Former Hempfield veterinarian seeking ARD in records copying case
A Penn Township woman charged with stealing records from a Hempfield veterinarian clinic will ask to be enrolled in a prison diversion program next month.
In court documents filed Wednesday, the lawyer for Katherine Marraccini, 26, said she will seek admission to the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for first-time, nonviolent offenders.
The program, which usually includes a probation sentence, does not require a defendant to plead guilty.
Marraccini, a veterinarian at Pittsburgh East Animal Hospital in Hempfield, was charged in May with two felony counts: unlawful copying of records and computer trespass. Both charges carry maximum seven-year prison terms for convictions.
Police said she attempted to take patient records from the practice before she took another job at a clinic in Unity.
Following a preliminary hearing last month, defense attorney Adrian Roe said a confidentiality agreement Marraccini signed with the clinic when she was hired in 2017 did not apply to the records she sought to take from the business.
Roe on Wednesday withdrew a court motion in which Marraccini sought to invoke attorney-client privilege regarding potential evidence prosecutors sought to introduce against her in the criminal case.
Marraccini is scheduled to appear Aug. 28 before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bilik-DeFazio, when the ARD could be approved.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at rcholodofsky@triblive.com.
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