Former Physical Therapist To Face Forgery Trial

A former North Strabane Township physical therapist will face trial on forgery charges. Scott Edmonds, 59 is accused of forging a court document related to his homicide case that has been in the legal system since 2014. Edmonds was being represented by conflicts counsel attorney Rose Semple as she was trying to have Edmonds released from jail under Pennsylvania Rule 600 indicating that a defendant must be brought to trial within 365 days or be released. Criminal charges of forgery were levied against Edmonds when Semple received a copy of a motion that had been filed with the clerk of courts that she did not authorize. Under testimony Semple stated that a similar document was filed by her three weeks earlier before a hearing was held. She also stated that she did not sign the document in question nor did she authorize anyone else to sign on her behalf. Edmonds, representing himself in the hearing tried to make the case that Semple never told anyone not to sign on her behalf. Testimony did show that Edmonds did sign portions of the document as he received a draft copy from Semple before any filing was made. Pertaining to one of the charges, falsely pretending to hold a professional license, Edmonds did sign one of the lines as Scott A. Edmonds, P.T. His license expired in 2014 and this document was signed in 2022 making it unlawful to use the P.T designation. With Edmonds representing himself, approximately half of the questions he asked were objected to and denied by the judge. One tense exchange had Edmonds stating that he was his own counsel that was immediately called out by the district attorney as being another case where he could be criminally charged for pretending to hold a professional license. Edmonds retracted the comment and proceeded with a warning from the judge “that he was treading on thin ice.” Edmonds closed indicating that the case is not a criminal case but a civil case and that no harm was caused to Semple. The judge held all charges for court. Edmonds remains in the Washington County jail where he as been held since being arrested for the homicide of his wife in 2014. He will be formally arraigned on January 19, 2023.