Pittsburgh Couple Who Made False 911 Calls `Needed a Stage,` Prosecutors Say

July 08--The more than 100 false 911 calls that came from the Sheraden home of Abdula Jamar "A.J." Richardson were an attempt to refocus attention on the man who lost a bid to become mayor after finishing in a distant fourth in the 2013 primary, prosecutors said.

"They were doing it because they needed a stage -- so that he could be the main star, the main actor," Assistant District Attorney Melissa Byrnes said in her opening statement this morning. "It was all about Mr. Richardson."

None of those calls, she said, were related to any type of emergency.

Both Mr. Richardson, 38, a former Pittsburgh mayoral candidate, and his wife, Felecia Richardson, 44, have pleaded not guilty to criminal conspiracy and other charges related to the numerous 911 calls that police say came from their house over a month period in 2014.

The couple, now of East Hills, made 128 calls in 22 days, racking up a cost of $22,000 for the Pittsburgh Police Department, Ms. Byrnes said.

But Mr. Richardson's lawyer, Elbert Gray Jr., argued to the jury that the prosecution wouldn't be able to provide evidence for its charge of criminal conspiracy. For that to be proven, witnesses would have to testify that they heard Mr. Richardson plan with others to make the 911 calls, he said.

"The Commonwealth wants you to believe that the family sat down together and planned it," something it wouldn't be able to prove, he said.

Ms. Richardson's attorney, Erika Kreisman, took a different approach.

Ms. Byrnes hadn't spoken about Ms. Richardson's role in the calls, Ms. Kreisman said -- others may have been involved, but it wasn't Ms. Richardson.

Besides, she said, Ms. Richardson had too much to lose to risk being charged with criminal conspiracy. Until she was charged, she was a paralegal at Strassburger, Mckenna, Gutnick and Gefsky, a high-profile law firm Downtown.

"Would she jeopardize that for this stupid stuff?" Ms. Kreisman said.

Both Mr. Gray and Ms. Kreisman suggested that the couple's teenage boys may have been behind the calls. If the jury wanted to convict Mr. Richardson of anything, Mr. Gray said, it would have to be bad parenting, and not the crimes for which he is charged.

The trial before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Anthony M. Mariani is expected to last two weeks. Jurors are expected to hear from roughly 50 witnesses, most of them police officers who responded to the 911 calls. Jury selection began Monday.

Hannah Schwarz: hschwarz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-3772 or @hannahrschwarz

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