Hutchins
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WILKES-BARRE — Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General Bernard A. Anderson reluctantly agreed to a defense attorney’s request to continue the sentencing hearing for Robert James Hutchins on Thursday.
Anderson quickly pointed out, “This is no way to practice law.”
Hutchins, 20, of West Pittston, was scheduled for a sexual assessment hearing before Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas to determine if he meets the criteria of a violent sexual offender. After the assessment hearing, Hutchins was scheduled to be sentenced on two counts each of statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors.
Hutchins pled guilty to the charges April 6.
West Pittston police charged Hutchins after he gave two teenage girls Molly, a slang term for Ecstasy, played Truth or Dare with the girls and forced them to kiss each other, and pressured them to engage in sexual acts with him, court records say.
An evaluation by the state’s Sexual Offender Assessment Board determined Hutchins does meet the definition of a violent sexual offender but the ultimate ruling falls upon Lupas.
At the start of the sexual assessment hearing, Hutchins’ attorney, Wojciech Jankowski, requested a continuance to allow him to find an expert witness to challenge the SOAB’s evaluation.
Jankowski’s request resulted in Lupas admonishing the public defender noting he had ample time to find an expert witness since Hutchins’ guilty plea in April.
Anderson said he was prepared to proceed since he traveled from Allentown, one of the two victims was in the courtroom including the SOAB evaluator who traveled from Harrisburg to testify.
However, to avoid any opportunity for Hutchins to file an appeal claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, Anderson said he was forced to reluctantly agree to the postponement.
“This is no way to practice law,” Anderson said.
Lupas rescheduled Hutchins’ sexual assessment hearing and sentencing for Oct. 13.
In unrelated cases, Hutchins was sentenced in Lackawanna County Court on July 12 to 34-to-78 months in state prison on a firearm offense in Taylor and an aggravated assault case in Scranton.