Judge refuses DA request
A Butler County judge denied a motion Tuesday by the Commonwealth seeking the disclosure of mental health records of a man once acquitted of the charge of illegally possessing a firearm.
Judge William Shaffer issued the order Tuesday, denying the release of mental health records of Shawn E. McDonell, 37, of Penn Township.
McDonell was charged in two cases by Penn Township Police with illegally possessing two AK-47-style rifles and several handguns on July 4 and July 20, 2016.
He was acquitted of five counts of felony possession of a prohibited firearm by Shaffer before the cases went to the jury to deliberate on April 19.
Shaffer previously determined that a felony charge in Virginia, to which McDonell was found guilty, did not meet a felony statute in Pennsylvania, which had been argued by the prosecution, and therefore McDonell was allowed to possess the firearms in the state.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Lope argued Tuesday that a second prohibition for possessing firearms might exist against McDonell, which includes an involuntary mental health commitment in June 2016. He asked for a court order to release those documents.
“I believe he was involuntarily committed but I need those records to know with any certainty,” he said.
McDonell's attorney, Public Defender Joseph Smith, objected to the motion, saying that McDonell was charged with former convict prohibited from possessing a firearm, not the subsection of the statute regarding the prohibition of those involuntarily committed.
“The Commonwealth is asking the court to permit other evidence of charges not charged,” he said. “This is evidence not present throughout the whole case. They have already tried these cases and my client was acquitted by the court. They have already had their bite of the apple, and allowing this would be fundamentally unfair.”
The order states a more appropriate means of seeking the records would be to issue a search warrant if probable cause exists.
McDonell was previously released following the acquittal to house arrest with electronic monitoring by the Butler County Adult Probation Office following argument that he had been held in the jail in excess of time set forth in state law regarding pretrial incarceration. He was also ordered to continue to participate in mental health treatment after his release.
McDonell is currently awaiting trial on two other cases, which will begin Oct. 23. Those cases involve an alleged assault against his wife on July 1, 2016, and another case that same day, where he was charged with more than 50 charges, including recklessly endangering another person, stemming from allegations that he deliberately drove his pickup truck toward a tent at a church picnic in Clinton Township.
