A Butler County Common Pleas Court judge is weighing whether the state violated a defendant’s rights by failing to hold a trial within 365 days of his charges being filed.

Johvian Romir Everett, 26, of Pittsburgh, has been incarcerated for three years after being charged with felony flight to avoid apprehension following a Jan. 19, 2022, traffic stop in Butler. He would eventually be arrested in Pittsburgh about 10 months later on Nov. 27, 2022, for unrelated charges. He has been incarcerated since.

In a two-hour hearing Friday, Nov. 14, before Judge Joseph Kubit, he argued his former attorneys, Joshua Snyder and Michael McFarland, colluded with assistant district attorney Zoe Kecskemethy and the state to continually delay the case to induce a guilty plea by not submitting Everett’s Rule 600 motion to the court.

Everett represented himself in the hearing after his counsel withdrew.

Rule 600 requires the state to bring a case to trial within 365 days of charges being filed, barring exceptions for excludable time. The rule also requires the state to exercise due diligence in attempting to bring the case to trial.

Everett argued the 10 months before his incarceration and continuances filed during his incarceration leave the state at fault for failing to prosecute him within the allotted time. He also argued police failed to exercise due diligence in attempting to detain him during the 10 months prior to his incarceration.

Kecskemethy questioned arresting officer Jacob May, a former Butler city police officer, about how he exercised due diligence in attempting to apprehend Everetts.

May said that because Everett did not have ties to the community through employment or a home address, police patrolled areas Everett allegedly frequented in an attempt to find him and spoke with confidential informants. A warrant was served after police received notice that Everetts was arrested in Pittsburgh, May said.

He said Everett’s charges were mailed to his last known address, but Everett said he never received them and argued he is not obligated to turn himself in for trial.

Everett also argued police did not contact other jails, probation offices or visit his known address in Pittsburgh to attempt to find him. He noted police had two different Pittsburgh addresses for Everett on different criminal complaints.

May said that when someone resided outside of Butler, the policy at the time was to get permission from a supervisor to serve the warrant or contact local police. He could not confirm if either measure was taken.

Everett also argued multiple continuances were filed because he could not be transported to Butler from the Allegheny County Jail. Kecskemethy countered that denials of transport do not factor into the state’s time.

Kubit did not issue a decision at the end of the hearing.

In a separate case against Everett, the district attorney’s office dropped one felony count each of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm while prohibited, three misdemeanor counts of simple assault, two misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and a count of misdemeanor reckless endangerment dating back to an Oct. 18, 2021, incident. Kecskemethy declined to comment on the reason for the change.