Pittsburgh, PA Attorneys, Lawyers and Law Firms

Kenneth Farnan, an officer of the Pittsburgh Police, will soon be released after he was granted bail.

Farnan, who is about to retire, is charged for the shooting death of Shawn Evans, said to be his close friend, in a bar brawl.

William Difenderfer, a defense attorney in Pittsburgh representing Farnan, said that while the two men know each other they were certainly not close.

Investigation also shows that Evans was the one who started the fight but it was broken up and Evans headed for the restroom. When Evans came out, Farnan restarted the fight.

Lisa Pellegrini, the assistant district attorney, did not agree with the bail but Difenderfer said his client deserves to be granted bail because facts presented so far do not tantamount to murder in the first degree.

A jury found Bernard Carter of Rankin not guilty of shooting to death William Harrington last year.

Carter was charged of murder in the first degree after police claimed that a witness had pointed at him as the one who shot Harrington as he was walking out of an apartment in Pittsburgh.

James Wymard, Pittsburgh defense attorney representing Carter, said he was satisfied with the ruling.

Wade Bradford's defense did not convince the jury as they found him guilty in the shooting death of Natalie Allan.

Bradford and Allan had met when Allan worked in one of Bradford's massage parlors. While they were dating, Allan was also dating Kevin Myles, her massage client.

During the trial, the prosecutors told the court that Bradford had shot Allan when she broke up with him and she and Myles had gone to Bradford's place to get her things.

This was countered by Phoenix defense lawyer Jamie Jackson saying that Bradford did not know that he had shot Allan.

According to Jackson, the gun accidentally went off because Myles had suddenly lunged at Bradford.

The jury, however, did not buy this.

Aside from Allan's death, Bradford is also facing charges for the death of another of his former girlfriend, Eleanor Su.

A plea deal had Richard Aquilone pleading to lesser charges and getting just a probation for the death of Jijo Puthuvamkunnath.

Puthuvamkunnath was to be married in a few weeks but he never got to tie the knot as he got killed when a drunk Aquilone rammed his boat with his yacht.

The impact was so great that Puthuvamkunnath's boat was split in two.

Aside from the probation, Aquilone will also be made to serve the community for 250 hours.

Marc Agnifilo, New York criminal attorney defending for Aquilone, said his client has expressed regret for the loss that he has caused the Puthuvamkunnaths.

A plea deal agreement has Broderick Kenyo Smith admitting to manslaughter instead of capital murder in the death of Arlando Maurice Pritchett in 2012.

The plea agreement will have Smith serving just a year in jail for a split sentence of 10 years.

His jail stay will be followed with probation for three years.

Should Smith violate his probation, he could be made to serve the rest of his 10-year sentence.

According to the police, Pritchett had an argument with a cab driver prior to his shooting while Smith admitted that he had been driving a cab during the time of the incident.

Birmingham defense attorney Charles Salvagio said Smith had shot Pritchett because the latter had robbed him.

William S. Kern, a Baltimore Police instructor, was handed a 60-day jail stay, for shooting Raymond Gray, a police recruit, while they were doing exercises.

Kern, who has been in service for 19 years, told the court during his trial that he had brought a live gun to the exercises and he had accidentally used it instead of the training weapon.

Gray was hit in the head and was blinded in one eye when Kern fired his gun through the window to show the recruits the danger of lingering near the door, the window or the hallway.

Kern said that he brought his gun to the training for the safety of the recruits because the facility where they were having their exercises is not secure.

Baltimore defense attorney Shaun F. Owens had argued for Kern's release saying that his client's eventual dismissal from the service would already be enough of a punishment.

Kern is on a 60-day suspension while the Baltimore Police conducts an investigation within its ranks.

Gray's family, who expressed dissatisfaction with the sentence, has also filed a civil lawsuit in relation to the incident and is being represented by Baltimore litigator A. Dwight Pettit.

David Christopher Cruz was found guilty in the death of an infant, who is still five months shy of turning one years old.

The infant victim, the son of Cruz's girlfriend, was taken off life support a few days after he was brought into the hospital unconscious.

He suffered head injuries, several fractures and had bruises on his body.

Court heard that Cruz was the infant's baby sitter while the mother goes to work.

Cruz told the police that he had hit the baby because he keeps on fussing.

Michael Begovich, a criminal lawyer in San Diego defending for Cruz, said that the baby's mother also has a responsibility in her son's death because she had not consulted a doctor when the baby had an ear infection.