![john karlson john karlson](https://66.media.tumblr.com/8959b9af513837334ddb90a25df26065/tumblr_p7l84s15Qk1qze0xvo2_540.gif)
![john karlson john karlson](https://savacoolandsons.blob.core.windows.net/photos/36479/36479-rlqm.jpeg)
He filled a nearby container with water and was able to douse the flames, the Superior Court reported. The Philipsburg landlord went into the basement and discovered a “ball of fire” 4 to 5 feet high. He came out of the structure within moments, gave his former landlord “the middle finger” and drove away in his truck. The landlord of the Philipsburg property on East Presqueisle Street lived next door, and on April 12, 2017, the day after Karlson’s Altoona landlord recorded the statements, observed Karlson enter the rear of the building. Once his comments became audible to his landlord in his basement workshop, Karlson “lost whatever expectation of privacy he had that his secret words and threats would not be overheard, intercepted and memorialized for posterity on tape,” the Superior Court ruled.
#JOHN KARLSON TRIAL#
The trial judge permitted the recording to be used as evidence by ruling that Karlson’s words had been stated so loudly he could not expect privacy. The Superior Court outlined the nub of the Wiretap Act, noting it prohibits intentional interceptions of a “wire, electronic or oral communication.” The defense contended the recording should not have been permitted into the trial because it violated Pennsylvania’s wiretap laws, which require consent before “intercepting” comments by another person. “He told the jury the comments to him were “extremely disturbing.” Karlson repeated his comments six or seven times, according to testimony.Īt first, the Altoona landlord stated, he ignored the statements but after a time, found the comments disturbing, and, using his cellphone, recorded what he was hearing. On April 11, 2017, according to the testimony in the trial, the landlord, in his workshop, heard Karlson, who was in his apartment, talking about setting a fire.
![john karlson john karlson](https://savacoolandsons.blob.core.windows.net/photos/36479/36479-wd4x.jpeg)
Musmanno earlier this month dismissed the appeal and upheld Karlson’s convictions and lengthy jail term.Īt the time of the incident, Karlson was living in a first-floor apartment on the 300 block of Cherry Avenue, Altoona, and his city landlord had a basement workshop in the dwelling. The Superior Court panel of Jacqueline O. The state police arson investigator, the defense also contended, was not qualified to testify as an expert witness. The judge improperly permitted a cellphone recording made by Karlson’s landlord in Altoona, where he was living at the time of the Philipsburg arson, because the landlord did not have Karlson’s permission to record statements he made while proclaiming to someone how he was going to “burn your stuff.” The defendant’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Deborah Lux, appealed Karslon’s conviction on two grounds: