A Schuylkill County jury split its verdict Wednesday in the case of a Mahanoy City woman charged with two drug-related offenses.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated more than an hour before deciding Heidi Ann Hruniuk, 33, was guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia but not guilty of possession of a controlled substance.
Judge Cyrus Palmer Dolbin ordered preparation of a presentence investigation and scheduled Hruniuk’s sentencing for 2 p.m. May 16. Dolbin allowed Hruniuk, who did not react to the verdict, to remain free on $2,500 percentage bail pending sentencing.
Mahanoy Township police charged Hruniuk, who did not testify or offer any evidence on her behalf, with possessing bath salts and three glass tubes, or pipes, on Jan. 9, 2015, in the township. Police said Hruniuk had the pipes in her purse while a passenger in a vehicle.
“She admitted the purse was hers,” Shenandoah police Patrolman David J. Stammen, who participated in the stop, testified.
Assistant Public Defender Kent D. Watkins, Hruniuk’s lawyer, said in his closing argument that Hruniuk showed no signs of being under the influence of drugs.
“You want something clear cut,” he told the jury.
Watkins also said the police did not bother to show the items they said they found in the purse to Hruniuk.
Assistant District Attorney Debra A. Smith said in her closing argument that township police Chief Brandon L. Alexander provided more than enough evidence in his testimony to convict Hruniuk.
“He opened the purse. He found the items,” Smith said. “They were all together.”
She also said laboratory tests showed the drug in question was bath salts.
Also on Wednesday, prosecutors withdrew a charge of indirect criminal contempt, which is contempt committed outside the courtroom, against Dakota M. Bailor, 20, of Sunbury, at the request of the main witness in the case.
State police at Frackville had alleged Bailor violated a protection from abuse order by making several telephone calls to the alleged victim on March 4.
In other recent county court action, President Judge William E. Baldwin accepted guilty pleas from, and, pursuant to agreements between prosecutors and defendants, imposed the indicated sentences on, these people:
Matthew P. McTiernan, 28, of Frackville; driving under the influence; 30 days to six months in prison, $750 fine, $100 payment to the Substance Abuse Education Fund, $50 payment to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account and $60 restitution to Schuylkill Medical Center-South Jackson Street. Prosecutors withdrew a charge of speeding.
All defendants who were sentenced must pay costs as a part of their sentences.