Stuck on stupid: Lawton charges in court year later
A misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge that was filed September 2006 has yet to make its way to trial today. The trial for disorderly conduct charges filed against Pamela Lawton was postponed the second time this year to Aug. 7.
Lawton was charged with disorderly conduct following a traffic stop Aug. 26. Lawton said Pittsburgh Police officer Eric Tatusko pulled his weapon on her then 7-year-old daughter, Joshalyn. Tatusko claims Lawton was “belligerent” and caused a scene, leading him to draw his weapon.
According to Lawton, the trial was postponed upon request of her attorney, Paul Boas, and the prosecution. Lawton said Boas did not receive approximately 600 pages of statements from the Office of Municipal Investigation until the morning of the trial. Prosecutors also requested a continuance because they said Tatusko was recovering from gallbladder surgery.
Lawton questions why OMI chose to send witness statements so close to the trial date when all the statements were taken last year and the decision to clear Tatusko was made in July.
“Why did they wait until a year later to send a package when they already made the decision?” said Lawton. “Since they had that much information on the case, why didn’t they notify my lawyer or me? They had all this information in November.”
Minister Jasiri X of OneHOOD, which hosted the Pittsburgh Gathering Aug. 4 in part to bring national attention to Lawton’s case, says the fact that the charges have not come to trial a year later could be reflective of a desire on the city’s part to push the incident under the rug.
“I feel it’s a shame the city’s going through all this trouble and wasting taxpayer dollars on a disorderly conduct charge she didn’t even receive at the scene,” he said.
“It’s sad this happens in the so-called most livable city. If you’re poor, Black or Latino, this is how you’re treated.”
Minister X also said that OneHOOD planned to start a campaign to drop the disorderly conduct charges against Lawton. He said the effort would begin Aug. 15 and would start with a mass e-mail requesting that people contact District Attorney Steven Zappala and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to urge them to drop the charges.
“Joshalyn did an interview with Rustbelt Radio during the Gathering. They just asked her why she was here, and she said ‘Because the police officer put a gun to my head.’ We’ll send that out with an e-mail with a picture of Joshalyn,” said Minister X.
If the effort fails to get the charges dropped, Lawton will return to Judge Anthony Mariani’s courtroom Sept. 20 at 9 a.m. While she undoubtedly hopes the movement to have the charges dropped works, Lawton says she wants the ordeal to end one way or another.
“I want to be able to move on and heal and see justice, because I did no wrong,” said Lawton.