Posted on 07/11/2008 8:02:32 PM PDT by Vigilanteman
A Westmoreland County jury acquitted Sen. Robert Regola of Hempfield on all counts in his perjury case. Regola was found not guilty of perjury, possession of a firearm by a minor, false swearing, and recklessly endangering another person. Regola was charged with lying during a coroner's inquest about the whereabouts of a 9 mm Taurus handgun his family owned.
The weapon was found beside the body of his next-door neighbor, 14-year-old Louis Farrell, on the morning of July 22, 2006. Farrell died of a self-inflicted wound to the head from that gun, Coroner Kenneth Bacha ruled. The senator allegedly told police that day that the gun had been stored under the bed of his then 16-year-old son, Robert "Bobby" Regola IV. Farrell, a friend of Bobby's, was watching the Regola's dogs while the family was in Harrisburg for the senator to accept an award. Bobby had returned to the home on the night of July 21, 2006 after an excursion to an amusement park.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
Unfortunately, their case was so shoddy that their planned show trial lasted only two days.
Congratulations to the jury for taking less than four hours to see through it all during deliberations!
Unfortunately?
I think he meant - Unfortunately, for them...
There was more to this case than politics taking down a pro gun republican.
Regola’s teenage son, who was the last person to see 14 yr old Louis the night he died, is a troubled punk who took the Fifth about what he knew and when. His GF testified he told her Louis was dead even as the father was frantically looking for his missing son and hadn’t found him yet! And when informed the missing boy had been found in the woods shot in the head, both Regolas immediately knew that Louis had used their gun. Which as Regola’s own brother (punk’s uncle) stated, was a totally inappropriate gun to have been purchased for a teenage (punk).
This story stinks. So please. This case was not about anti gun zealots pursuing a gun owner in PA ... that was Regola’s defense.
I think there are a lot of unanswered question about what really happened to young Louis, may he RIP and God help his grieving parents.
While I'm sure there are a lot of unanswered questions, as you say, the timing of the charges so long after the coroner's inquest plus how quickly the prosecution's case unraveled indicates this was a show trial.
Personally, I don't think Regola will win re-election even with the innocent on all charges verdict. This district is just too marginal and it is too much of a Democrat year. His current opponent is a local guy who actually beat the Democrat endorsed candidate in the primary by a 3-1 margin. He is also far more conservative than most Democrats. The guy that Regola beat four years ago was a career politician who forgot where he came from. He is now an appointed lackey of Ed Rendell, so I credit Regola with ending his career in the legislature.
Regola was a successful businessman before he was elected to the Senate. I suspect he will be again.
And how do you know this?
read all the news reporting since the case started
how about you?
Ask her about why Louis had to go to that house that night, why the the family had to hire 14 yr old Louis to petsit that weekend when their nice polite 16 yr old boy was home alone?
Ask her how sad that nice polite boy feels that the same night he last saw Louis, his friend managed to get Bobbie's gun and shoot himself in the head with it
Ask her why when Louis’ distraught father came to the Regola’s door Saturday morning looking for his son, they never mentioned they had a gun, that Bobbie's gun was missing. Ask her why that nice polite boy forgot to mention to the Dad that he already knew Louis was dead (as per Bobbies girl friend)
Ask her why that nice polite boy and his Dad never gave Louis' family or the police a straight story about who had the gun that night, where it was kept, the nice polite boy lawyered up and took the fifth, why just days after the killing Regola senior took the remaining bullets to his brother and said “Here we won't need these any more”
Now that's remorse for you Ask your daughter how really sad that nice polite boy is over the death of Louis who with no signs or warning or notes or evidence of distress in his personal life supposedly shot himself in the head with Regola’s gun - that his nice polite teenage friends said he kept loaded in a box under his bed and showed off to his friends
His Dad sure exercised his parental rights to teach his son about firearms saftety right? Maybe your daughter can apply for the job of Regola family petsitter now that there is a vacancy and at least one less loaded handgun in the family household
Just be careful- history has a way of repeating itself in cases of nice polite (well lawyered-up) boys who are eerily cold to the inexplicable violent deaths of their friends shortly after being with those kids
If you know something about the case which the rest of us don't, you should provide the evidence to the prosecution. I'm sure they can figure out a way to have a new trial just as was done for the police in the Rodney King trial when the jury didn't return the politically correct verdict the first time.
And this tells you what? Do you not believe that you should lawyer up and take the fifth if there is a prosecutor who might wish to put you in prison? Are you obligated to go to prison in such a case?
Isn't it the case that the prosecution need only grant immunity from prosecution to the "nice polite boy" in order to compel testimony? If the prosecution was not willing to grant such immunity, why would you expect the boy to testify?
Not me, I only know what’s here. But you and someone else have diametrically opposing information, so I’m wondering how each of you know what you say you know. :)
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