Billy Doe's Lucky Streak Continues

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

Since he became the district attorney's star witness, "Billy Doe" has had a remarkable run of good fortune in the criminal courts.

The scene outside CJC after the Engelhardt-Shero Verdict

The charges from two previous arrests in 2009 and 2010, both for retail theft, were dropped in 2010 after witnesses in both cases did not show up for court.

On Jan. 7, 2011, a judge dismissed a charge of possession with intent to distribute narcotics, after ruling that police did not have probable cause on June 9, 2010 to stop Billy Doe on the street. When police searched Billy Doe, they found 56 bags of heroin in his shorts. However, the late Judge Adam Beloff ruled the heroin was inadmissible as evidence; the charges were dropped and the case dismissed.

Billy Doe's most recent arrest, a simple drug possession case on Nov. 10, 2011, has been continued nine times in 18 months. During that time, Billy Doe appeared as a prosecution witness at two trials testifying against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

But now that the trials are over, and Billy Doe is done as a witness in the criminal courts, that last drug possession charge is about to disappear.

On April 11, according to court records, Billy Doe pleaded no contest to the drug possession charge, and entered into an accelerated misdemeanor program [AMP]. If Billy Doe satisfactorily completes the requirements of AMP, possibly another drug rehab and/or fines, at a hearing set for May 23rd, that drug possession charge is scheduled to be expunged from Billy Doe's record.

So while Billy Doe continues to be a lucky guy in the criminal courts, it's a bit of a mystery how he qualified for the AMP program.

He's been arrested six times between 2008 and 2011, and he's previously bombed out of a similar program.

Don't expect officials to shine any light on the mystery.

As he has in the past, Brian McLaughlin, Billy Doe's criminal lawyer, did not return a request for comment.

The district attorney's office, as they have for two months now, have continued to refuse to answer any questions from this reporter regarding Billy Doe.

So we are left with what's said in court records.

Here's what we know about Billy Doe's previous enrollment in a program similar to AMP.

Billy Doe's first arrest as an adult came on May 8, 2008, when he was 19. He was arrested in Northhampton Township, Bucks County, for possession of drug paraphernalia and an offensive weapon, namely brass knuckles. Billy Doe pleaded guilty on June 30, 2010 and was put on probation for a year under a program known as accelerated rehabilitative disposition [ARD].

If Billy stayed clean for a year, under ARD, the charges from his 2008 arrest would have been expunged from Billy's record.

But that's not what happened, because on Jan. 28, 2010, Billy Doe was in Graterford prison for a parole violation when Detective Andrew Snyder picked him up and drove to the district attorney's office to start the investigation into Billy Doe's charges that he was raped as an altar boy at St. Jerome's by three different predators.

The court records do not say why Billy Doe was in Graterford. Maybe he got arrested again, or flunked a drug test. But instead of being expunged, those two charges from Billy Doe's 2008 arrest are still listed on his criminal record.

Here's what the records have to say about Billy Doe's latest arrest, and it's convoluted passage through the court system.

It began on Nov. 10, 2011, when Billy Doe was arrested in Philadelphia and charged with possession of a controlled substance. 

On Nov. 30, 2011, Brian McLaughlin, Billy's lawyer, asked for a continuance because Billy was in a treatment center. At that time, Billy was listed as eligible for an accelerated misdemeanor program. The case was continued to Jan. 11, 2012, because Billy's lawyer said he was still in a treatment facility in Florida.

The case was continued again to Feb. 8, 2012, when, records show, Billy Doe's lawyer rejected the accelerated misdemeanor program [AMP]. The case was continued to a hearing on March 12, 2012, when a trial date was posted for April 23, 2012.

But on April 23, 2012, Billy Doe's attorney got another continuance until June 22, 2012. On June 22, 2012, a judge granted another continuance because the defendant was in another drug rehab. On Sept. 12, 2012, the defense asked the court to continue the case because it supposedly needed further investigation.

There was no objection from the Commonwealth.

On Oct. 30, 2012, court was closed due to bad weather. On Dec. 7, 2012, Billy's lawyer asked for another continuance because now that Billy was living in Florida, he had changed his mind and wanted to get into that accelerated misdemeanor program.

The case was rescheduled for Feb 12, 2013, after the judge granted another defense request for a continuance because the case needed -- you guessed it -- further investigation.

On March 15, 2013, the judge granted another continuance until April 11, when Billy Doe pleaded no contest.

Criminal lawyers familiar with AMP said they were surprised that anybody would get a second chance at the program after previously turning it down. 

Billy Doe also got into a version of AMP that calls for the expunging of the charges against him, a program typically not available to somebody like Billy Doe who has a criminal record.

So, in other words, the D.A. did Billy Doe a favor that he ordinarily would not be entitled to.

If you're familiar with the history of this case, as chronicled on this blog, that's nothing new.

There are several remaining questions from the D.A.'s latest example of favorable treatment for Billy Doe.

Did the district attorney strike a deal with Billy Doe's lawyers prior to the two archdiocese trials where they would allow Billy's drug case to be continued time and time again until after the two archdiocese trials were over?

It sure looks like it.

That way Billy Doe would not have to answer any embarrassing questions on the witness stand about any deal he and his lawyers may have struck with the district attorney's office.

Did Billy Doe's role as the D.A.'s star witness against the archdiocese have any effect on the D.A.'s decision to agree to the numerous continuances in Billy's drug case, as well as letting Billy Doe into AMP?

We await answers from Silent Seth Williams.

Sadly, no one else is pursuing him.

In Philadelphia, with the exception of this blog, no other media outlet has shown any interest in either the shocking verdict in the Engelhardt-Shero case, or the lingering questions about the district attorney's prosecution of the church.

The national media, to date, has also been absent from the discussion.

So District Attorney Seth Williams has been able to escape answering any questions about a compromised investigation, a flawed grand jury report, and an unstable star witness whose allegations have been refuted by his own mother, his older brother, and the priests, nuns and teachers at St. Jerome's.

Silent Seth

But all of that, dear readers, is about to change.

The National Catholic Reporter is about to publish a long story about the district attorney's self-described "historic" prosecution of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

You may know the author.

All of which puts Silent Seth in a bit of a quandary.

Stiffing a local blog is one thing; stiffing a respected national media outlet is another matter.

Will the district attorney continue to stonewall, or will he finally have to answer some questions?

Stay tuned.