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Judge: Mosey plea stands

City man claimed faulty legal counsel

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County judge has concluded that an Altoona man knew what he was doing in October 2017 when he rendered a guilty plea to homicide by vehicle while DUI in the 2015 death of a pregnant woman on the North Eighth Street Bridge.

Tarence M. Mosey, 26, now serving three- to six-years of incarceration, is challenging the legal proceedings that caused him to plead guilty in exchange for the recommended and imposed sentence.

Instead of proceeding to trial on Oct. 10, 2017, Mosey pleaded and apologized to the family members of 29-year-old Brandyn Boyd who were in court.

Boyd had been standing on the bridge beside her disabled vehicle when Mosey struck her with his vehicle. The crash left the woman with injuries that caused her death and the death of her unborn child.

In a recent court hearing before Judge Timothy M. Sullivan, Mosey tried to make the case that his guilty plea reflected faulty legal representation. The defendant accused defense attorney Robert Donaldson of failing to render proper legal advice, thereby putting him in a position of rendering a guilty plea when he shouldn’t.

But Donaldson countered that he had allowed Mosey to make his own decision on the day of the plea, after talking with Mosey and his family members about his options. Sullivan confirmed, from reading transcripts, that Donaldson and Mosey were provided time for consultation before Mosey rendered his plea.

Donaldson also reported having prepared a letter, dated Oct. 8, 2017, advising Mosey that if the case went to trial and resulted in convictions, prosecutors were prepared to ask for aggravating sentencing factors to be applied.

And because of that intention, Donaldson said he made Mosey aware that going to trial would likely result in the risk of a sentence of more than three- to six-years’ incarceration.

“We find that attorney Donaldson took extraordinary measures to ensure that (Mosey’s) decision to enter his guilty plea was an informed decision,” Sullivan said.

The judge’s recent ruling also recognized that Richard J. McEldowney, a retired state trooper, was hired by Mosey and his family to take another look at the crash and whether criminal charges were warranted.

McEldowney confirmed that he had some concerns from early reviews of a crash reconstruction report prepared by Logan Township police. But reaching a conclusion would have required more work, McEldowney explained to Sullivan in court. And

for lack of payment, McEldowney said he didn’t reach a conclusion.

Sullivan said that without a valid opinion, he would agree with prosecutors who told him McEldowney’s testimony would have no relevance in determining the validity of Mosey’s guilty plea.

Mosey, the judge concluded, rendered a knowing, intelligent and voluntary guilty plea.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.

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