Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — When the preliminary hearing is held for suspended Wilkes-Barre police officer Robert Collins on sex assault charges, state prosecutors will have an advantage thanks to a 2017 appellate court ruling.
Meanwhile, the embattled lawman was released from the county correctional facility late Tuesday after posting $125,000 bail.
Despite Collins’ plans of “answering these charges and fighting them vigorously,” he likely won’t have the opportunity to confront his four accusers at his upcoming preliminary hearing.
State prosecutors have the option to call the four women to testify or simply use the testimony of investigators against Collins when they present their case before a district judge.
A 2017 state Superior Court ruling, Commonwealth v. Ricker, permits prosecutors to present only hearsay testimony at the preliminary hearing level to establish a case. The ruling has become known as the “Ricker rule.”
At the preliminary hearing for Ashley police officer Mark Icker, 29, earlier this month, none of the three women Icker is accused of coercing sexual favors from testified against him. Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce relied solely upon the testimony of county Det. Charles Balogh, who interviewed the three women making allegations against Icker.
Collins, 53, of Mountain Top, is charged with sexually assaulting four women while he was on duty from August 2013 to December 2014. He was arrested Tuesday after an investigation by state police.
‘Clear violation’
Prior to the 2017 Superior Court ruling, prosecutors were forced to present victims and witnesses to testify at preliminary hearings.
The Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has not taken a position on the ruling and has a policy of not publicly commenting on open criminal cases.
But on background, two association members called the Ricker Rule a “clear violation of a defendant’s right to confront witnesses and victims.”
One member cited a rule change presented Jan. 12 to the state Supreme Court, which would compel prosecutors to present an unedited electronic recording of victims’ interviews by investigators at the preliminary hearing.
$71,680 salary
Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Joseph Coffay said Collins, a 12-year veteran of the force, has been placed on paid suspension pending an internal investigation. Collins earned $71,680 in 2018, city records show.
He was among 11 men sworn-in as a city police officer in February 2007, according to a previous Times Leader story. He is a 1983 graduate of Wilkes-Barre Area’s GAR High School and formerly was a postal worker in Scranton.
The state Office of Attorney General is prosecuting the case.
No one answered the door at Collins’ home Wednesday afternoon.
Times Leader reporter Jerry Lynott contributed to this story.