The Shenandoah man who police say fired a gun into a borough home in March faces a long term behind state prison bars after a Schuylkill County jury convicted him Tuesday of 22 crimes stemming from that incident.
James C. Stevens, 21, did not react as the jury of six men and six women, after deliberating about 1 1/2 hours, pronounced him guilty of six counts each of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault, three of discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and one of carrying a firearm without a license.
"We're very happy with the verdict," said Assistant District Attorney Douglas J. Taglieri, who decided not to send six other counts of simple assault to the jury. "I think the jury reached the right verdict."
President Judge William E. Baldwin, who presided over the two-day trial, did not immediately set a date for Stevens' sentencing. However, Baldwin did order preparation of a presentence investigation and increased Stevens' bail to $10,000 cash or bond.
"The possibility of flight is enhanced" by the conviction, Baldwin said in explaining his decision to boost Stevens' bail from $5,000 straight cash. Taglieri had asked Baldwin to increase bail to $30,000, while Assistant Public Defender Kent D. Watkins, Stevens' lawyer, had asked the judge to keep it at $5,000.
Stevens could not post bail and went to prison after the jury announced its verdict.
Shenandoah police had charged Stevens with firing a .40-caliber Star handgun into the residence at 313 S. West St., and then fleeing the scene, about 10 p.m. March 27.
Vanessa Crawley, Shenandoah, testified Monday that she saw Stevens pull the gun out of his waistband and fire it at the house.
State police Cpl. James Cuttitta and former Shenandoah police Chief Joseph W. Hall testified on Monday that the day after the shooting, they found the gun wrapped in a T-shirt concealed in the yard of Stevens' 321 W. Cherry St. residence.
Borough police Patrolman Michael J. O'Neill, the prosecuting officer, testified that Stevens changed his story about the incident, at first denying he had been at the scene, but later telling him that he was there but gave the gun to a man named Tyson, who did the shooting.
Watkins declined to comment on the case after the verdict.
Taglieri said he would ask Baldwin to impose a long state prison sentence on Stevens. He also said the community is fortunate that the incident did not result in far worse consequences.
"This was an extraordinarily dangerous act that the defendant committed," he said. "We're thankful that no one was injured."Defendant: James C. Stevens
Age: 21
Residence: Shenandoah
Crimes committed: Six counts each of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault, three of discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and one of carrying a firearm without a license