4-13-15 Pennsylvania:A Montgomery County jail inmate accused of using a razor-like object to violently slash a child sex offender’s face and neck wants to prevent a jury from hearing that he also was accused of assaulting another alleged sex offender at the jail five months earlier.
Michael Daniel Call, 29, who is awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault in connection with the alleged Dec. 31, 2013, razor blade attack of then fellow inmate Gary Romano, wants a judge to prevent prosecutors from telling a jury that he received a misconduct while in jail for allegedly punching Paul Corrigan, another alleged child sex offender, during a jailhouse fist-fight on July 12, 2013.
Assistant District Attorney Lindsay O’Brien argued Call’s fist-fight with Corrigan should be permitted as trial evidence against Call as “a prior bad act” to show his “common plan or scheme” to target and attack other inmates accused of committing sexual-related crimes against children.
“There are a lot of similarities between these two incidents,” O’Brien, assisted by co-prosecutor Alexandria MacMaster, argued to President Judge William J. Furber Jr. “These similarities are not merely coincidental, rather they indicate that the defendant’s conduct was part of a common plan, scheme or design, to assault individuals incarcerated on charges involving child molestation.”
But defense lawyers Benjamin Cooper and William Weiss argued Call’s interaction with Corrigan “bears practically no resemblance” to Call’s alleged assault of Romano.
“There is no common signature. They are, in fact, random and remote acts,” Cooper and Weiss argued in court papers. “Here, the two alleged acts are entirely different.”
Weiss argued according to the charges Call’s alleged attack of Romano occurred with a weapon in a secluded location, Romano’s cell, while Call’s alleged interaction with Corrigan involved a fist-fight in front of guards and other inmates in a jail common area.
Furber took the matter under advisement and will issue a ruling before Call’s trial begins June.
Call, sporting a bright, red tattoo of lips, or a kiss, on his neck, did not respond to a reporter’s questions as he was escorted to and from court by sheriff’s deputies for the pretrial hearing.
Detectives alleged Call entered Romano’s cell about 1 p.m. Dec. 31, 2013, and slashed Romano, then 58, with a sharp, razor-like object on the face, head, neck and arms. Romano, previously of Calamia Drive, Norristown, suffered numerous lacerations and 47 sutures were required to close the lacerations, according to the arrest affidavit filed by county Detective Vincent Higgins.
Romano told authorities that “the inmate who had lips tattooed on his neck” was the person who assaulted him. At the time, Call was in jail awaiting court action on assault-related charges stemming from a Norristown incident.
Romano, at the time, was awaiting court action on charges he sexually assaulted a 2-year-old girl and possessed child pornography. Call, prosecutors alleged in court papers, later told another inmate “that he wanted to get rid of all of the child molesters on the cell block and that he was going for Romano’s jugular.”
In April 2014, Romano was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty in county court to charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, according to court records. Romano also is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence on charges related to producing and disseminating child pornography, court records indicate.
Romano is expected to testify against Call at the alleged assault trial.
Call, according to testimony Monday, was not charged criminally with the alleged July 12, 2013, assault of Corrigan, who was in jail awaiting trial for his alleged indecent contact with a runaway teenage girl in Upper Merion. However, Call did receive a misconduct ruling from a hearing examiner who found a jailhouse guard’s report of the assault on Corrigan as “true” and Call received a 30-day period of disciplinary segregation, Higgins testified during the hearing.
Call, according to testimony, claimed Corrigan had started the fist-fight. But Corrigan was not accused of jail misconduct.
rosecutors contend Call attacked Corrigan after viewing a news broadcast in jail that revealed Corrigan’s charges.
“Call had previously expressed to other inmates a dislike for prisoners who were incarcerated with charges relating to children,” O’Brien wrote in court papers.
About a month after his alleged fist-fight with Call, on Aug. 23, Corrigan, 47, was found hanging in his jail cell, an apparent suicide, according to testimony and court records. ..Source.. by Carl Hessler Jr. writes about crime and justice at the Montgomery County Courthouse for The Mercury and 21st Century Media Newspaper’s Greater Philadelphia area publications.
Montco jail inmate sentenced for alleged ‘jailhouse justice’ assault
5-7-15 Pennsylvania:
A Montgomery County jail inmate is moving to state prison after he used a razor-like object to violently slash a child sex offender’s face and neck during an attack that prosecutors alleged was motivated by his dislike for inmates accused of committing sexual-related crimes against children.
Michael Daniel Call, 29, was sentenced Wednesday to 5 ½ to 11 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault in in connection with the Dec. 31, 2013, razor blade attack of then fellow inmate Gary Romano, who at the time, was awaiting court action on charges he sexually assaulted a 2-year-old girl and possessed child pornography.
“This is an extremely dangerous individual who took the law into his own hands, intentionally attacked another prisoner and attempted to cause serious injury to that prisoner. Jailhouse justice won’t be tolerated. We’ll go after someone that goes after someone in the prison just like we would any other defendant,” said Assistant District Attorney Lindsay O’Brien.
“This is someone who doesn’t belong on the streets, that needs to be incarcerated for a significant period of time,” added O’Brien who was assisted by co-prosecutor Alexandria MacMaster.
President Judge William J. Furber Jr. imposed the punishment as part of a plea agreement. Call met with his lawyers Benjamin Cooper and William Weiss for more than an hour before deciding to plead guilty to the charge.
Call, sporting a bright, red tattoo of lips, or a kiss, on his neck, did not respond to a reporter’s questions as he was escorted from court by sheriff’s deputies after learning his fate.
Detectives alleged Call entered Romano’s cell about 1 p.m. Dec. 31, 2013, and slashed Romano, then 58, with a sharp, razor-like object on the face, head, neck and arms. Romano, previously of Calamia Drive, Norristown, suffered numerous lacerations and 47 sutures were required to close the lacerations, according to the arrest affidavit filed by county Detective Vincent Higgins.
Romano told authorities that “the inmate who had lips tattooed on his neck” was the person who assaulted him.
At the time, Call was in jail awaiting court action on assault-related charges stemming from a Sept. 30, 2013, Norristown incident. Call also pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a separate aggravated assault charge in connection with that earlier incident.
Romano, at the time of the slashing, was awaiting court action on charges he sexually assaulted a 2-year-old girl and possessed child pornography. Call, prosecutors alleged in court papers, later told another inmate “that he wanted to get rid of all of the child molesters on the cell block and that he was going for Romano’s jugular.”
In April 2014, Romano was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty in county court to charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, according to court records. Romano also is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence on charges related to producing and disseminating child pornography, court records indicate.
In court papers previously filed in court, prosecutors alleged Call received a misconduct while in jail for allegedly punching Paul Corrigan, another alleged child sex offender, during a jailhouse fist-fight on July 12, 2013. During a pretrial hearing last month, prosecutors argued Call had a “common plan or scheme” to target and attack other inmates accused of committing sexual-related crimes against children.
Call, according to previous testimony, was not charged criminally with the alleged assault of Corrigan, who was in jail awaiting trial for his alleged indecent contact with a runaway teenage girl in Upper Merion. However, Call did receive a misconduct ruling from a hearing examiner who found a jailhouse guard’s report of the assault on Corrigan as “true” and Call received a 30-day period of disciplinary segregation, Higgins previously testified.
Call, according to testimony, claimed Corrigan had started the fist-fight. But Corrigan was not accused of jail misconduct.
Prosecutors contend Call attacked Corrigan after viewing a news broadcast in jail that revealed Corrigan’s charges.
“Call had previously expressed to other inmates a dislike for prisoners who were incarcerated with charges relating to children,” O’Brien wrote in court papers.
About a month after his alleged fist-fight with Call, on Aug. 23, Corrigan, 47, was found hanging in his jail cell, an apparent suicide, according to testimony and court records. by Carl Hessler Jr ..Source..
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