For the second time in less than a week, a Shenandoah man was found guilty Monday in Schuylkill County Court of being disorderly in his hometown.
This time, however, Wayne V. Kechula Jr., 42, was found guilty by Judge John E. Domalakes, who presided over his one-day trial, of a summary charge of disorderly conduct. Domalakes promptly sentenced Kechula to pay costs and a $300 fine.
Before Domalakes rendered his decision, a jury found Kechula not guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Shenandoah police had charged Kechula with possessing a pipe and being disorderly about 3:15 p.m. May 1, 2015, at Main and Lloyd streets in the borough.
“Mr. Kechula continued to yell during the entire ordeal,” borough police Patrolman Joseph P. Mozdy testified. “He was irate. He was irrational.”
Mozdy said he arrested Kechula and, in a subsequent search, found the pipe in the left pocket of the defendant’s hoodie.
Patrolman William Moyer also testified he unsuccessfully asked Kechula to calm down.
“He continued to yell and scream,” Moyer said.
Gabriel Llinas, a state police forensic scientist, testified the residue found in the pipe was marijuana.
Kechula testified he was walking downtown, was not raising a disturbance and never had the pipe.
“I still don’t know why I was taken away,” he said.
“Did you ever see it before?” Assistant Public Defender Kent D. Watkins, Kechula’s lawyer, asked him.
“No,” Kechula answered.
“Did you see it that day?”
“No.”
In his closing argument, Watkins said there was no evidence that Kechula was under the influence of anything or that the pipe was to be used for drugs, except for the police testimony.
“There are no allegations that Mr. Kechula had any drugs on him,” Watkins said.
In his closing argument, Assistant District Attorney David J. Rice said the jury should believe the police.
“What would be the incentive ... to lie?” Rice asked.
On Friday, another jury found Kechula guilty of disorderly conduct, while Judge James P. Goodman, who presided over that one-day trial, found him guilty of public drunkenness, creating an annoyance and disobeying a request to leave. Goodman ordered preparation of a presentence investigation and scheduled sentencing for 1:45 p.m. March 22.
Shenandoah police in that case alleged Kechula was drunk and disorderly about 8 p.m. May 1, 2015, also at Main and Lloyd streets in the borough.