Joseph R. Wood must remain behind bars, as a three-judge state Superior Court panel upheld his conviction and state prison sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl in September 2009 in Schuylkill Haven.
In a seven-page opinion filed Tuesday in Pottsville, the panel ruled the evidence sufficient to support the conviction of Wood, 54, of Schuylkill Haven, on charges of statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, indecent exposure and corruption of minors.
"There is no basis upon which to disturb his convictions," Judge Mary Jane Bowes wrote in the opinion.
After a one-day trial, a jury convicted Wood on June 7, 2011, of aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, indecent exposure and corruption of minors, while finding him not guilty of rape.
President Judge William E. Baldwin, who presided over the trial, dismissed the aggravated indecent assault charge but sentenced Wood on Aug. 26, 2011, to spend six to 12 years in a state correctional institution, plus five additional years on probation, pay costs, submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities and be subject to lifetime Megan's Law sanctions once he leaves prison. Wood is serving his sentence at SCI/Camp Hill.
Schuylkill Haven borough police charged Wood with sexually assaulting the girl, then 14, on either Sept. 5 or Sept. 6, 2009, in the basement of his home.
The victim testified at the trial that Wood pushed her to the floor, took off her clothes, got on top of her and engaged in sexual activity.
"This testimony was sufficient to sustain the verdict," Bowes wrote. "The jury viewed (Wood's) body size, and it was within its prerogative to credit the victim's testimony that she was sexually assaulted. We, as an appellate court, are prohibited from reversing the jury's determination in this respect."
Furthermore, Wood did not show that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence, Bowes wrote.
"The verdict herein does not shock one's sense of justice, and the trial court, which viewed (Wood's) size and the victim as she was offering her proof, did not palpably abuse its discretion in rejecting (Wood's) weight-of-the-evidence claim," Bowes wrote.
Of the other two panel members, Judge Cheryl Lynn Allen joined in Bowes' opinion, while Judge Sallie Updyke Mundy concurred in the result but not the opinion. Defendant: Joseph R. Wood
Age: 54
Residence: Schuylkill Haven
Crimes committed: Statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, indecent exposure and corruption of minors
Prison sentence: Six to 12 years in a state correctional institution, plus five years consecutive probation