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Hempfield bicyclist wants out of jail, permission to pedal

Rich Cholodofsky
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Sean Stipp | Trib Total Media
Westmoreland County Sheriff Jonathan Held escorts David Smith, 55, away from the Westmoreland County Courthouse on July 21, 2015.

David Smith promised a Westmoreland County judge that if he is allowed to leave jail, where he has spent about a year awaiting trial on traffic-obstruction charges, he won't ride his bicycle this time — at least on the highway.

Smith, 57, of Hempfield will appear before Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio on May 9 for a hearing asking to have his bail reinstated and modified to allow him to cycle on back roads and other locations.

Defense lawyer Larry Burns filed court documents Tuesday that claimed the judge's order prohibiting him from bike riding is not proper.

“Mr. Smith is a single individual who does not possess a current driver's license, lives by himself in a rural community, and his sole means of transportation and his method of exercise for a healthy lifestyle was riding his bicycle throughout the county on a daily basis,” Burns wrote.

Smith faces misdemeanor charges in eight cases dating to 2012 in which he is accused of endangering motorists by obstructing vehicle traffic while riding his bicycle. He has been jailed twice for violating the terms of his bail, the first time by Judge Rita Hathaway in 2015 after he was charged with additional offenses related to his bicycling.

He was released from jail after posting bail and agreed to refrain from riding his bicycle on any roadway. Bilik-DeFazio revoked his bail again in September and ordered Smith back to jail after he admitted during a hearing that he continued to ride his bicycle.

Smith's trials tentatively are scheduled to begin in June. He has spent about a year in jail while his cases moved through the courts.

Burns said the bike-riding prohibition is punitive and discriminatory and that the judge didn't have the authority to impose such a restriction. Smith's incarceration is handicapping his defense, his lawyer said.

“With a trial on all the above charges pending, it is necessary that the defendant, Mr. Smith, be able to freely participate with the preparation of his defense with his lawyer prior to trial,” Burns said.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.