Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Perkiomen man guilty of vehicular homicide in teen’s death
A Perkiomen man showed no emotion as a jury convicted him of vehicular homicide for fatally striking a teenage pedestrian while driving recklessly in Lower Pottsgrove.
Robert Norman Sitler, 47, formerly of the 300 block of Countryside Court, did not look at the Montgomery County jury as it delivered the verdict on the single charge after deliberating 1½ hours on Wednesday. Sitler faces a possible maximum sentence of 3½ to seven years in prison on the charge when he’s sentenced later this year.
With its verdict the jury determined Sitler acted recklessly by violating various traffic laws and caused the 8:55 p.m. Nov. 12, 2012, crash that claimed the life of 16-year-old Timothy Anthony Paciello Jr., who was crossing East High Street near Sunnyside Avenue in Lower Pottsgrove.
After the jury reached its verdict on the one charge, Judge Garrett D. Page, who presided over
the trial, also convicted Sitler of numerous traffic violations including reckless driving, speeding, disregarding traffic lane and passing improperly.
The verdict brought tears and relief to members of Paciello’s family and to his friends, who hugged one another and who had been waiting more than four years for justice.
During her closing remarks to the jury, Assistant District Attorney Lauren Heron alleged Sitler’s reckless driving, including speeding, tailgating and making an improper lane change, resulted in Paciello’s death.
“It’s the perfect storm of traffic violations that had him out there driving blindly. His conduct was reckless. The defendant’s aggressive driving culminated in this crash, culminated in the death of Timothy Paciello,” Heron argued.
But defense lawyer Scott C. McIntosh argued the incident was an unavoidable accident that involved a pedestrian who was wearing dark clothing and standing in the middle of the road and not at a crosswalk.
“This was a tragic accident. It was an unavoidable accident,” argued McIntosh, who also characterized the case as “overzealous prosecution.”
Sitler, also formerly of Hatfield, did not testify during the trial.
Heron wrapped up her case Wednesday with testimony from county Detective David Schanes, a crash reconstruction expert.
“The aggressive driving of the defendant caused this crash. He made a sudden, erratic lane change in an unsafe manner,” Schanes testified, adding he determined Paciello was catapulted 182 feet after being struck by Sitler’s 2007 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and came to rest at a curb at the intersection of East High Street and Sunnyside Avenue.
Using various scientific calculations, Schanes said he determined “the minimum speed the truck was traveling was 50 mph.” Testimony revealed the posted speed limit in the area is 35 mph.
Paciello died from “multiple blunt impact injuries,” Schanes testified.
The “extreme force” of the impact also created a chemical change in the road surface, presumably from the friction of the victim’s sneaker, according to testimony.
Schanes testified he determined the point of impact with the help of video footage captured by surveillance cameras at the nearby Sunoco station, through which Paciello traveled on foot to get to East High Street. While the actual impact was out of range of the camera, the footage did record the aftermath.
Paciello’s family and friends, wearing purple clothing in recognition of the teen’s favorite color, wept as they watched the video that recorded Paciello’s final moments as he walked toward East High Street.
McIntosh suggested investigators couldn’t determine the exact point of impact, that there were other “scuff” marks on other areas of the roadway, and therefore the prosecution’s speed calculations were unreliable.
At the time he was killed, Paciello reportedly was on his way home from his girlfriend’s house as he attempted to cross East High Street, from the Sunoco station side of the street to the shopping center side, according to the arrest affidavit.
Investigators determined Paciello was able to make it halfway across East High Street and was standing in the center left turn only lane, waiting for eastbound traffic to clear, when he was struck by the westbound pickup truck operated by Sitler.
Authorities alleged Sitler, who was tailgating a westbound minivan, pulled into the center left turn only lane and accelerated to improperly pass the minivan when its driver activated a turn signal to turn right onto Sunnyside Avenue. Sitler struck Paciello with the front center of the Silverado in the lane not meant for passing, according to the arrest affidavit.
Before the trial began on Monday, Sitler pleaded guilty to charges he lied to police and insurance company officials after the crash when he claimed that Denise Dinnocenti, his girlfriend at the time, was operating the vehicle. Specifically, Sitler pleaded guilty to charges of insurance fraud, false reports, unsworn falsification to authorities, obstruction of administration of law and several conspiracy charges.
Sitler, who will be sentenced at a later date on those charges, decided to contest only the charges that his conduct was responsible for Paciello’s death, leaving that determination up to the jury.
Several days after the crash, Sitler allegedly admitted to being the driver and claimed he did not want to get into trouble because of his driving history. Court documents indicate Sitler was involved in a fatal crash in Baldwin County, Alabama, in 2004 that resulted in a 2006 vehicular manslaughter conviction.
Last July, prosecutors won a Pennsylvania Superior Court battle that allowed them to reveal to the jury that Sitler has the prior vehicular manslaughter conviction.
Heron relied on Sitler’s prior conviction to demonstrate that Sitler knew that his hazardous driving created a substantial risk of death to others and argued it is relevant to show not only that Sitler knew of the risk, but also that he consciously disregarded it. Prosecutors also contend the prior conviction is evidence of Sitler’s motive to lie after the Lower Pottsgrove crash.
Sitler is currently serving a six-to-12-year state prison term on illegal gun possession and witness intimidation charges in connection with other incidents that occurred between 2012 and 2015.
Dinnocenti, 46, of Collegeville, who broke ties with Sitler and testified against him, previously pleaded guilty to obstructing administration of law, insurance fraud and related charges, admitting she lied to police and insurance officials when she claimed she was operating the vehicle that fatally struck Paciello. Last year, Dinnocenti was sentenced to three years’ probation and 75 hours of community service for her role in the cover-up.
The jury determined Sitler acted recklessly... and caused the 8:55 p.m. Nov. 12, 2012, crash that claimed the life of 16-yearold Timothy Anthony Paciello Jr.