Plenty of courtroom drama at hearing for man accused in 2006 murder

Posted: Thursday, January 24, 2013

Courtroom drama was not limited to the witness stand Wednesday at the preliminary hearing for a convicted drug dealer accused in the 2006 murder of a Bristol Township father of two.

One man was escorted outside after he kept interrupting the hearing of Ckaron Handy, 24, of Philadelphia, who is accused of shooting Kevin Battista in a drug-deal-turned-botched-robbery attempt.

The Bucks County district attorney and Philadelphia defense attorney repeatedly raised objections and questioned testimony, frequently speaking over each other.

Even Handy’s mom weighed in with comments from her front-row seat in the court gallery.

But no official record of the proceedings exists because no court stenographer was at the hearing — an almost unheard-of situation — and one that Handy’s friends and family loudly complained about to Bristol Township District Judge Joanne Kline, who heard the case.

Bristol Township police had a heavy presence with uniformed officers positioned inside and outside the courtroom. Spectators had to pass through a metal detector at the court entrance.

As Handy walked into the courtroom, he looked at the family and friends of Battista who filled most of the gallery seats, then greeted his mom, Araina Thompson, by asking “How you doing?”

Before the first of two witnesses started her testimony, defense attorney Douglas Earl requested that Kline grant a last-minute continuance citing the lack of a court stenographer. Kline refused, saying it’s the attorney’s job to hire a stenographer.

“I want this (expletive) on record,” Handy yelled.

“You want what?” Kline replied, angrily.

Thompson stood up and protested that her son’s civil rights were being violated.

But stenographers are not required at a preliminary hearing in which the DA’s office must prove it has enough evidence to bring a case to trial. Defense attorneys frequently use court reporters to get a record of witness testimony that can be used in preparing a defense or questioning witnesses during a trial.

There are only a few instances where a defense attorney would not want to lock in a witness’ version of events, said local defense attorney Louis Busico, who is not associated with this case.

After the hearing, Earl said that a court reporter had not been requested.

The prosecution’s first witness, Tiffany Calvanese, who described herself as a friend of Battista’s, testified that she and Battista were drinking together on Dec. 7, the night of the murder, when they decided to get cocaine. Battista has been described by police as a recreational drug user.

Initially, they were going to seek a dealer in a nearby mobile home park, but he wasn’t around, Calvanese testified.

As they drove along Route 13, Calvanese said that Battista thought he saw a car that he saw his girlfriend get into earlier, so he followed it into the Fleetwing section of Bristol Township, where he lost track of the vehicle.

Battista was not familiar with the neighborhood, which is known for its open-air drug markets, according to police.

Calvanese testified that the two looped around the neighborhood once before they pulled up to two men, whom she described in their 20s and wearing heavy winter coats, one with fur around the hood.

Battista asked the men if they had seen the car he had been following. When the men said they hadn’t, Calvanese testified that Battista asked if the men had “powder” — slang for powder cocaine.

One of the men said he did, and Battista asked for $60 worth.

But instead of handing over drugs, Calvanese testified, the man wearing the coat with the fur — whom police say was Handy — pulled out a revolver and demanded money.

“We were both in disbelief,” Calvanese told the court. “Kevin said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

When Handy started counting backward from three, Battista started slowing driving away and then Handy allegedly fired.

“All I heard was noise, and I ducked down,” she testified, adding she didn’t know Battista had been shot until he fell on top of her.

“I could hear him choking,” Calvanese added.

Was he able to say anything? Schorn asked.

“No,” she replied.

During Schorn’s questioning of Calvanese, Thompson continuously waived her arm trying to catch Kline’s attention.

“You have a question?” Kline said.

“Why wasn’t it objected that there is more than one way to get into Bloomsdale?” Thompson asked. Kline responded that that was a question for the lawyer.

In cross-examination, Earl pressed Calvanese on her version of events before the shooting, repeatedly asking her to explain why they went into the Fleetwing section that night and demanded she describe the faces of the two men who approached Battista’s pickup.

Calvanese, though, repeatedly said that she couldn’t provide a description beyond what she already testified to.

The prosecution’s second witness — Kyle Page, who is a first cousin of Handy’s, told the court that he was selling cocaine with Handy the night of the murder. He testified he was standing 2 feet away when Battista was shot.

“Who was the shooter?” Schorn said.

“Ckaron,” Page replied, adding that he saw the .22-caliber revolver that Handy used.

On cross examination, though, Earl asked Page why he waited so long to report the murder to police.

Page replied that he told police what happened three or four years ago.

Following the testimony, Kline dismissed five conspiracy charges against Handy, but held him for trial on the remaining charges, including homicide and robbery.

Bristol Township police said previously that Handy was an early suspect in Battista’s murder but they didn’t have enough evidence — or witnesses — to connect him to the crime. Initially, witnesses had refused to come forward, police said.

In 2009, the Bucks County DA’s office took the case before a grand jury to compel witnesses to testify, which led to the presentment that was released last year and the filing of an arrest warrant for Handy.

Less than a year after Battista’s murder, Handy was arrested on an unrelated drug charge and sentenced to state prison, where he remained until 2011.

A few months after he was released, Handy was arrested on a federal firearms charge in Bristol Township, police said.

He has been in federal custody since October on an unrelated 2011 firearms charge. He was convicted of that charge in November and will remain in federal custody until his sentencing, which was postponed Tuesday until Feb. 1.

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia

Murder suspect Ckaron Handy