Judge rejects defense request to toss felony charge in North Huntingdon crash case

An attempt to get a felony charge thrown out in a North Huntingdon crash that seriously injured a woman last year failed on Friday.

Judge Michael Stewart II ruled that prosecutors presented enough evidence to show that Nolan Mullen, 22, was driving recklessly on July 7, 2024, and that the victim, Kathleen Morcheid, 37, was seriously hurt.

“Her daily life has been affected by these injuries,” he said.

But who caused the crash will have to be decided by a jury, Stewart said.

Mullen, of North Huntingdon, is accused of driving a Chrysler 300 90 mph just before the crash on Clay Pike Road. Morcheid, also of North Huntingdon, was turning left in a Ford Escape onto the road from Brokers Lane.

The Ford had almost completed the turn onto Clay Pike Road when North Huntingdon police said the Chrysler veered over the center line and hit it nearly head-on, according to court papers. Morcheid and her son were rushed to a hospital.

Mullen is charged with aggravated assault by vehicle, reckless endangerment and four summary offenses.

The case has taken an unusual route through the court system.

In January, Mullen waived a preliminary hearing and the case was scheduled for a plea to lesser charges in February that would have allowed him to be placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring.

That plea deal was rejected in April after Judge Scott Mears heard from Morcheid and the father of her son, who opposed it.

A third judge is now presiding over the case after both Mears and Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio recused themselves.

Bilik-DeFazio did so because she knew members of Mullen’s family.

Mears in July granted a defense motion for recusal after attorney Charles Porter said the judge’s law clerk made remarks about the case to him and the prosecution in April.

Mears said he believed he could still handle the case fairly, but recused himself because “the appearance of impropriety could exist,” he wrote in an order.

Porter requested Friday’s hearing to question prosecution evidence about Mullen’s driving and Morcheid’s injuries. She suffered a concussion and continues to struggle to recover fully. Porter was seeking the felony aggravated assault by vehicle charge be dismissed.

“While it’s certainly an injury I’m not going to trivialize, I don’t think that qualifies” as serious bodily injury under the law, he argued.

Accident reconstructionist Greg Sullenberger testified that Mullen was driving 90 mph five seconds before the crash and 49 mph less than a second before the collision. Morcheid was not moving five seconds before the crash and driving 12 mph at the time of the collision.

The speed limit is 35 mph.

Mullen’s car would’ve been visible for about four seconds to Morcheid, Sullenberger said. That amount of time would’ve been eight seconds had Mullen been traveling at the speed limit, he said.

Three witnesses testified about the crash scene. Alexander Jones said he had to swerve on Clay Pike Road to miss Mullen, who was fishtailing around a bend and came into his lane.

Morcheid pulled out behind Jones. She was unconscious at the scene and Craig Stahl testified that he saw Mullen laughing.

Morcheid testified Friday that she continues to struggle with injuries related to the concussion, including headaches, speech issues, balance trouble and a tremor in her right hand that makes it impossible to return to work as a nurse.

Independence Health Dr. Alexander Fleming testified that Morcheid’s symptoms have improved over the past 13 months, but he expects that she will continue to need treatment.

“I’d say a lot of the problems that are persisting right now are likely to persist in the future,” he said.

That’s indicative of a serious injury, argued Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli. There was enough testimony to show Mullen was traveling at 90 mph on a windy rural road, he argued.

“That is the definition of recklessness,” he said.

A status conference will be scheduled at a later date.