by peter e. bortner
A Carbon County man must remain behind state prison bars for selling cocaine twice in 2009 in Tamaqua, a three-judge state Superior Court panel has ruled.
In a five-page opinion filed Monday in Pottsville, the panel upheld the conviction and sentence of Rolando M. Horsford, 31, of Lansford, ruling there was no reason to overturn either.
"We conclude that there has been no error in this case," Judge Judith Ference Olson wrote in the opinion.
As a result, Horsford must serve two to five years in a state correctional institution, the prison sentence that Judge John E. Domalakes imposed on him on Feb. 3, 2011. Horsford is serving his sentence at SCI/Houtzdale, Clearfield County.
After a two-day trial, a jury convicted Horsford on Dec. 10, 2010, of two counts each of delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance and one of criminal use of a communication facility. Domalakes, who presided over the trial, found Horsford guilty of driving under suspension-DUI related.
Tamaqua police charged Horsford with selling $50 worth of cocaine to a confidential informant on Aug. 29, 2009, and again on Sept. 3, 2009. Both sales occurred at a storage facility on Spruce Street in the borough, according to police.
In her opinion, Olson wrote that Horsford alleged that Domalakes made four mistakes that should compel the panel to order a new trial: that a police officer testified that the defendant had a "street name," that the same police officer should have been ordered to answer a question about an unindicted co-conspirator, that a defense witness was not allowed to testify about a statement made by the same unindicted co-conspirator and that the judge should not have included his recollection of the facts when answering a question from the jury.
However, Olson wrote that Domalakes correctly dealt with all of those issues and that there were no errors that would justify reversing his decision.
Judge John L. Musmanno joined Olson's opinion completely.
Senior Judge Eugene B. Strassburger III, the third panel member, wrote in a concurring opinion that he agreed with the result and most of the rationale, but that he would have ruled that Horsford had waived the argument about the purported statement from the unindicted co-conspirator.Defendant: Rolando M. Horsford
Age: 31
Residence: Lansford
Crimes committed: Two counts each of delivery of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance and one each of criminal use of a communication facility and driving under suspension-DUI related
Prison sentence: Two to five years in a state correctional institution