A Schuylkill County jury of seven men and five women found Dennis Powanda Jr. not guilty of the most serious charge he faced, burglary, on Wednesday afternoon.
The jury deliberated for about two hours after being given the case by Judge William Burke around lunchtime. After the deliberation, the jury returned a not guilty verdict on the charges of burglary, criminal trespass, theft, and receiving stolen property. They did find Powanda guilty of possessing an instrument of crime.
Powanda had been accused of burglarizing a property on Second St. in Port Carbon back in early-February 2023. During an incident near that property, Powanda was shot three times (once in the stomach, once in the right flank, and once along his spinal column) and paralyzed by the property’s owner, Vincent Yakaitis, of Palo Alto.
During the three-day trial that was marked by a lengthy delay on Tuesday because of the applesauce incident at Schuylkill County Courthouse, the prosecution attempted to prove that Powanda walked to Port Carbon from his home in Mechanicsville the night of the alleged burglary, broke into the building, and stole a blue Sealy-branded duffel bag.
Yakaitis, testified that it was his bag and he received it from years of working at Boscov’s and selling Sealy products.
The Sealy bag was located inside a green duffel bag that Powanda had on him that night. He also possessed a camouflage bag.
Powanda also had two flashlights, one in his hand and another in one of the bags he was carrying, along with a headlamp that night.
Assistant District Attorney David Noon told jurors that Powanda wanted them to believe a long string of coincidences. He even made a “Of all the gin joints …” Casablanca reference.
“The evidence tells a different story. Coincidence is not a defense. It’s an excuse,” Noon argued in his closing statement.
However, the jury clearly didn’t buy the prosecution’s case against Powanda, who concluded his testimony that began Tuesday morning, just as the applesauce incident was unfolding outside.
Powanda told jurors Wednesday that he was walking from his home to the homes of two of his friends that live in the Port Carbon area. He was doing so after having a fight with his wife.
When he came upon the property where the shooting happened, Powanda said he saw a vehicle stopped at a Stop sign for a prolonged period of time. It was about 1 a.m. and Powanda said that made him feel “uneasy” at the time, so he turned around. When he did, he said he saw Yakaitis was right behind him.
Yakaitis had a gun in one hand at that time, Powanda testified.
Earlier in the trial, Yakaitis testified that he was in the area that night – at around 1 a.m. – to pick up a title for a vehicle he wanted to sell and to store two guns in a safe located in his property. He said while in his vehicle, he witnessed a man go up to the door of his property – which was his former home since 1981 – and fumble with the lock.
Yakaitis said he then got out of his vehicle and approached his property with no intent of going in. He just wanted to listen to learn if anyone else was inside. Yakaitis said he had no intention of shooting anyone.
Joe Nahas, Powanda’s attorney, spent a considerable amount of time in the early part of the trial attempting to pick apart Yakaitis’ story and damage his credibility. At times, the two verbally sparred in the courtroom.
“It all happened so quick,” Powanda said, Wednesday, regarding the events that transpired after he turned around and saw Yakaitis armed.
He said he saw a flash and realized that he’d been shot in the stomach.
Powanda said that he then reached for Yakaitis’ wrist to neutralize the gun.
“I’m trying to keep him from shooting me again,” Powanda said.
However, Yakaitis then fires a shot at his feet.
Powanda testified at that point he thought he heard a clip fall to the ground so he took that opportunity to make a run for it. When he did, he said he heard three shots ring out and he fell to the ground.
He remembered yelling out, “You paralyzed me, mother (bleep)-er.”
Nahas also spent time picking apart the prosecution’s case, as a whole, telling jurors that no evidence was presented that proved his client entered Yakaitis’ property that night.
He even made a reference to the 1990s C&C Music Factory song, “Things That Make You Go Hmmm” during his closing statement regarding the amount of unanswered questions and lack of evidence in the prosecution’s case.
Afterward, Nahas said, “My client was facing very serious charges, felony charges. I was emotionally charged with this case.”
However, he said his “greatest feeling” is when a jury returns a not guilty verdict but he doesn’t have that necessarily in this case because Powanda now faces a life in a wheelchair because of the incident.
“To give someone their life back, it’s very important. That why I do what I do. No matter what I did, he was always going to be imprisoned to that chair,” Nahas said. “I just don’t feel like I gave him his life back.”
He thanked the jury for their attentiveness through the course of the trial.
COMMONWEALTH V. POWANDA FULL COVERAGE:
- Tempers Flare, Voices Raised During First Day of Powanda Trial
- Powanda Takes the Stand Just Prior to Courthouse Evacuation
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