CLEARFIELD – A Philadelphia man was sentenced to state prison for assaulting a man near the Penn State University DuBois campus.
Jovan Brown, 26, 3301 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia was found guilty by Judge Paul Cherry of aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, harassment and disorderly conduct after a bench trial in September.
Brown was sentenced by Cherry to 22 months to five years in sate prison. He was also ordered to complete anger management counseling and submit to DNA testing at a cost of $250.
The charges stem from an incident near the DuBois campus Oct. 25, 2013 when Brown punched the victim who was unconscious, three times in the head.
Prior to sentencing, Brown’s attorney, James Walsh stated that this behavior was outside Brown’s character, stating Brown does not have a violent streak. He explained Brown was drinking and things got out of hand. He added that Brown was not a danger to society.
Also speaking on behalf of Brown was a pastor, David Burno, who said he knew Brown all of his life and described him as a “model citizen.” Burno coached him as a child, and he said Brown didn’t respond when others on the court were aggressive.
Brown himself addressed the court. He explained that this incident was not in his character and that other kids in his neighborhood looked up to him. He stated he was on the Dean’s List and was the captain of the football team.
Cherry pointed out that Brown did not mention the victim or apologize to him.
“You never said you were sorry for the harm you inflicted. What about [him]?” Cherry asked.
At the trial, the victim, a 21-year-old DuBois man, testified that he was at a birthday party at a friend’s home when he encountered Justin Ritzie, who blindsided him and struck him in the face. This knocked him unconscious. He was then lying in the front yard with someone on top of him, hitting him in the face, he testified.
The next thing, he remembered was being at a nearby home. He was barely able to open his eyes. Another friend told him what happened.
He had blurry vision for a couple weeks after the assault and his shoulder, which was strained, continues to bother him.
Kelcey Gulvas of DuBois testified that he was with the victim that night at the party. Gulvas decided to go with a few others to Sheetz around 2 a.m. He was only away about 10 minutes but when he returned to the party, he saw someone lying in the front yard with his pants around his ankles.
Gulvas jumped out of the vehicle when he realized it was the victim. He was hurt badly and had blood coming out of his ears, he said.
As he tried to help him up and get him out of there, Brown came up and cracked the victim on the side of the head with a closed fist. Brown struck the victim again. As Gulvas and others tried to get the victim away, Brown hit him yet again “as hard as you can hit.”
Ritzie testified at the trial that he was hanging out with Brown and others at the party that night. He said the victim approached him while he was outside smoking and was “trying to get into my personal business.”
Ritzie said he put a hand up and told the victim he didn’t want any problems. The victim, he said, hit his hand and then he [Ritzie] responded by striking him in the face. When the victim tried to tackle him, he hit him again.
Ritzie admitted he had four or five beers that night and said the victim was intoxicated. He also thought Brown had six beers.
According to testimony, Brown followed Ritzie back into the house and he did not leave the house again for a while. Ritzie confirmed he never saw Brown strike the victim.
Ritzie has already pleaded guilty to simple assault and disorderly conduct in this case. He was sentenced to two years probation in July.
