Another FUBAR (contemporary) :
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http://www.pittsburghlive.com:80/x/tribunereview/news/westmoreland/s_501066.html
Time stands still for Hempfield teen in lockup

By Patti Dobranski
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, April 4, 2007

A Hempfield Area High School sophomore spent 12 days in juvenile detention after authorities in Westmoreland County mistakenly
charged him with making a March 11 bomb threat, in part because the district had not changed its clocks to reflect daylight-saving
time.
Cody Webb, 15, of Hempfield, was arrested March 12 and charged with a felony count of threatening to use weapons of mass destruction
and misdemeanor counts of making false alarms to public entities, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and making terrorist
threats.

Webb, an honors student involved in student council, tennis and the Japanese Club, was immediately taken to the county's juvenile
detention center.

"Cody never even had a (school) detention," said his mother, Linda Webb. "It was a nightmare."

The next day, Webb had a detention hearing and was held for court. After 10 more days in detention, Webb was back in court for his
case to be heard. He was released to his parents' custody that day after Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge John Driscoll
continued the hearing when the state police failed to appear.

Trooper Jeanne Martin, spokeswoman for state police at Greensburg, said the time change was an issue. Driscoll dismissed the charges
March 27.

The teen said he did call the school's delay hot line early Sunday, March 11. But that was an hour before the bomb threat was phoned
in, said the family's attorney, Tim Andrews. After Webb's parents obtained his cell phone records, Andrews found the call times did
not match.

"I found out the district had not changed their clocks to reflect daylight-saving time," Andrews said. "They were changed Monday
morning."

High school Principal Kathy Charlton confirmed that some of the district's clocks were wrong because of the changeover to
daylight-saving time, which was three weeks earlier this year.

"All the time stamps were screwed up. Some did (change over), some didn't," Charlton said. "Everyone's system had to be set
manually. There were a lot of clocks involved."

Andrews said state police and school officials botched the investigation. The school received 35 calls early on the morning of March
11, and few were actively investigated, he said.

"All it would have taken was 10 more minutes to look at the information. Everybody jumped the gun and caused this kid and his family
to go through this," Andrews said.

Webb said he was chatting with his girlfriend on his cell phone at about 2 a.m. March 11 -- just about the time daylight-saving time
pushed the clocks ahead one hour.

He hung up with his girlfriend, then placed a call to the school.

"I was bored, so I wondered what the recording said when you called in Hempfield's school delay hot line. I called in and it said to
push '72,' which I did, and it said there were no delays. Then it disconnected me," he said. Webb's cell phone number showed up on
the school's call recorder.

According to the police report, a male juvenile called the high school at 3:10 a.m. and said he would bomb the school Monday. The
bomb threat came from a blocked phone number, Andrews said.

The district placed the blame by matching Webb's call, recorded on his phone at 3:12 a.m. daylight-saving time, to the threat
recorded by the school as having been received at 3:17 a.m. Eastern Standard Time -- but that was 4:17 daylight-saving time, or an
hour after Webb's call, Andrews said.

"The district attorney subpoenaed the cell phone records, and it didn't take more than a minute to see the times didn't match,"
Andrews said.

Hempfield solicitor Dennis Slyman said law enforcement did not question administrators about the school's clocks.

"The authorities never, never asked us anything about the clocks and daylight-saving time," Slyman said. "Whatever they did was with
their own investigation and outside the auspices of the school district."

Webb said he learned about the bomb threat at school that Monday and was called into the guidance office.

"Mrs. Charlton asked me if I had a cell phone. I said, 'Yeah,' and she said, 'What's the number?' I told her, and she started
saying, 'We got him. We got him.' I was completely oblivious to what they were talking about," he said.

In the principal's office, administrators demanded that Webb admit to calling in the bomb threat, he said.

"I wasn't going to admit to something I didn't do," he said. "Me and God know I didn't do it."

Webb's parents, Linda and Budd Webb, arrived at the school and listened to the recorded bomb threat. Linda Webb told administrators
it wasn't her son.

"They kept saying that it was his voice. They didn't even know him," she said.

After a state trooper arrived, Charlton told the teen he was being arrested, and the trooper read Webb his Miranda rights.

"I was in shock," Webb said.

After the judge ordered a continuance, Andrews got Webb released to the custody of his parents.

Budd Webb wept as he described learning that his son would be cleared.

"I got a call from our attorney that said he had paperwork signed by Judge Driscoll dropping the felony and misdemeanor charges
against my son," he said.

County juvenile detention officials wanted to keep Webb in custody, Andrews said. "They wanted him to have a mental health
evaluation because he wouldn't admit to making the call."

County officials said Tuesday that Webb was in custody no longer than the law requires.

"Legally, we were OK. We didn't step on this kid's rights," said Mike Sturnick, supervisor for the juvenile probation office.

Webb's mother arranged home-schooling for him until he decides where to continue his education. He doesn't want to return to
Hempfield.

Martin said the state police investigation into the bomb threat remains open.

--
Frederick Martin McNeill
Poway, California, United States of America
mmcneill@fuzzysys.com
http://www.fuzzysys.com
http://members.cox.net/fmmcneill
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"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so life well-used brings a happy
death."-Leonardo da Vinci
"My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as
sharp as it used to be."
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