Does refiled case count for pretrial release?
A Butler County judge will decide whether to release an Eau Claire man accused of inappropriately touching a 5-year-old girl, after arguments were made regarding the refiling of charges against him in Butler County Court on Tuesday.
President Judge Thomas Doerr took the arguments under advisement, and will later issue a ruling on the motion for nominal bond filed by William S. Brookbank, 50.
Brookbank initially was charged in September 2017 and was incarcerated at the Butler County Prison for eight months, his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Charles Nedz, told the court.
The charges were later withdrawn by prosecutors on March 16, and Brookbank was then released onto pretrial supervision with house arrest for another pending matter in April. However, on June 11, the previously withdrawn charges were refiled by the prosecution, and Brookbank was again incarcerated on $500,000 bail.
Nedz argued that the two cases were identical and that Brookbank is eligible for relief under Pennsylvania Criminal Procedure Rule 600 that states “except in cases in which the defendant is not entitled to release on bail as provided by law, no defendant shall be held in pretrial incarceration in excess of 180 days from the date on which the complaint is filed.”
Assistant District Attorney Benjamin Simon argued that because the case was initially withdrawn, that started the clock all over again.
Read more about this case in the Butler Eagle.
