Assault defendant ‘dodges bullet’

Jeffrey Cahaley of East Bradford sentenced to 5 to 23 months in Chester County Prison for incident at Main Street at Exton

WEST CHESTER >> Jeffrey S. Cahaley hugged and kissed the members of his family that had gathered in a courtroom Monday morning to say farewell to him as he was led away to prison. And although the five months minimum he is to spend behind bars may seem a lifetime, it could have been much longer.

Common Pleas Judge Patrick Carmody, who accepted Cahaley’s guilty plea and approved the sentence that had been agreed upon by the prosecution and defense, made it clear that had it been up to him, the sentence of five to 23 months in Chester County Prison would have been radically different.

And still could be, if Cahaley reoffends.

“This literally could have caused death,” said Carmody of the assault that Cahaley admitted inflicting on an acquaintance he encountered in an altercation at an Exton shopping center. “It’s simple. You can’t do things like that.” Saying that had Cahaley gone to trial — as he had been scheduled to do — and been convicted, he would have likely sent him to a state prison, Carmody put it bluntly.

“You basically dodged a bullet today,” the judge declared. “You could have been looking at state time.”

But should Cahaley not live up to the terms of his sentence on charges of simple assault and reck-

lessly endangering another person, either by failing to complete the anger management course Carmody added to the terms of his probation or by having some future contact with his victim, that could change.

“If you have any contact with the victim whatsoever I will throw you in jail so fast it will make your head spin,” he told the defendant.

According to Assistant District Attorney Brian Burack, who prosecuted the case, Cahaley was involved in an assault on another man, Matt Swisher, who had himself been involved in some sort of altercation with a third man.

The fight, which took place around 8 p.m. on June 24 at the Main Street at Exton center, escalated when

Cahaley became involved, Burack said when outlining the case for the record. A number of people had gathered as the altercation between Swisher and the third man occurred, and Cahaley jumped in.

Burack said Cahaley, 25, of East Bradford lifted Swisher up off the ground, held him over his shoulders, and then threw him down in a body slam. Swisher’s head struck the pavement, and left him dazed to the point he has very unclear memories of what happened to him, Burack said. He suffered broken bones and brain injuries, but has thus far been relatively symptom free.

“He suffered a very serious injury,” the prosecutor said. “This has caused him a great deal of pain.”

Swisher was in the courtroom to witness Cahaley’s plea and sentence, although he did not address Carmody. Burack said he had been

“looped in” to the process of the case and trial, and was ultimately satisfied with the resolution. “He feels that justice has been done. He wants to close the door and move on.”

Cahaley, dressed in a business suit, and standing beside his attorney, Robert J. Donatoni of West Chester, answered Carmody’s questions about his decision to plead guilty rather than go to trial with quiet, sometimes halting, answers. His main concern seemed to be how much restitution he might be liable to pay Swisher for his injuries; in the plea, the cost of $25 is the only amount listed. Carmody told him that issue might be raised at some future point.

The defendant did apologize.

“I just want to say I had a lapse in judgment,” he told Carmody. “This is not my character by any means.” He turned to Swisher, whom he had met before the assault, and said he was sorry for what had happened. “You know that is not me,” he said. “I just want to put this behind us.”

In discussing the case with Carmody, Burack indicated that there were some obstacles the prosecution would have had to overcome to win a conviction for aggravated assault, which Cahaley had initially been charged with. Swisher had only a hazy memory of what had happened, and even though a bystander had filmed the encounter on a cellphone, the video did not show the entire altercation, only the end.

Other witnesses, Burack said, were friends of Cahaley’s and cooperated only minimally with police.

He said his office weighed different options in proceedings, but believed the sentence Cahaley received was above the norm for a simple assault.