After a three-day trial, a Lycoming County jury on Friday convicted a former Williamsport police officer of 28 counts of illegal use of a computer.
The jury found Eric B. Derr, 40, guilty on three counts of exceeding his authority to use the state’s JNET system, which is used by police exclusively to collect data for official investigations.
Derr was found not guilty of perjury, tampering with public records and obstruction of justice in connection with other incidents.
“Absolutely no way.” said Derr, a former corporal who now works in the natural gas industry, as he took the witness stand and was asked by Assistant Attorney General Rebecca A. Elo whether he had exceeded his authority in using the state’s JNET system.
The question arose toward the end of the trial, which was presided over by Northumberland County Special Judge Charles H. Saylor.
According to the court testimony, the computer use occurred between 2015 and 2019.
Two of the people he interviewed were female police officers, including Agent Nikita Bonnell, who testified that Derr had trained her in JNET, but was unaware that he had misheard her name several times.
Elo said in her closing argument: “did what he wanted”, “Looked up birthdays”, “Checked driver’s license pictures.”
She reminded jurors of testimony from the city’s deputy police chief, Jason Bolt, who said officers knew the computer was being used for law enforcement purposes.
The unsworn charge of forgery related to an alleged shoplifting incident at a downtown store.
Elo also presented evidence that Derr became intimate with a woman he met during a drug arrest and said he subsequently helped her elude police and avoid prosecution.
However, in his own testimony, Derr said that the purpose was to document her behavior during the course of her illegal drug use and during the period without the use of illegal drugs.
Elo asked jurors to recall the testimony of Northern York Regional Police Officer Logan Chetaitis, who said he was an intern with the city police during his senior year at Lycoming College. Chetaitis said that when he was out with Derr in November 2018, Derr mentioned his name, his mother’s name and that of several women. The intern said Derr told him he believed some of the women were “hot.”
In his closing statement, attorney Robert Hoffa said Derr did not deny that he had stalked people on JNET, but that he did not do so with any unlawful intent.
“I maintain that there is no violation of JNET due to the way he was trained,” Hoffa said the ruling found Derr had neither tampered with public records nor obstructed the administration of justice.
“They called him a predator” Said Hoffa. “They’re trying to make him look like a piece of junk.”
“We have an officer who has sued (names) 1,372 times over a period of about five years, over 10,000 pages of unpunished offenses. All of that work is focused on these women. Where is the harm? Where is the foul?”
“He admitted that much of it was personal,” Hoffa said and added “That’s how the Williamsport Bureau of Police ran the police. That’s how he was trained.”
Hoffa described how Officer Tyson Minier testified that he did not press charges following a 2015 traffic stop in which a bag of heroin and drug paraphernalia were found.
“Let’s talk about the real show. 28 names he (Derr) allegedly used,” Said Hoffa.
He also reminded the jury of the testimony of the defense witness, retired officer Marvin “Doc” – translation for “Doc” in German Miller said that between 2013 and 2019, officers were disciplined for misusing JNET, but he never heard of anyone being charged.
Others testified to Derr’s honesty and integrity, including a man with whom he had worked at a print publication before Derr’s career in law enforcement.
Derr said other officers would use his access code to access the police data management system called “Spillman”, a brand name.
The question of whether Derr had exceeded his authority to use JNET was raised and resolved. Somerset County Chief Judge David C. Klementik dismissed the computer charges in 2022.
He concluded that Derr had violated JNET’s usage rules but had not exceeded his access rights to the system.
A state Supreme Court panel reinstated the charges, ruling that his eligibility to use JNET ended where his official police work ended and private use began.
Throughout the trial, Saylor cautioned jurors not to research or read any such reports on the case.
