Free Republic

READING, Pa. -- A judge who dismissed charges against a man accused of buying a case of beer for a 17-year-old, saying prosecutors failed to prove Miller Genuine Draft was an alcoholic beverage, was mistaken, state Superior Court ruled. "This finding was incorrect,'' said the Superior Court ruling in the case against Gregg R. Hartman, 44, of Kutztown. State police had charged Hartman with furnishing liquor to minors. Shawn Putnam, 17, had testified that Hartman bought him a case of Miller Genuine Draft on Jan 7, 2004, at Duffer's Beer Distributor in Kutztown, and Putnam drank five beers within 15...

DANBURY — In a decision Superior Court trial referee Robert Callahan "agonized long and hard over," he ruled in favor of two accused drug dealers who claimed they were stopped outside the Sheraton in Danbury in 2004 only because they were black. In a written decision dated May 17 and received Friday by defense lawyers, Callahan said he came to his decision, which essentially guts the state's case against the men, "reluctantly" and after "soul-searching." Lawyer James Diamond of Danbury said his client Demetere Taft, 30, of Beaver Street, is "obviously very pleased that the judge has agreed with the...