Superior Court upholds conviction in burglaries

Ritchey sought suppression of GPS tracking evidence

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has upheld the conviction of a Clarion County man charged years ago with four burglaries in Clearfield County.

Pennsylvania State Police in 2011 had information that Jerry Lee Richey Jr., now 48, was burglarizing commercial properties in several western Pennsylvania counties, and they obtained a warrant to install a GPS tracking device to Ritchey's automobile.

On the night of July 20, 2011, and early morning hours of July 21, 2011, police reported that three businesses and a government office along Route 322 in Clearfield County had been entered.

State police investigators found that each of the locations had been ransacked and that money was taken from at least two of the locations.

Investigators found "distinctive four-arrow-tread shoe prints" at each location.

The GPS tracking device also showed that Richey's car had been in the area of two of the commercial properties about 11:30 p.m. July 20, near the location of the third property at 2:45 a.m. July 21 and was near the government office for 40 minutes about 4 a.m. July 21.

A trooper noted Ritchey returned to his home during the early morning of July 21 and saw him remove something from his car.

Police also obtained a video of Ritchey buying a pair of shoes with a four-arrow tread two months before the Clearfield County entries.

Ritchey was eventually arrested for multiple burglaries in Clearfield, Venango and Clarion counties.

The Superior Court opinion issued last week indicated that, upon his arrest, Ricthey asked a trooper "if a person was to commit these 80 to 100 crimes, would it be better for that person to get that out in the open all at once?"

The trooper agreed that was a good idea, upon which Ritchey responded, "Sorry, guys, I can't."

Ritchey was convicted of the Clearfield County burglaries and eventually was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to four to 16 years in prison.

Ritchey's case went through lengthy post-conviction proceedings, but in 2019, the Superior Court reinstated his appeal rights. That led to the rejection of the appeal last week by Superior Court Judges John T. Bender, Mary Jane Bowes and Megan Sullivan.

In his appeal, filed by Philipsburg attorney Brian D. Jones, Ritchey argued that any evidence gained by the use of the GPS tracking device should have been suppressed because the warrant was signed by an Allegheny County judge who, he alleged, lacked jurisdiction in Clearfield County.

In addition, the appeal noted the warrant was based on "reasonable suspicion" that he was engaged in illegal activity, a lower standard than the "probable cause" language more recently adopted by the General Assembly.

The defense also argued that, while Ritchey may have been near the buildings when they were entered, there was no evidence he actually committed the burglaries.

His final argument was that police never found him in possession of any items taken from the Clearfield-area businesses.

The Superior Court panel ruled that the warrant requesting the GPS tracking device was properly issued even though the judge was from Allegheny County.

It also found that the warrant was based on several facts cited by police that pointed to Ritchey as a suspect.

– From Dec. 23, 2010, to July 10, 2011, 29 commercial burglaries had been committed in Venango County.

– Ritchey was a suspect.

– He also was suspected of committing a Clarion County burglary after tire marks found at the scene matched the tires on his car.

– Then there were the four-arrow shoe prints found at various burglary sites.

"We conclude that the affidavit established the requisite probable cause for the attachment of the GPS device (to Ritchey's car)," the Superior Court panel ruled.

In addressing Ritchey's claims that nobody saw him in the businesses or found him in possession of stolen goods, the Superior Court panel concluded, "The Commonwealth may sustain its burden of proof by means of wholly circumstantial evidence."

That evidence included: the presence of the shoe prints; his vehicle being in the area of the four businesses for prolonged periods of time when the burglaries were committed; the trooper's observation of Ritchey taking something from his car upon arriving home after the Clearfield-area burglaries; and Ritchey's inquiry of police as to the propriety of a possible confession.

In addition to the Clearfield County prison sentence, Ritchey received a minimum sentence of eight years for the Venango County burglaries, according to state court records.

He remains incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution at Somerset.