SOUTH PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP — The lawyer for a South Pymatuning Township man accused of disrupting a supervisors meeting put up a lengthy fight in district court Wednesday, but the case was bound to Mercer County Common Pleas Court.

Kurt D. Toth, 45, of 3710 Orangeville Road, is charged with failing to disperse, disrupting a lawful meeting and two counts of disorderly conduct. He allegedly caused so much of a disturbance at a June 12 meeting that a policeman ordered him to sit down or leave and then pulled his Taser.

“All this is is a man who wouldn’t shut up and wouldn’t sit down when he was supposed to,” Assistant District Attorney Miles Karson Jr. said in his closing argument.

District Judge Brian Arthur held all charges against Toth to court after a two-hour preliminary hearing

Michael P. Nashtock Jr., chairman of the board of supervisors, was the only witness for the prosecution.

Nashtock runs the supervisors meetings and explained their open comment policies, admitting they’re lax about enforcing time limits and other requirements like providing a name and address, not dwelling on past topics and being acknowledged by the chairman before speaking.

According to Nashtock, Toth spoke on several topics during the meeting and “jumped up” at one point to ask about the recent appointment of an auditor.

Nashtock said he answered the question, but Toth wasn’t satisfied, repeated it over again and called him a liar.

Toth’s posture was “aggressive,” Nashtock said, and Toth kept demanding an answer to his question.

Nashtock said six to eight other members of the public piped in with support for Toth, and Nashtock’s control of the meeting was “totally gone.”

“Next thing you know, it’s like a circus atmosphere,” Nashtock said of the meeting.

When Toth didn’t back down, Nashtock said patrolman Andreu Foriska approached him and told him to sit down or leave.

Toth refused. Foriska grabbed Toth’s shoulder and Toth pushed his hand off, Nashtock said.  

Nashtock said a “normal” person would have complied with a uniformed policeman’s orders, but Toth did not.

“It blew my mind,” Nashtock said.

Toth’s attorney Charles E. Steele, Pittsburgh, said Toth contended Nashtock’s account of the events was “quite inaccurate” and asked that a 28-minute recording of the meeting be played.

Karson objected, noting that he hadn’t heard the recording prior to the hearing and asking if the purpose was to “attack the voracity” of a witness. He asked that if it were heard it not be taken out of context.

On the recording, Toth can be heard asking a number of questions, often pressing supervisors for answers past what they offered.

When Nashtock said the new auditor expressed an interest in the job, Toth said “That’s an absolute lie.”

Nashtock said it was not and Toth asked if one of the supervisors called the auditor and told him to take the job. Nashtock said “no.”

“Right there you just said a lie,” Toth said.

Nashtock asked Toth to sit down so they could move on and a number of voices can be heard on the recording saying Toth didn’t do anything wrong.

Then someone, presumably Foriska, tells Toth he’s got three seconds to cooperate and then Toth leaves.

After testimony from Bob Layman, who made the recording, Karson objected to Steele putting a number of other people on the stand for the defense.

Arthur agreed it wasn’t necessary for the burden of proof to be met.

Steele argued that Foriska violated Toth’s right to free speech by removing him from the meeting and claimed none of the elements of the crimes Toth is accused of were proved by the prosecution.

Foriska is the one who caused the disturbance by forcibly removing Toth and threatening him with the Taser, Steele claimed.

“Mr. Toth did not in any way disrupt the meeting,” Steele said. “He had an entirely legitimate purpose – holding his elected officials accountable.”

Karson noted that the First Amendment is not absolute and by refusing to comply with rules of a public meeting Toth “annoyed, alarmed and inconvenienced people.”

He said the free speech issue was a red herring in the “mini-trial” Toth’s defense was trying to put on.

Toth is free on his own recognizance and also filed a civil rights lawsuit against Foriska the day after the criminal charges were filed.

In his civil suit, Toth charges Foriska with violating his free-speech rights and retaliating against him for exercising those rights by speaking at a supervisors meeting.

In 2011, Toth sued the township and two other policemen alleging free-speech retaliation and malicious prosecution over two criminal cases filed against Toth. The parties settled the civil suit earlier this year, with the township paying Toth $30,000 without admitting any wrongdoing.