Lawyer: Jury trial only way to settle case involving contested Greensburg traffic stop

The lawyer for a Pittsburgh man awaiting trial in Westmoreland County on drug charges that he says resulted from an illegal traffic stop two years ago in Greensburg said he has no choice but to ask a jury to resolve the case.

Christopher Batch, 31, was charged in November 2018 with four felonies and two misdemeanor drug counts in connection with a traffic stop the defense contends was unwarranted. Prosecutors contend a search of Batch’s vehicle following that traffic stop found heroin, crack cocaine, Ecstasy pills and a stolen gun.

“(Police) are opposed to an agreement, so we’ll just have to slug it out,” defense attorney Brian Aston told Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani during a bond hearing Tuesday.

According to court records, an off-duty police officer, while driving an unmarked vehicle home from work and not in uniform, noticed unusual lights on the dashboard of Batch’s vehicle and closely followed it in an effort to obtain a license plate number.

Police contend that Batch sped through Greensburg and made an illegal turn, circumstances that led to the traffic stop and vehicle search.

Feliciani last year ruled the search was illegal, but the state’s Superior Court court overturned that finding. Batch again challenged the propriety of the search and is awaiting another ruling from Feliciani.

Aston in court Tuesday argued that police, in following Batch, created the situation that led to the traffic stop.

“They tailgated in the dark of night until he commits a traffic offense,” Aston said. “The Commonwealth manufactured probable cause to stop the vehicle.”

Batch contended he did not know his pursuer was a police officer and attempted evade the trailing vehicle.

Feliciani on Tuesday did not rule on a request to reduce the $75,000 bond that has kept Batch in jail since his arrest. The judge said he will consider releasing Batch on house arrest if he is permitted to live in the Murrysville home of a friend.