In a decision issued last week, the Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld the dismissal of charges against the alleged mastermind of a burglary that occurred in Tyrone nearly four years ago.

The incident, which occurred on January 21, 2021, resulted in the arrest of three area men: James Kelly Johnson-Ross, Kyler Luckadoo and Jason Sanderlin.

Luckadoo and Sanderlin allegedly entered a Tyrone home looking for money and drugs, but police charged Johnson-Ross, who was not part of the entry team, as the individual who planned the robbery and provided transportation, clothing and the weapons that were used by the robbers.

Mirror records show Lucckadoo, 23, pleaded guilty in February to several charges, including those associated with the home invasion that amounted to between 8.5 and 17 years of incarceration.

Sanderlin, 24, pleaded guilty in July 2023 to several charges, including those associated with the home invasion that carried a prison sentence of four to eight years.

Johnson-Ross, 25, however, elected to have a jury trial, but ultimately filed a motion to dismiss the charges due to violations of Pennsylvania’s speedy trial rules.

On December 1, 2023, Blair County Presiding Judge Wade A. Kagarise determined that the defendant’s rights to a speedy trial had been violated and that the multiple charges against him warranted dismissal.

The judge ruled that the Commonwealth’s “failure to bring the defendant to trial before the expiration of the Rule 600 period constitutes grounds for dismissal of the charges with prejudice.”

Rule 600 is Pennsylvania’s speedy trial rule that requires people charged with crimes to be tried within 365 days.

However, the speedy trial deadline is suspended if, for example, the defense causes a delay by submitting requests for hearings or additional review of evidence.

In issuing his ruling, the judge emphasized that the prosecution failed to respond “with due diligence” to repeated discovery requests (witness statements and other evidence) requested by Johnson-Ross’ attorney, Media’s Alessandro Giribaldi.

The Kagarise order resulted in the dismissal of charges against Johnson-Ross, which included robbery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, harassment, recklessly endangering another person, simple assault and terroristic threats.

However, Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks appealed the decision to Superior Court, maintaining that circumstances beyond his office’s control caused delays.

The judge, however, in his opinion, gave an example of the prosecution’s lack of due diligence, noting that he did not respond to the defense’s latest request to dismiss the case for lack of a speedy trial.

Weeks responded that his office was never notified of the petition.

Despite the Commonwealth’s argument, Kagarise wrote in his opinion: “This court takes no pleasure in dismissing the serious charges in this matter. “However, the Court provided the Commonwealth with numerous opportunities to act expeditiously in prosecuting this matter.”

Over time, it became clear that Johnson-Ross’s constitutional and statutory rights did not allow for “further opportunities,” Kagarise concluded.

A Superior Court panel that included Judges Alice B. Dubow, Megan King and John T. Bender stated in its 14-page opinion: “Accordingly, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s decision to dismiss the charges here.

“We note that the complaint charging Johnson-Ross was filed on February 4, 2021. The case was dismissed on December 1, 2023, or 1,030 days later.”

In its evaluation of the case, the appeals court noted that 637 days of delay in bringing the case to trial were the result of actions by the defense, requesting hearings on the evidence and requests for additional information.

The Johnson-Ross trial should have begun on or before Nov. 3, 2023, according to calculations by the High Court panel.

Kagarise dismissed the charges on December 1, 2023, after the trial deadline had expired.

Weeks said he is considering appealing to the Supreme Court, but that will be decided later.

While charges in Blair County are in limbo, Johnson-Ross still remains in prison.

He is incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution in Greene County on a warrant related to other charges, Weeks said.

A key factor in analyzing a Rule 600 challenge is whether the government “exercised due diligence and whether the circumstances that caused the trial to be delayed were beyond the control of the Commonwealth.”

If the prosecution failed to exercise due diligence, “the court will dismiss the charges and release the defendant,” according to the appeals court.

In regards to the Johnson-Ross case, Kagarise listed three circumstances that led to his decision to dismiss the charges.

It found that the prosecution, in an apparent oversight, failed to timely provide the defense with a report of DNA evidence collected during the investigation. The defense argued that the report would be exculpatory or helpful in preparing its case.

“The Commonwealth never explained why the report was not provided (to the defense) for several months,” Kagarise said.

Citing a second circumstance, the judge made reference to the jury selected to try Johnson-Ross at one point, but said the trial had to be canceled because after jury selection, the prosecution gave the defense a report from the state police 619 pages with information relevant to the case. defense. In challenging the cancellation, Weeks took the position that the report was a compilation of previously provided material.

Kagarise referenced the pre-trial directives, stating: “Evidently, every one of (his orders) was ignored by the Commonwealth; “As a result of the late production of this report, the jury trial was canceled.”

Citing a third circumstance, Kagarise said he ordered the Commonwealth to respond to the defense’s latest motion seeking dismissal, which it never did.

State court records indicate Johnson-Ross’ alleged accomplices also remain in prison: Sanderlin at SCI Smithfield, while Luckadoo is at SCI Albion.