125240556_web1_Margaret-Cirko-06252020

District judge sends ‘spitter’ case to court

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HANOVER TWP. &mdash; Defense attorney Thomas Cometa and Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Drew McLaughlin were engaged in a legal argument attempting to convince District Judge Joseph Halesey on the merits of what is deemed a weapon of mass destruction.
				After several rounds, McLaughlin ended, saying they could go back and forth the rest of the day.
				In what may be a first in the country, the Margaret Cirko case could set a legal precedent on how other police departments, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges decide if saliva during a time of a state of emergency could be considered a biological agent.
				&ldquo;We have never had anything like this before and I think an important part of this case is setting a precedent,&rdquo; Luzerne County First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said Thursday. &ldquo;At that time, you can imagine the panic it set off and other people thought it would be funny to conduct the same kind of activity and what we really want to do is to deter that type of thing.&rdquo;
				Cirko, 36, was charged with intentionally coughing and spitting saliva on food items inside Gerrity&rsquo;s Supermarket on Sans Souci Parkway in Hanover Township on March 25. While she was allegedly coughing and spitting on food, she was yelling &ldquo;I have the virus, you&rsquo;re all going to get sick,&rdquo; court records say.
				Cometa said the weapons of mass destruction offense, a section under the bomb threats law, was adopted by the state legislature in 2000 and amended in 2002.
				Cometa argued the law as he interprets it requires a mechanical device to set off a biological agent. The seasoned defense attorney with the county&rsquo;s public defender&rsquo;s office argued the human body is not considered a mechanical device.
				McLaughlin argued the incident at Gerrity&rsquo;s happened soon after a state of emergency was declared due to the coronavirus pandemic and people&rsquo;s fears about the virus were rampant.
				Cometa and McLaughlin argued back and forth before Halesey who presided over Cirko&rsquo;s preliminary hearing, ultimately deciding to forward the weapons of mass destruction charge to county court.
				&ldquo;The defense argument that you need a mechanical device to set off a biological agent isn&rsquo;t really a point of the charge,&rdquo; Sanguedolce noted. &ldquo;The point is the threat to use a biological agent of any kind and in this case the threat that she had COVID-19 and she was spreading it around Gerritys. 
				&ldquo;The damage it caused to Gerrity&rsquo;s is almost immeasurable not only with the merchandise they had to discard but the unknowns, the people who probably didn&rsquo;t shop at that particular store because of that. I want to commend Gerrity&rsquo;s who did a fantastic job immediately clearing out, sanitizing and getting the store back up and running,&rdquo; Sanguedolce stated.
				Cirko tested negative for coronavirus, Cometa said during the court proceeding.

Prosecutors believe Cirko case could set legal precedent