Online petition accuses lawmaker's son of homicide

According to a change.org petition, State Representative Thomas Caltagirone's son, John Caltagirone, is to blame for a 1997 murder in Reading, PA. 

The accusations center around a murder that took place just before Christmas 1997 in Reading, PA. Contemporaneous reports indicate that two suspects, approximately 18-24 years old, and wearing ski masks, entered Effie's Pizza Villa at 7:37pm and shot the owner, George Clauser, in the back.

The suspects were described as

1. 5'8" and 180pounds, wearing a purple hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and black sneakers
2. 5'6" with a thin build, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, white pants, and blue sneakers

Only one of the suspects was identified.

Melvin Oritz, 17 at the time, was arrested and convicted of second-degree murder. At the time, Pennsylvania required life without parole for all juvenile offenders convicted of first or second-degree murder. A 2012 SCOTUS ruling declared life without parole for juvenile offenders to be unconstitutional (but not retroactively). In 2018, pursuant to Miller v. Alabama, Oritz was re-sentenced to 35 years in prison, following the recommendation of DA John Adams.

According to the petition, Caltagirone's then-girlfriend, Tina Valentine testified against Oritz but later recanted. A November 2018 Facebook post by the Reading Eagle indicates that Oritz continued to maintain his innocence, and that a witness did indeed recant. Clicking on the post, however, leads to a deleted article. 

A partial text search revealed a repost of the deleted Reading Eagle article.

It reads:

Wednesday November 21, 2018 08:09 PM 

A witness says that she lied at Melvin Ortiz’s trial. He was 17 when the killing occurred during a botched robbery. Written by Karen Shuey Reading, PA — Berks County Judge Patrick T. Barrett will decide by Monday whether Melvin Ortiz – convicted nearly two decades ago of fatally shooting George Clauser – will get a new trial.Ortiz was 17 when Clauser was fatally shot during a botched robbery. Authorities said Ortiz and an unidentified accomplice attempted to rob Effie’s Pizza Villa in Reading in December 1997. The trial included testimony from a man who was in the restaurant when the robbers came in and witnesses who said Ortiz said the gun went off after he barely touched the trigger.A jury found Ortiz guilty in 1999 of second-degree murder and related offenses. He was sentenced to life plus 121/2 to 25 years, but was granted a resentencing hearing in June in light of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that deemed mandatory life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional.Barrett gave Ortiz, now 38, a new sentence of 35 years to life. But Ortiz has continued to maintain his innocence. He believes new testimony will help prove his innocence to…[Read More Link Broken]

Update: 2020-07-16 - A copy of the deleted article can be found here, here, and here.

One of the comments on the petition claims to be from Tina Hiester (formerly Tina Valentine) and reads:

I am signing because I am Tina Hiester who was involved in this case. I know first hand that Mr. Ortiz is innocent in this murder case.

I have tried on many occasions to speak with authorities, investigators and law enforcement about my wrong doing and comimitting purjury against Mr. Ortiz at a very young age when I was a teenager. After years and years of nobody wanting to listen to me or give me the time of day to hear me I was finally able to get in contact with Melvin's present Lawyer which was many years after me trying to first go to the law who sat down with me, finally gave me the chance for my voice to be heard on his defense and to put my testimony on court records back in October 2018. And at that time it still came down to in court about my exes and I past relationship and that we have children together. This has nothing to do with my ex or I past relationship, weather him and I see eye to eye or not to this very day.......

This comes down to finding JUSTICE for someone (Melvin) who is sitting in jail for a crime I know personally that he did not commit and was not involved in at all first hand knowledge.....

Melvin is innocent in this crime and someone needs to please listen, give his voice a chance to be heard and do the right thing.

I was 15 years old when this all went to trial I am now a grown, mature adult with children trying to teach them right from wrong in life and how to grow up and be a great citizen in society for when they are adults. My children know mommy made a big mistake in her life and has been battaling to try and fix it but at the same time it is very hard to do when the law does not want to listen, take things people have to say serious or it just gets swept under the rug. To the state they just look at it as it's a crime solved and someone is in jail for it. Especially when you add politics and power behind everything it gets even harder. Well that should not be the way the world works, it should have been looked into, investigated more thoroughly and sent to another county for this case to be heard properly where the other accuser of the crime and the family is not well known....

Melvin is innocent and I hope that someone pls can help some how Mr. Ortiz regain his freedom back he does not belong paying for a crime he did not commit, was not involved in or even aware of. - Tina Hiester, Philadelphia, PA 

According to the petition, Judge Linda Ludgate (ret. 2009) was on the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency with Rep. Thomas Caltagirone and denied Tina Hiester's first recantation. 

While recent annual reports do not list his name, the oldest (2006) report on their website does have him as a commission member. A LinkedIn profile for Linda Ludgate (ret) indicates that she was on this commission at one point. Caltagirone was also a member of the House Judiciary Committee for many years.

At least one prisoner has sued Ludgate, alleging bias towards inmates stemming from a 1999 attack. The circumstances of the attack are unclear.

The petition further alleges that three court records reated to John Caltagirone remain under seal and provides three examples of prior criminal acts engaged in by John Catagirone where no charges were filed.

The acts are described as:

1. On May 19, 1997, Melvin Ortiz's trial Judge Forest G Scheafer contacted The Reading Police Department concerning John Caltagirone's motorcycle theft charge, and advised Captain Gery of the Reading Police department that John Caltagirone rights were violated. Police reports John in possession of stolen motorcycle but, no charges were filed.
2. On September 23, 1997, according to a police complaint made by a citizen, the citizen witnessed three masked men got out of a Bronco registered to John Caltagirone. All 3 men got out of John Caltagirone's Bronco wearing ski masks. The driver has a duffle bag in his right hand. In police reports John admits to having a shotgun and driving his Bronco. No charges were filed.
3. A police report dated October 16, 1997, shows State Representative Thomas Caltagirone involved himself in a police investigation involving a stolen handgun, & his son John Caltagirone. State Representative Thomas Caltagirone admitting breaking the law by purchasing a stolen handgun from a drug addict on the street. Further into the investigation, John Caltagirone admitted purchasing the handgun, from a black male. This is a federal crime! No charges were filed.

So, the Representative's son with a history of getting out of gun charges doesn't get investigated as a subject in a botched armed robbery/murder two months after buying an illegal firearm?