But add in attempting to disarm a sheriff’s deputy, stabbing a Pittsburgh police officer and assaulting two others, and the sentence for John Rush climbed to at least a 17-year-9-month prison term — which could run all the way up to 44 years if he doesn’t make parole.
Rush, dressed in a burgundy Allegheny County Jail jumpsuit with his hands shackled in front of him, had nothing to say when asked by Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos on Tuesday morning if he would like to speak on his own behalf.
His defense attorney, Aaron Sontz, also said nothing and called no witnesses.
Only Rocco’s human partner testified, and even he spoke briefly.
“I lost my partner from this. He was also a family member,” said Pittsburgh police Officer Phil Lerza.
Rush, a convicted sex offender, was being sought on a bench warrant for his arrest when a sheriff’s deputy spotted him in Lawrenceville on Jan. 28, 2014. Rush fought with the deputy, tried to disarm him and then hid in the basement of an apartment building.
Pittsburgh officers responded and warned Rush to come out or they would send in the dog. Rocco was released, and Rush stabbed him and Officer Lerza and fought with other officers. Rocco died two days later.
Deputy district attorney Jennifer DiGiovanni asked Judge Rangos for a lengthy sentence, arguing that Rush had been arrested for multiple assaults, and that after every attempt at treatment, has committed new crimes.
The prosecutor said she also spoke with the defendant’s mother, who is a witness in another case, prior to sentencing, and that Renee Rush said her son has mental health issues, has been institutionalized most of his life and that he’s violent.
“She indicated she, herself, is afraid of her son, and when he would stay with her, she slept with her door locked,” Ms. DiGiovanni said.
Judge Rangos said her decision was based in part on the 22-year-old’s history of least 20 prior assaults.
The judge broke the sentence down charge by charge: 2½ to 7 years for disarming a law enforcement officer; 3 years and 4 months up to 7 years for killing a police animal; 3 years to 7½ years for each of four counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
The judge said all are to run consecutive to one another, resulting in a term of 17 years and 9 months up to 44 years.
“This is definitely a long sentence,” said Duquesne University Law professor Wes Oliver. “This is a sentence that could be handed down for third-degree murder.”
Mr. Oliver noted that while judges are given recommended guidelines of prison time to follow in sentencing, there are no rules set out that require penalties to run concurrently, or at the same time, versus consecutively, or one after the other.
“State guidelines are typically very vague and give the judge wide discretion,” he said.
Judge Rangos said the aggravated assault sentences were meant to acknowledge each victim.
Mr. Oliver doesn’t contest that idea, but said running them consecutively makes the sentence more in line with criminal homicide.
“Each individual component of the logic makes sense, but when you add it up it seems a little off kilter with how we think people ought to be sentenced for crimes that don’t involve homicide. No human was actually killed.”
Defense attorney Lee Rothman said he is sure the sentence will withstand appeals even though he views it as excessive.
“While a police dog is working in the line of duty, it is still an animal. It’s not a human being,” Mr. Rothman said.
But, he continued, “All [Rush] had to do was adhere to police instructions and none of this would have happened.”
He said that Rush could have received as much as 10 years in prison for stabbing Officer Lerza alone.
“I wouldn’t expect somebody to get less than 10 to 20 for stabbing a police officer,” Mr. Rothman said. “He could have died.”
Following Rocco’s death, there was an outpouring of support for K-9 officers, which led to the passage of new legislation that took effect in August. It increased the grading of killing a police animal to a second-degree felony, from a third-degree, and increased the penalty from up to seven years in prison to up to 10.
“Although it didn’t impact the sentence in this case, I’m hoping it will act as a deterrent — that K9 officers are an integral part of law enforcement and significant investments in communities protecting their interests,” said state Sen. Matt Smith, D-Mt. Lebanon.
(Post-Gazette - March 10, 2015)
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