Witness intimidation in Philly courts

Joseph A. Slobodzian has an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about courtroom misbehavior:

How bad is witness intimidation in Philadelphia's criminal court system? Consider the case of Devin Smith, 27, charged in the beating death of 49-year-old Ramona Bell in a house on Salem Street in Frankford. Smith had a preliminary hearing recently, that ended after two hours with Municipal Court Judge Patrick F. Dugan ordering Smith to stand trial for murder despite two witnesses "going south", and a member of the public being charged after taking pictures with a cellphone. Courtroom 306 in the Criminal Justice Center, known as murder court, is where all homicide preliminary hearings are held. It is known for its volatile atmosphere. Fights break out, and the public gallery is separated from the front of the court by bulletproof glass.
Smith's hearing had not even started when Dugan said he saw a camera flash. Court staff confronted 27-year-old Darrell Marshall and confiscated two cellphones. By then, the prosecution's first witness, Darnell Kenan, 38, was already in the box and deep into a stare-off with the defendant. Not long afterward, deputies ordered the witness to face the back wall. From there, it got worse. Kenan responded to questions from Assistant District Attorney Brendan O'Malley with a series of "I don't know"s. He said he remembered nothing, including telling detectives in a signed statement that Smith beat and kicked Bell in the head and chest, and that he had carried the unconscious Bell to an upstairs bedroom after Smith was done. Kenan said detectives had threatened him with jail time if he did not sign the statement. "I have learning disabilities... I don't think it's fair that they want to force me to be a witness," he said. The next witness, Keith Bennett, 54, did not go south on O'Malley. He went south by southwest. He hemmed and hawed, shifted in his seat, and said he could not read his statement because he had forgotten his glasses. Dugan solved that problem by offering the witness his own glasses. In the end, Dugan said Smith should be tried on a general murder charge. Afterward, the prosecutor slowly walked back to his table, rolled his eyes, and said: "Nothing is ever easy." In the last decade, witness intimidation and retaliation (some witnesses have been killed) had reached epidemic levels in Philadelphia. That was the main reason the state Supreme Court last summer let counties use indicting grand juries. Grand juries operate in secret, so prosecutors can call squeamish witnesses to testify away from the public. As for Marshall, Dugan appointed him with a lawyer, and charged him with contempt of court. Marshall, who has convictions for carrying a gun without a license and drug possession, was released while technicians from the District Attorney's Office examine his cellphones. He has a hearing on 20 September 2013.

Rico says it's just another fucking Philly sweetheart...