Contractor Gets $1.6M, Apology From Montgomery County DA’s Office

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office has agreed to pay $1.65 million to settle claims that District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman brought unfounded theft charges against a Radnor building contractor at the behest of a church that counts prominent county officials among its members.

As part of the agreement, confirmed by the contractor’s lawyers Tuesday, Ferman apologized to Walter Logan, a man whose alleged crimes she once described as “particularly despicable” and “really very low.”

Those words, delivered to a TV news crew, came hours after her office charged Logan in 2009 with bilking hundreds of thousands of dollars from Salem Baptist Church of Jenkintown after a contract dispute.

In a statement to Logan as part of their agreement, and released Tuesday by his attorneys, Ferman struck a different tone.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20140426_Contractor_gets__1_6M__apology_from_Montco_DA_s_office.html#QRERrQv5H04R55Bk.99

Sexual Abuse Charges Dropped Against Pottstown Middle School Teacher

NORTH COVENTRY — The sexual abuse charges against a suspended Pottstown Middle School teacher were dropped Thursday morning.

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Chester County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Jared Leimeister, 33, of North Coventry,had been charged with multiple felony counts of aggravated assault involving a child. According to the police report, he was accused of inappropriate contact with an 8-year-old girl, who spent time with Leimeister between October 2012 and February 2013.

Leimeister had also previously been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minors and indecent assault of a person less than 13-years-old.

He was accused of making the victim sleep in his bed or in a cardboard box when she misbehaved while she was at his apartment in the 800 block of East Schuylkill Road, police said.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20130919/sexual-abuse-charges-dropped-against-pottstown-middle-school-teacher

Lawyers Slam Demolition Work At Center City Philadelphia Collapse Site

PHILADELPHIA – Attorneys for four people suing over the collapse of a downtown building that killed six people last week lambasted the demolition work after surveying the site Sunday.

Lawyers and consultants walked gingerly on piles of debris, indicating to photographers and videographers what they wanted documented. Meanwhile, other consultants on a hoist far above scanned the site where a four-story building under demolition gave way and toppled onto an attached Salvation Army thrift store Wednesday, killing two employees and four customers and injuring 13 others.

Afterward, attorney Robert Mongeluzzi, who said his firm represents three plaintiffs in lawsuits against the property owner and contractor, said his initial examination indicated that the building that collapsed had brick-bearing walls and wooden girders without steel support and should have been demolished by hand rather than using heavy equipment. In addition, he said, the backhoe appeared to not be high enough to pull the wall down on the side away from the thrift store.

“Of course, a demolition from the top down by hand would have been much more time-consuming and expensive but was really the only way to get this done safely,” he said.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20130609_ap_lawyersslamdemolitionworkatpacollapsesite.html#ibzXi0JbVdKrHgE2.99

Bathtub Death Likely Accidental, Officials Say

Julia Papazian Law probably drowned in a bathtub, perhaps after a seizure, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation.

The tentative finding may sweep aside some of the speculation surrounding the death of the 26-year-old paralegal, found facedown Saturday morning in the Center City apartment belonging to her boss, defense attorney A. Charles Peruto Jr.

No drugs or alcohol were found at the scene, the room was undisturbed, and the liquor closet was closed, the officials said.  Nothing, they said, seemed out of place.

Investigators cannot be certain of the cause of death until they review toxicology reports, which are pending.  But they said Law had been frothing at the mouth, which they said seemed to indicate a seizure.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20130530_Woman_in_bathtub_death_was_loving__vibrant__emotionally_vulnerable__family_says.html#1CTE0zlIUp0FjfHt.99