Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland: Former Montgomery Co. teacher doing time for sexual abuse granted a new trial by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge David W. Lease.

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Former Montgomery Co. teacher doing time for sexual abuse granted a new trial by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge David W. Lease.

A former Montgomery County, Maryland, elementary school teacher convicted in 2017 of sexually abusing several current and former students has had the convictions against him vacated.

Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge David Lease tossed out the convictions after new attorneys for John Vigna argued that he had “ineffective assistance of counsel” during his first trial.

Lease made the decision earlier this month and ordered that Vigna should have a new trial in the case. Vigna was released pending his new trial on a $100,000 bond on July 12...

Former Montgomery Co. teacher doing time for sexual abuse granted a new trial - WTOP News

2 comments:

AnonymousJuly 19, 2023 at 5:39 PM
Maryland justice is a crap shoot
Besides the legal technicalities
A conviction can become moot
By arguing ambiguous realities.
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Principles

Formed in 2002, the Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland seeks to achieve the goals of coherent, content-rich curriculum standards; high expectations combined with timely remediation and acceleration; a wider range of educational options for parents and children; greater transparency and accountability; and meaningful community input.

E-mail: parentscoalitionmc AT outlook.com

What The Washington Post said about the Parents' Coalition

The coalition might be the best-known parent advocacy group in the region. Its members represent several constituencies, including parents of special education and gifted education students and fiscal watchdogs. The group's defining victory came this school year when the school system scaled back the fees charged to families for course materials.

Coalition leaders have drawn attention to the misuse of funds collected from students for activities, the broadcast of a commercial radio service on school buses and, with their "Weast Watch" blog, the travel habits of Weast and his lieutenants.

The Washington Post, June 4, 2009

Jerry Weast on the Parents' Coalition

"Along the way, you’ve had a challenging relationship with the Parents’ Coalition, the network of citizen activists who use the political process and other means to hold MCPS accountable.

The thing people accuse me of is listening, but not hearing. I hear, but I do not always agree. I am sorry that the world is faster than it was 10 years ago. I did not do that. [But] if we do not keep up, then our kids will be behind. We have to stop whining and get real."

Bethesda Magazine, March-April 2011