Castor Hearing UPDATED

Just returned from Amy Castor's hearing. The judge had 64 cases to hear this morning. Amy's was one of the last ones since there was testimony to be heard. 

Here it is in a nutshell. The harassment case was thrown out. Mt. Lebanon had no testimony. It was all hearsay. Hunter Aaron Gander was not there. The Game Commission didn't see anything. The police didn't see anything. They had no testimony.

Trespassing - the judge said that this is a tempest in a teapot. He found Amy guilty of trespassing and fined her ONE DOLLAR. In other words it was such a small thing, but Mt. Lebanon made such a big deal about it. Greg and Emily Perri testified. The game commission testified. One of three police officers testified. The judge said that the only testimony that he could go on was from the Perri's, since the police and the game commission officer had nothing.

Update March 1, 2016 1:08 PM Fines reduced from $1100 to $1 for Mt. Lebanon deer trespasser

Hearing Updates

Castor Appeal

Amy Castor is the Massachusetts resident who decided to walk on the path at the end of Thornwood in early October and ended up getting slapped with an $1100 fine from Blaise Laratonda for not deleting photos of police officers, dead deer, and Aaron Gander's truck.

Amy Castor’s appeal will be heard on Tuesday, March 1, at 8:15 AM, in courtroom number 21, on the eighth floor of the City County Building on Grant Street. Senior Judge Lester Nauhaus will preside over the hearing. Amy will be represented by ACLU appointed lawyer, Jon Pushinsky.

I am sure that Amy would appreciate it if Lebo Citizens readers attended the hearing. Thanks for your support.

"Gillen Litigation" as listed on several Executive Session Agendas

Tuesday's Executive Session is listed as "Legal Advice." http://www.mtlebanon.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2572

Here is the update on my case. I had appealed a second Right To Know, similar to the first which is being fought in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, but the date is from July 31, 2015 - November 25, 2015. The Office of Open Records expects to issue a final determination in my second case next week. Attorneys from both sides agree that this does not leave enough time for them to consolidate the two matters in time for the hearing/argument now scheduled with Judge O'Brien for next Friday, 2/26/16. Therefore, the attorneys have requested that it be rescheduled for the next available date. This could mean a month from now. I will keep everyone posted here.

Phase 2 "Sharpshooting"

I hate to use the word "sharpshooting" because it is not. White Buffalo is the "nonprofit" company hired by Mt. Lebanon commissioners to coordinate the archers and now - Phase 2 - to do the shooting with high powered rifles in our community. They are not Navy SEALs, by any means.

The first private property identified for Phase 2 is

This may look familiar to some of the Lebo Citizens readers. It is behind Shady Lane. The Perri house is on the right. The golf course is to the left of the photo. Massachusetts resident Amy Castor was fined $1100 for walking on the path behind the Perri home and taking photos of the police officers and the dead deer. Evidently, the four deer that were killed early October were not enough for the Perri's. They are now part of Phase 2. What is troubling to me is that the shooting on the golf course is from 6 PM to 11:00 PM Monday through Friday. However, the location of the Perri tree stand facing the golf course permits shooting seven days a week from 4 PM in the afternoon since it is on private property. Our tax dollars are paying for this!

I am glad to see that killing these deer will reduce deer/vehicular collisions on the golf course. There have been far too many deer/golf cart collisions.

Castorgate

From: Nita M. Fandray
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2015 2:23 PM
To: 'commission@mtlebanon.org' <commission@mtlebanon.org>; 'kmcgill@mtlebanon.org' <kmcgill@mtlebanon.org>; 'Weis, Philip' <philip.weis@bipc.com>; 'alauth@mtlebanon.org' <alauth@mtlebanon.org>
Subject: Castorgate

Ladies, Gentlemen and Chief Lauth:

I understand that deer killing via bows and arrows is up and running again in Mt. Lebanon. Yesterday, I drove to the end of Thornwood Drive to make certain that appropriate cautionary signage about bow hunting is in place at that entrance to the municipal golf course property. (According to the Mt. Lebanon web site maps, that area is clearly part of the golf course.) I found no signage.

At Amy Castor’s hearing (and I use that word “hearing” loosely) before the minor judiciary in Mt. Lebanon on December 3, 2015, I showed the Court copies of the relevant maps from the municipal web site. I also gave copies to Officer Culp and the court reporter. Nobody on the courtroom disputed that the area was owned by the municipality and is part of the golf course. After the hearing that Chief Lauth attended, he told me that he would alert Public Works to the absence of bow hunting signage at the end of Thornwood. If, indeed, the Chief spoke with Public Works, and I have no reason to doubt his word, something was lost in the translation.

Ms. Castor testified that no cautionary signage was in place on October 5, 2015, the day that the MLPD issued her a citation for defiant trespassing. I visited the site that evening and saw no signs. Others did as well. At the hearing, the Commonwealth did nothing to contradict Ms. Castor’s testimony about the lack of signage at the site.

As you know, Amy Castor has filed an appeal with the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. I am confident that my friend and fellow civil libertarian, Jon Pushinsky, now representing Ms. Castor, will handily persuade the Court that that all charges against Ms. Castor be dismissed.

In order to avoid another MLPD snafu and yet one more public relations disaster, I suggest that you immediately (today) place the appropriate bow-hunting cautionary signage at the end of Thornwood and at any other locations requiring that signage but have also been overlooked by the municipality.

Thank you and Happy New Year.

Nita Fandray

Photo by ETG.

Update January 5, 2016 8:52 PM Here is a photo of the new sign that went up yesterday or today. Keep in mind that the archery program ends on Friday, January 22, 2016 (seventeen days from today) on public properties such as the golf course. 

Castor fined $1100

The Trib reported 

 "We don't want to offend anybody and we don't want any surprises, so we do the best we can to inform people," Maddock said.

Like telling Mt. Lebanon officials how many deer you have killed? Uh...protecting the identities of property owners who "donated" use of their properties? I love how a related link to my Right To Know appeal appeared following the quote. They do their best to inform people, but don't share any emails that might eliminate the element of surprise.

Massachusetts woman convicted of trespass, interfering with Mt. Lebanon deer cull

WTAE showed a reporter walking the same path that Amy Castor walked and shot the same footage that Amy Castor photographed, yet Blaise will reduce her $1100 fine to $200, if she removed her photos from social media. Hmm.

Caster's attorney, Nita Fandray, said the Commonwealth didn't present a strong enough case. Fandray went as far as saying that the judge made up his mind before her arguments were heard.

"I think this was decided long before we went into the courtroom, and this is what we expected would be the outcome," Fandray said.

Woman fined $1,100 after incident stemming from Mt. Lebanon deer culling program Judge says Amy Castor can get fine reduced if she removes pictures from social media pages

Meanwhile, across the street...

So much for the Mt. Lebanon Bureau of Tourism

On October 5, 2015, a visiting Cambridge woman decided to take her dog for a walk. Amy Castor had no idea what she was about to walk into. A hunter had just killed four deer and was loading them into his silver Chevy Suburban parked on Thornwood. The details and photos were posted on this blog under  Four deer killed on Shady Lane UPDATED.

The media picked up this story a month later and had it under "Breaking News." Through the comments, someone was able to run the license plate (I guess) and the hunter was Aaron Gander, from Upper St. Clair. Amy was cited by Mt. Lebanon Police and again by the PA Game Commission. Mt. Lebanon gave her a $120 citation.  Days later, the PA Game Commission cited her for interfering with a hunt which carries larger fines plus jail time. John Hayes wrote about it on November 18, 2015.

Amy's hearing is coming up this Thursday, December 3 at 8:00 AM before Blaise Larotonda. John Hayes couldn't even get the date right in his article. I don't know if Amy will have legal representation; I'm assuming that she is flying in from Boston, but I can't be sure. The hearing is public.

The news outlets have already reported Amy’s “wrongdoings.” They read the Mt. Lebanon police blotter. Of course, it was all spun against Amy, at least by the PG's John Hayes. That is why people on the side of justice need to try to set the record straight. This is about the misconduct of the MLPD. Please come to Amy's hearing. Some showing of support at the hearing and in the press would be, well, just. I abhor injustice and I have seen my share of it. We all have.

This is breaking news? UPDATED 3X

Mass. woman cited for harassing deer hunter in Mt. Lebanon

I am so mad that I am shaking! This is breaking news? John Hayes is a pig. This happened almost two months ago and not as he has described. Greg Perri slept on the floor in front of his daughter's bedroom doors? Seriously? The hunter felt threatened? So that is why he contacted the PG?  OMG. These are the archery photos the police wanted Amy to delete.

http://www.lebocitizens.com/Lebo_Citizens/Archery_Photos.html 

Do you see any photos of the hunter? I don't. Everyone on the road can see license plates. Not a big deal. Remember when Mt. Lebanon was trying to collected the $800,000 in parking tickets? Here is the list of license plates without the names. License plates are public information. The Neverending List 

November 19, 2015 9:06 AM I am suspecting that a certain Mt. Lebanon department has issued a press release. Another media outlet heard from:  Mass. woman cited in disputed cull in Mt. Lebanon

November 19, 2015 9:25 AM Is this part of the media blitz? MLPD Deer Incident Report "There are a total of 1039 deer incidents in this report." How many of them are archery related?

November 19, 2015 10:02 PM The identity of the hunter has been revealed in the comments under the PG article. Aaron Gander of Upper St. Clair is the hunter who felt threatened being shot by a 52 year old woman armed with a camera. Here is a screen shot in case they get deleted by the PG: