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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The defense for a caregiver who is accused of sexually assaulting a patient has filed a series of motions in county court, including one requesting the case be moved back to a lower district court.</p><p>Andrew Dula III, 54, of Shickshinny, was not presented with fair plea deals, according to motions filed Tuesday by defense attorney Al Flora.</p><p>Dula was given two &#8220;take it or leave it&#8221; deals, in which he would either plead guilty to the sexual assault charge and waive all of his statutory and constitutional rights, or face seven additional charges, the defense argues. Dula rejected both of these offers, despite initially appearing as though he would <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/646607/caregiver-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-mentally-challenged-patient-headed-to-trial" target="_blank">accept</a> the agreement.</p><p>Dula is charged with assaulting a 36-year-old patient at Community Living in Kingston in 2015 and 2016. The woman is mentally challenged and non-verbal, court records show.</p><p>The defense furthers argues the prosecution was attempting to &#8220;undermine the truth-determining process,&#8221; and made these deals to lower the burden of proof for its case. Flora also notes prosecutors have been unable to produce an independent witness. He is requesting that Dula&#8217;s case be remanded back to the district court level for a preliminary hearing.</p><p>A second motion requests that the victim be deemed an incompetent witness at all points of time material to the case. The defense says the victim has the &#8220;age-functioning level of an 8-and-a-half-month-old child,&#8221; according to her psychological records.</p><p>A third motion requests that a videotape containing an alleged confession from Dula be suppressed as evidence. The defense says the interview violated Dula&#8217;s Fifth Amendment rights to not incriminate himself and to be assisted by counsel.</p><p>Flora is requesting a hearing and argument on the motions.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Andrew Dula III, of Shickshinny, appears at a previous hearing on a sexual assault charge. His defense attorney is trying to move his case back to the district court level. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_web1_dula-cmyk-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Andrew Dula III, of Shickshinny, appears at a previous hearing on a sexual assault charge. His defense attorney is trying to move his case back to the district court level. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6119 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Caregiver accused of sexual assault wants to move case back to district court level