Liptok Petition to Drop 2023 Charges Against Him Denied

Schuylkill County Common Pleas Judge Christina Hale, on Thursday, denied a motion filed by John Liptok Sr. to dismiss charges against him in connection with a high-profile standoff in 2023.

Liptok, 59, had filed a hand-written Petition to File Rule 600, which guarantees a defendant the right to a trial within 365 of a criminal complaint being filed against him.

On Aug. 8, police in Pottsville attempted to serve a bench warrant on Liptok. He initially refused to answer his door and then emerged from a side kitchen door holding what appeared to Police as a dark-colored grenade.

Liptok reportedly said, “You know what this is. If you come in my house, it’s going to go off.”

He allegedly then pulled the pin on the grenade and walked back in his home. Later, Liptok’s son emerged from the home and reportedly told police that he was afraid of his father and wasn’t sure if the grenade was real but said he knew his father owned guns.

An area surrounding Liptok’s home was evacuated for fear there might be an explosion. Following a lengthy standoff, Liptok was eventually taken into custody and charged with multiple felonies, including possession of weapons of mass destruction, bomb threats, terroristic threats. The weapons of mass destruction possession charge has since been dismissed.

On Thursday, Liptok appeared via Zoom from SCI-Waymart in Courtroom 5 at Schuylkill County Courthouse. Strangely, the video conference room at SCI-Waymart is painted in a tropical island theme. Liptok did not speak much and when he did, it was curt.

He represented himself on Thursday but had Charles Dutko as his standby attorney.

Liptok’s argument was that the prosecution has exhausted the 365 days it had to bring him to trial.

“It does not say they have the right to start and stop the clock,” he said “There’s no excuses.”

Rule 600 in Pennsylvania states, in part, “Any delay in the commencement of trial that is not attributable to the Commonwealth when the Commonwealth has exercised due diligence must be excluded from the computation of time.”

It further states, “When the defendant or the defense has been instrumental in causing the delay, the period of delay will be excluded from computation of time.”

As part of the Commonwealth’s argument for denying Liptok’s petition, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Bench argued that delays in bringing him to trial were mostly the fault of Liptok, himself.

For instance, although the original criminal complaint was filed on Aug. 8, 2023, the preliminary hearing was continued five times. It wasn’t held until April 29, 2024.

“We’re not even close to the 365 days,” Bench told Hale.

Bench also said the prosecution has been ready to go to trial on this case since July 2024. It’s possible it could be brought before a jury during the next trial term.

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