MERCER COUNTY DA alleges defense may have conflict

One firm may be representing the accused and a prosecution witness.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Mercer County District Attorney James Epstein said defense lawyers for a man accused of trying to run down a police officer with a car have a conflict of interest, and he will seek to have them removed from the case.
Patrolman John Zych shot Matthew D. McKenna, 23, of Wengler Avenue on March 20. Zych said McKenna tried to run him down twice in front of the Wengler Avenue address.
McKenna also is accused of assaulting his fiancee, Nicolalee Rose Reed, and of using a car to run down her and his sister, Jamie F. McKenna.
McKenna, who is in the county jail on $100,000 bond, still has a bullet lodged in his spine in his neck and must wear a brace to keep from moving his head.
He was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday before District Justice James McMahon on charges of attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, but Epstein asked for a continuance instead.
Conflict of interest?
McKenna is represented by lawyers Thomas Crawford Jr. and Barbara Weiss, partners in Crawford and Weiss of Pittsburgh.
Epstein said that, just before the hearing, Weiss approached him and told him and others that she was representing Nicolalee Reed, Jamie McKenna and McKenna's mother, Kathy, and that she wanted to see statements they had made to police and review those statements with them before the hearing began.
Epstein said at the time he had no idea that Weiss was also representing Matthew McKenna.
Her representation of the three women in addition to McKenna is a conflict of interest, Epstein said, adding that he will file a motion asking a common pleas court judge to remove Weiss and Crawford from the case.
Although Weiss admitted in court that she told Epstein that she represented the three women, Crawford said there was no conflict of interest, arguing that Weiss may have given the women some advice regarding making statements to investigators but that she hadn't represented them in any legal proceedings.
Weiss said she thought Epstein knew she and Crawford were both representing Matthew McKenna.
Epstein said that, had he known, he would not have handed over witness statements to her.
Women's involvement
Reed and Jamie McKenna were prosecution witnesses subpoenaed for the hearing. Kathy McKenna is under investigation for possible charges of hindering apprehension, Epstein said.
McMahon agreed to continue the case until 10 a.m. April 29. He refused a request from Crawford that McKenna's bail be reduced or that he be freed without bail so he can get appropriate treatment for his neck injury. That issue should be presented to common pleas court, McMahon added.
Reed, 22, may now have some legal problems of her own.
She stormed out of the hearing just before it ended, slamming two doors on her way out of the building.
Police said she damaged a wall with the second door and was cited for disorderly conduct.