Unity man awaiting retrial decision on rape accusation released on electronic home monitoring
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A Unity man who had his conviction of raping a teenage girl overturned will be released on home electronic monitoring while waiting to see if a state appellate court will make him stand a second trial.
In August, a Westmoreland County jury found Bruce J. Palmer, 34, guilty of rape, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault and 10 other related counts in connection with crimes claimed to have occurred over a three-year period that ended in 2014. He was sentenced to serve up to eight years in prison.
Palmer maintained his innocence and claimed his now 20-year-old accuser concocted the allegations.
In April, Common Pleas Judge Tim Krieger ruled Palmer should be granted a new trial because testimony from his accuser was contradicted by other evidence and her repeated emotional outbursts witnessed by jurors inside and out of the courtroom were “contrived” and could have impacted the outcome of the case.
In his nine-page opinion, Krieger said no single issue led to his decision but that “taken together, however, the nature and context of the contradictory testimony, the almost complete lack of detailed, corroborating testimony from the victim, the timing and context of the victim’s initial complaints and the shadow cast over the trial by the victim’s very visible, often melodramatic displays in front of the jury compel this court to grant defendant’s motion for a new trial.” Krieger wrote.
On Tuesday, Palmer’s attorney Suzanne Swan argued to Krieger that her client deserved to be released on bond pending the appellate court’s ruling on the case. He had been free on recognizance bond between his arrest in 2015 and trial in 2018, during which time he appeared at all court proceedings, Swan said.
She argued that Palmer was caretaker for his mother who has cancer and he also has 3- and 9-year-old sons at home.
Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Calisti objected to Palmer’s release. She argued that if he is retried and convicted he could receive a more severe sentence of up to 40 years and could be a “potential flight risk.”
The district attorney’s office appealed Krieger’s decision to state Superior Court arguing that a 12-member jury found the victim’s testimony credible and the conviction was lawful.
Krieger ruled that Palmer could be released on home electronic monitoring through pre-trial services.
Swan confirmed to Krieger that Palmer will be living with his girlfriend, Marie Ann Farabaugh, 41, who was convicted during the same trial of lesser charges. Jurors found her guilty of child endangerment and reckless endangerment for not intervening and stopping the alleged sexual assaults.
Farabaugh’s conviction also was overturned. She is free pending the outcome of the appeal, according to online dockets.