Bowser released from jail Friday
A second bond reduction attempt for a Lyndora man accused of lending the vehicle used by another man to dispose of Melissa Barto’s body was successful in Butler County Court on Friday.
Joshua W. Bowser was released from the county jail pending the resolution of the charges against him.
Bowser, 22, was released onto pretrial supervision with the Butler County Adult Probation Office after a hearing before President Judge Thomas Doerr.
Bowser was previously held in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail, after being charged June 13 with felony hindering apprehension, misdemeanor criminal conspiracy to commit abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, in the homicide investigation regarding the shooting death of Barto on June 8.
His attorney, Ken Harris, argued that Bowser had been held in excess 180 days, and pursuant to Pennsylvania Criminal Procedure Rule 600, which 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,” he is entitled to be released pending the disposition of the case against him.
Assistant District Attorney Terri Schultz said she was not opposed to the release due to the Rule 600 issue, but asked Bowser be placed on pretrial supervision to be monitored pending disposition.
She said the case would normally have been disposed by this time, but has not been brought to trial because of the nature of the charges and the underlying homicide case.
“We may ask Mr. Bowser for his testimony,” she said in court.
Harris said the standard range for the charges if convicted is a minimum of three months, to which Bowser has already served double behind bars.
For more about this story, read Sunday’s Butler Eagle.
