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<p>SCRANTON &#8212; Shawn Christy doesn&#8217;t like the word &#8220;threat,&#8221; despite allegedly threatening to kill President Donald Trump and any member of law enforcement who got in his way during his time on the lam last summer.</p><p>In his latest jailhouse court filing, Christy asked a federal court to prohibit government lawyers from using the word &#8220;threat&#8221; in posing questions to any prosecution witnesses on direct examination.</p><p>Christy, 27, of McAdoo, based his claim on Federal Rule of Evidence 611, which covers &#8220;leading questions on direct examination.&#8221;</p><p>U.S. Attorney David J. Freed and Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa compiled a response imploring the court to deny Christy&#8217;s motion Wednesday.</p><p>In the prosecutors&#8217; response, they didn&#8217;t deny the court&#8217;s discretion to prohibit leading questions and sustain proper objections, but felt Christy&#8217;s motion was too &#8220;broad.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It seeks to prevent government&#8217;s counsel from uttering the word &#8216;threat&#8217; to any witnesses on direct examination,&#8221; the response states. &#8220;Such leading questions, as courts have recognized, may be predominantly foundational or may be asked in the context of reviewing or summarizing testimony the witness has already given.&#8221;</p><p>The prosecutors proposed a scenario where banning the word &#8220;threat&#8221; could cause a problem.</p><p>&#8220;If a witness on direct examination responds to a question by stating they viewed the defendant&#8217;s (Christy) writing or Facebook post as a &#8216;threat,&#8221; government&#8217;s counsel should not be prohibited from follow-up questions regarding that &#8216;threat&#8217; and from using the word &#8216;threat&#8217; (already uttered by witness) in future questions,&#8221; they argued.</p><p>Christy, who led authorities on a multi-state manhunt from June to September last summer, is currently lodged in the Lackawanna County Correctional Facility after he was denied bail by U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph F. Saporito in November.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Christy </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_ChristyMug.cmyk_.jpg</photo0><caption0>Christy </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Dan Stokes</p><p>dstokes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Dan Stokes at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @ByDanStokes</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Christy: Ban prosecutors from using word ‘threat’ with witnesses