Judge Dismisses 51 Traffic Charges

(Washington, Pennsylvania) According to a report by Joe Smydo in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, E. Ronald Salvitti II had accumulated a 24-page record of driving citations and related violations from 1983 to the present.

By November 2002, Salvitti had been cited for speeding 20 times -- four times for traveling 80 mph or faster. His record showed 18 citations for driving with a suspended license and one citation each for following another vehicle too closely, a red light violation, driving too fast for conditions and driving without a license. His record included 48 instances of failing to respond to citations.

Salvitti's record of troubles indicates that his driving privileges are suspended until March 2031. However, it doesn't appear that any punishment for his irresponsible and criminal behavior has been effective. Salvitti continued to drive and commit additional violations while his license was suspended.

Since the justice system has been incapable of effectively dealing with him, Mr. Salvitti had his lawyer, Chester Dudzinski, petition the court to make everything go away. The court did. How nice!

Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky, with agreement from District Attorney John C. Pettit, dismissed 27 citations and 24 failure-to-respond violations. Salvitti is only required to pay court costs and do community service. Astonishingly, according to Mr. Smydo's report,

Pozonsky and District Attorney John C. Pettit said no special treatment was shown Salvitti, son of eye doctor and philanthropist E. Ronald Salvitti.

[ ... ]

Pozonsky and Pettit said Salvitti was given the same consideration as any defendant seeking a sentence modification.

Unbelievable!

Only a moron would buy that any defendant with 51 charges against them can walk into the Washington County Courthouse and walk away without even a slap of the hand. Schools should use this case as the quintessential example of the "appearance of impropriety." I suspect that there are lawyers who have been disbarred because of less offensive courtroom buffoonery.

In summary, Salvitti has been ignoring the law for over twenty years, dodging effective punishment, and now he's going to regain his driving privileges while the judge and prosecutor state that this is the way any defendant is treated in Washington County. Believable?

I don't think so. There must be other elements to this story that haven't been thoroughly pursued. For example, what impact is there on the administration of local justice when the defendant's daddy spends time being a local philanthropist?