By Eric Scicchitano
The News-Item
SUNBURY — A state inmate was convicted Wednesday of possessing a metal “shank” in his sock while locked up at SCI-Coal Township.
Witnesses told the court the weapon was found on Richard J. Sears, 34, after corrections officers received a tip. The discovery followed a cell search where scrapes were observed on the concrete floor, indicating an object had been sharpened. A small slit was cut into his mattress, suggesting it was a hiding spot for contraband.
The weapon was a 6-inch piece of metal sharpened on one end and wrapped with toilet paper and tape on the other to improve grip.
It took a jury 30 minutes to render guilty pleas to misdemeanor charges of prohibited offensive weapons and weapons or implements for escape. The charges each carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Sears will be sentenced within 30 days, and indicated he will appeal.
The jury consisted of seven women and five men. Northumberland County President Judge William H. Wiest presided over the daylong trial. William Novick, assistant district attorney, was the prosecutor.
Sears served as his own attorney. He was frequently corrected by Wiest on courtroom procedure, specifically to making statements rather than asking questions during witness testimony.
Trooper Mark Adams of state police at Stonington and corrections officers Heath Munson and Ronald Long all testified. Sears declined to take the stand.
Sears sought to discredit his arrest and claimed his right to due process was violated since he never had a preliminary arraignment on the charges filed June 17, 2014. Adams, the arresting officer, told the court a preliminary arraignment was unnecessary since Sears was already incarcerated. Sears did have a preliminary hearing and subsequent appearances in district and county court.
“How can a jury convict a man who was never charged with a crime?” Sears asked of the jury during closing arguments, saying he was “arrested by a judge.”
Sears attempted to cast doubt on the utility of the item the jury agreed was a weapon, comparing it to an L-shaped pin used to separate weights on exercise equipment used at the prison. He suggested it could have been fashioned by an inmate for that very purpose since the pins occasionally sever.
“It has no other purpose than what it was constructed for and that’s a weapon,” Long said.
The slit in the mattress was questioned by Sears, saying thousands of inmates use such mattresses. Long said the slit didn’t match typical wear and tear. Sears did establish that the cell floor scrapes could be made by dragging a foot locker. However, Munson told the court that weekly cell searches seek to identify and record such discoveries.
Long testified that Sears resisted a pat-down when he exited the west recreation yard. He was restrained in handcuffs and eventually transferred to restrictive housing after the weapon was discovered.
Although Sears had no attorney, public defender John Broda sat behind Sears and provided counsel during recess.
Sears is incarcerated up to 30 years on a trio of sentences in Allegheny, Cambria and Westmoreland counties for robbery and other felonies committed in 2002, according to online records. He remains jailed at SCI-Coal Township.