No antics in domestic violence case

A scheduled hearing involving the defendant in a domestic violence case went off without any courtroom disruptions Thursday, despite the man’s earlier suggestion that he would “snatch” a weapon and cause havoc that would get his story covered on cable television news.

Judge James P. MacElree had ordered heightened security in his courtroom at the Chester County Justice center for the proceeding with William Brown, who authorities allege assaulted and raped his estranged wife and tried to kill her cousin during a break-in at her West Nottingham home on

Valentine’s Day 2016.

MacElree did so after being alerted by the prosecution that Brown, while incarcerated at Chester County Prison, had been tape recorded promising to grab a gun from a deputy sheriff if he had the chance.

“I may be on CNN,” Brown told a relative during a telephone call last June. “I’m already 46. I’m not stressed about it. They want 25 (years). You might as well go and murder someone.”

But during the proceeding Brown remained calm and said little aside from politely answering MacElree’s questions about his decision to take his case to trial in August. At the conclusion of the hearing, during which he was handcuffed and shackled and watched by as many as five deputies, Brown smiled and laughed with one of his defense attorneys. MacElree wished him luck before he was led from the courtroom.

Brown, 47, of Lancaster County, is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, rape, burglary, and related counts for the incident in which he allegedly stabbed his estranged wife’s cousin multiple times, and sliced his face severely, as a way of extracting revenge on his spouse, who had secured a protection from abuse order against him a few days before. He allegedly told them he would kill them both, then himself, and create a “Valentine’s Day Massacre.”

As he does in such serious cases, MacElree wanted to ask Brown whether he had considered the prosecution’s sentencing offer and understood the possibility that a conviction at trial might bring with it a more severe penalty than the sentence that had been proposed.

“I am not trying to talk you out of a trial in any way,” MacElree told Brown during their conversation. “I have no idea what the result of the trial will be. I am told that the evidence is strong against you, but I haven’t heard it.”

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Borchik, who is prosecuting the case, told MacElree that the maximum sentences for the crimes that Brown would be sentenced on if he were found guilty added up to a total of 45 to 90 years. Borchik said he had offered a plea agreement to charges of attempted murder and burglary that would see Brown sentenced to 30 to 60 years in state prison.

MacElree told Brown that in the past he had seen cases in which the defendant is told of a plea offer by the prosecution, turned it down, and after conviction is sentenced to a lengthier prison sentence.

“‘Golly,’” the judge quoted that defendant as saying. “‘If I’d known I was going to get convicted … I would have taken the deal. Can I get a re-do?’ Unfortunately, we do not permit the trial to be ignored.”

Borchik said that Brown had so far rejected the proposed sentence, but allowed that his office remained open to further negotiating the plea with his attorneys, assistant public defenders Meredith Copeland and Erin Bruno.

“The Commonwealth’s offer is no doubt a considerable one,” MacElree told Brown, who was dressed in a blue Tshirt and denim work pants. “However, it is a whole lot less than what you could get if you go to trial.” He urged Brown to discuss the matter with Copeland, who he said was familiar with MacElree’s sentencing practices in cases of violence. “From my perspective, you might want to consider it.”

Borchik said his office would be willing to discuss the matter up until July 1, at which time he would begin to prepare for trial. He said the case would likely last only three days, as there are but a few witnesses, including Brown’s estranged wife and her cousin.

The issue of Brown’s apparent threats — which Copeland told MacElree were likely made in jest in his conversations with an aunt – came up before the hearing when MacElree told those visiting in the courtroom that there was “a potential for violence in the courtroom.” At the mention, three women – one with two young children and another with a teenager – got up and left.

Brown was arrested on Feb. 14, 2016, at the home on Center Drive where his wife was living and which he forced his way into, armed with knives, after she obtained a protection from abuse order. According to authorities, Brown’s wife was able to alert police to what was happening in her home during the incident by secretly dialing 911 on a cell phone, and leaving it on live during the attack. State police troopers responded to the call and halted the attack when they arrived.