Unable to reach a decision after close to three hours of deliberations Tuesday, an Allegheny County jury today will continue trying to determine whether the former police chief and borough manager in Edgewood is guilty of theft and workers compensation fraud charges.
Peter D. Messina, 66, who resigned as borough manager in December 1998 and was fired by borough council from his police chief's position in August of 1999, is being tried on two counts of theft and two counts of workers' compensation fraud in the court of Common Pleas Court Judge John Zottola.
The prosecution contends that Messina illegally collected more than $11,300 in workers compensation benefits between May and November of 1998.
According to previous testimony, Messina was demonstrating a karate move in the borough in 1998 when he fell and fractured his wrist. He was off work from May 15, 1998, until Nov. 16, 1998.
Messina faces another trial later this year on charges that he used his position in the borough to pay for approximately $20,000 in personal items at borough expense.
According to attorneys arguing the workers compensation fraud case yesterday, Messina's guilt or innocence hinges on whether he knew that receiving a salary from the borough at the same time that he received about $560 per week in workers compensation from May to November of 1998 was illegal.
Messina's attorney, William Manifesto, argued in his closing arguments yesterday that Messina had a right to receive the workers compensation money at the same time that he was receiving salary payments because the salary was for more than 1,900 hours of compensatory time that Messina had accrued working as the borough of Edgewood's manager and police chief.
Under the borough's ordinances, Messina could not receive overtime pay but could take time, called compensatory time, and get paid for it.
But Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Radoycis argued that there were no records of the accrued time to which Messina was referring.
Prosecutors also allege that Messina fabricated a memo on his computer to give the impression that he had communicated to borough officials in 1998 his intention to give the workers compensation money that he received back to the borough.
Radoycis said an FBI document-0recovery specialist retrieved a document dated from May 1998 on Messina's computer that actually was created in May 1999.
"In light of this fabricated evidence, can you trust anything he says?" Radoycis said.
According to Radoycis, Messina earlier testified that the records that recorded his accrued time had been lost or misplaced when Messina moved his files to the what is now the police chief's office to make room for then borough manager John Marquart. Marquart was hired to replace Messina on May 1, 1999.
Manifesto argued that it was just common sense that Messina would have accrued large amounts of compensatory time while working as both the borough manager and the borough police chief.
Messina received $55,716 per year as police chief and $18,671 as borough manager.
Manifesto said David Amatangelo, a former bookkeeper for the borough, testified that he never saw Messina take a vacation and frequently saw him working more than 40 hours a week.
Manifesto said Messina also did much of the assistant borough manager's job in addition to his other duties.
"Is it reasonable that anyone would do both assistant manager and manager for $18,000 per year?" Manifesto asked.
Since Messina's departure, Edgewood council has passed an ordinance prohibiting one person from having the borough manager's position and the police chief's position at the same time.
Messina had been police chief in Edgewood since 1983 and had been in both positions since 1986.
