below. In the summer of 1992, a jury convicted Riddick of murder, and he was sentenced at age 22 to life in prison. For reasons that highlight failures… Read More »
Westmoreland County Couple Arrested on Allegations of Operating Meth Lab
Depending on context, almost anything can be drug paraphernalia. Is that souvenir spoon from the Liberty Bell gift shop hanging on the kitchen wall in its original decorative packaging, or is it on the kitchen counter, coated in residue that might be heroin? Are those tiny plastic baggies full of spare buttons, or are… Read More »
Crum Lynne Man Faces Human Trafficking Charges for Confining Woman to Hotel Room and Forcing Her to Engage in Sex Work
There is a growing movement to legalize sex work, as long as the parties are consenting adults. Proponents of this reform believe that a person has the right to choose whether to trade sexual acts for money. Even those who favor decriminalizing sex work believe that sexual exploitation of others should be illegal; in… Read More »
