Superior court turns away appeal from former Westmoreland sheriff

The Pennsylvania Superior Court on Wednesday quashed the appeal of former Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held, who sought the dismissal of corruption charges against him following a mistrial in 2018.

A three-judge panel said it did not have jurisdiction to rule on Held’s appeal, in which the former two-term Republican sheriff contended he should not be subjected to a retrial on two counts connected to allegations that he directed on-duty office staff to perform campaign chores while on the job.

A Westmoreland County jury failed to reach a verdict in the case against Held following a four-day trial in December 2018. Senior visiting Common Pleas Judge Timothy Creany declared a mistrial and ordered another jury be empaneled to hear the case.

Held appealed the order for a new trial, claiming there was insufficient evidence to support the charges.

The Superior Court judges ruled they did not have jurisdiction to hear Held’s appeal because the prosecution against him in county court had not concluded. The appeals court said the case still resided before Creany.

“As we cannot ascertain any basis for the appealability of the order denying appellant’s motion for arrest of judgment, we do not reach the merits of appellant’s claims and we are compelled to quash this appeal,” the judges wrote.

Defense attorney Ryan Tutera said Wednesday he will meet with Held and discuss options, such as taking a further appeal.

“We will review the opinion and make a decision as to whether there is merit to challenge the Superior Court ruling,” Tutera said.

Held, 46, of Hempfield was defeated in November by Democrat James Albert in a bid for a third term in office.

Held has maintained his innocence and contended the allegations against him were concocted as a political vendetta by disgruntled employees.

State prosecutors argued Held abused his power by ordering staff to perform campaign fundraising for his reelection effort in 2015.

The case ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors initially found Held guilty of a felony charge of conflict of interest and a misdemeanor theft count. But, during individual polling of the jurors in open court before the judge, one panelist rescinded his guilty finding.

After an hour of additional deliberations, the judge declared a hung jury and a mistrial.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro previously said his office will retry Held. The office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

An appeal filed in Superior Court by the Tribune-Review seeking the public release of the names of jurors in Held’s trial is still pending. Creany ruled the newspaper’s request for the jury list was premature because the case had not been completed.