On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, Trib Live reported that a Westmoreland County judge said he will consider recusing himself from the case of a suspended Arnold police officer accused of lying about damage to his patrol vehicle.
Judge Scott Mears of Westmoreland County asked defense attorney Marc Daffner to formally file a motion seeking the judge’s recusal from the case against 33-year-old Ryan Matthew Clark of Buffalo Township. Daffner briefly argued that Judge Mears should remove himself from the case because Mears previously found Clark’s testimony in an unrelated criminal case to not be credible when Clark was a witness during a suppression hearing.
However, Assistant District Attorney Michael Pacek stated that prosecutors do not have an issue with Judge Mears continuing to oversee the case. Pacek said “We think you can be fair and impartial and judge each case on its merits.”
Clark was arrested in mid-2022 by Westmoreland County detectives and charged with making a false report and tampering with evidence, both misdemeanors. Detectives alleged that Clark claimed his patrol SUV was damaged in a hit-and-run at a Sunoco station on June 21, 2022. Surveillance video from the convenience store reportedly showed no crash occurred, and instead depicted Clark taking a piece of damaged vehicle trim from inside his car and placing it against the SUV.
Judge Mears ordered the defense attorney to file a formal recusal motion within 10 days. Clark had been suspended without pay by the Arnold Police Department following his arrest.
Source: Trib Live
