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CLL © | . . | newsnnper vghly Bn sta e. de my weed e . . . ; Joyrscewd, © fy ZA MK . ———= ——_ —_—. (Mo - tipping In Spoce Below) | _ Wgfoe ° te \ ‘ “baition? State c court’ -upholds threat r Be : -. oe - i t I conviction \.py SANDRA K. REABUCK | TRIBUNE-DEMQGRAT EBENSBURG BUREAU I | | EBENSBURG - State-Superior Court has | oe | t b6 ~ b7C JOHN P. F CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C. - VICTIM; \ 12/03/1997 - CCSCAKA - THREAT Classification: Submitting Office: 0-26 -~bY¥yd upheld the terroristic threats conviction of Don- ald L. Fenton and probation conditions that bar im from contacting U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D Johnstown; The Tribune-Democrat; and othershe | eatened. 1 . But the state court overturned Fenton’s convic- — co ‘tion on a companion charge of harassment, say- "' "" “ting the threat to “blow the (expletive) head off” of ‘Murtha and one of the congressman’s aides did ‘not meet the legal definition of a telephone call \ -with lewd language. The state court said the expletive, as used ‘by \Fenton in a call to his insurance agent, was coarse ‘ tand offensive but did not constitute sexually e sexplicit language in the context in which it was . tused. .| Fenton, 53, of Geistown, was convicted of the +. |two charges in 1998 by a county jury. The charges , tn : | stemmed from a 10-minute phone call in Decem- { Donald Fenton ’ | ber 1997 to Randy Leventry about problems with | } Disappointed b . the repair of Fenton’s truck and i insurance cover- ° ____eappointed by verdict __ I y 0 nN ’ i st ts 5 Lage on the repairs. j_ In sentencing Fenton in October 1998, Judge ; iThomas Swope put him on probation for five | }years on the terroristic threats charge and ™ , jordered him not to have any contact with Murtha, the newspaper and its employees, Leventry or the | ne , rauto dealership where his truck was repaired. .% ++ ¢ Because Swope sentenced Fenton to a concur: | ~ irent three- to 12-month jail term on the harass- { ‘ment charge, the state court sent the case back to ithe county judge for resentencing. Fenton, who had served three months while | awaiting trial before being released on bond, did not serve any additional jail ti | Public defender Richard Corcoran, who repre- BIA te C- ; 44 / 0 ~ | Oi sents Fenton, said Friday that he would discuss | with his client whether to file a fu SEARCHED GEN rther appeal. SERIALIZED © aR ghoooe FILED. “APR i 2 2273 a i “He was disappointed with the entire verdict. ; ” |The prohibitions bothered him quite a bit, espe- |cially not being able to write to the editor of The : Tribune-Democrat. He liked to do that,” Corcoran , Said. But the state appellate court found that the con- | ditions were not a violation of Fenton’s First LN Le