By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

FEB. 1, 2012 ADD #1

It appears that the Pittsfield Police Department’s appeal of the magistrate’s decision in the Nilan-Moore case has been referred to a judge outside of Berkshire County.

Chief Mike Wynn, who returned THE PLANET‘s inquiries today at about 3:20 p.m., told us he did not know the name of the judge. When asked if a local judge was hearing the appeal, Wynn said he did not think that was the case. Wynn said it was his best knowledge that the appeal is being heard by an outside jurisdiction.

The move to a jurisdiction outside Berkshire County is significant, since it indicates that the judicial authorities wish to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest or favoritism, given the position of Meredith Nilan’s father as probation chief in the county courthouse.

Wynn said the police filed the appeal on Jan. 18. The investigating officer, patrolman Mark Maddalena, filed the appeal on behalf of the PPD Traffic Division. Wynn said that the appeal “was taken under advisement, and that means we can’t do anything until we receive” the judge’s decision.

Wynn said he could not estimate how long it would take for a ruling on the appeal, adding that this is the first time the department has had to make such an appeal of a court decision.

In short, the police and the People are waiting for the judge.

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(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1, 2012) — Welcome to February, where every pause is filled with under notes — clear, silver icy, keen, awakening tones which pierce the sense and live within the soul. We thank Percy Shelley for these sentiments, and we need them in winter’s crystal air, much more clear than the matters of the violet-in-woven Nilan-Moore Case.

Yesterday afternoon, THE PLANET placed a call to Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn. We received his voice mail. We left a message asking for information on his department’s appeal of the ruling of Westfield first assistant clerk magistrate Nathan Byrnes to dismiss the PPD’s charges against Meredith Nilan.

We asked Chief Wynn to confirm that an appeal had been filed, when it was filed, and if a ruling had been made. If not, does he have any idea of when that will happen? We also made a blanket request for anything other statement on the case he wished to make.

When Chief Wynn gets back to us, we shall share his comments post haste. As of 11 a.m., Wynn had not returned our call.

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THE SCENE OF THE ‘INCIDENT’: OK, FORENSIC DETECTIVES, GO TO WORK

THE PLANET has had numerous requests for information on the scene of the Nilan-Moore incident. We present these pictures in hope they can be of some help.

As you look at the photo below, the words may not be clear. We apologize but could not get higher satellite resolution. You’ll see in the middle of the picture two parallel roads that form a “U” turn at the bottom. The street running north-south on the left is Winesap Road. McIntosh Drive is the first street running at 90 degrees (east-west). East Street is the next east-west lane as pictures above McIntosh.

Police have charged Meredith Nilan with hit Peter Moore while driving her father’s 2001 SUV at approximately 8:15 p.m. on the night of Dec. 8, 2011.

East Street runs top of photo left to right. Winesap Rd. is the first up-down street on the left. McIntosh Dr. is depicted running roughly parallel to East Street, south of it.

This was after Ms. Nilan partied at Allium’s with other Berkshire Young Professionals. BYP was having a “networking social” at the Great Barrington restaurant in the early evening.

It would be reasonable to conclude that Ms. Nilan consumed alcohol at the gathering, since, according to sources who have been to BYP gatherings, alcohol is a prominent feature, especially for younger members (the 20 somethings). Meredith Nilan is 24.

Peter Moore lives at 101 McIntosh.

Evidence at the scene, testimony, police charges, statements, and other information strongly suggest that Nilan ran over Moore at or near 6 Winesap, which would be near the intersection with East Street. When Moore regained consciousness, he managed to get himself back home at 101 McIntosh. In the satellite photo, if you traced a pointer down East Street, took a right on Winesap, the house at 6 Winesap appears asthe first one on the left, as we look down from the satellite point of view.

A closer look gives another perspective, this from the ground. This picture is taken on Winesap just North of McIntosh, looking toward East Street.

As we understand the incident, it appears that Moore was hit and knocked into the southbound lane of Winesap. He landed just off the road, in front of the gray house, left, where there appears to be trash can (looks like a small black rectangle).

A car entering Winesap from East Street from the west, shortly past the mouth of East, would have little reaction time to notice much of anything there. If a driver was speeding and/or had consumed alcohol, it would make the turn more problematic.

View from Winesap Road, just before intersection with McIntosh Drive, right, looking north, toward East Street. (PLANET VALENTI)

Evidence suggests Nilan’s vehicle crossed lanes.

In the photo at left, you can gauge the distance Peter Moore had to walk, crawl, and amble in his shattered body to reach the street where he lives.His body was left on the side of the road at the end, almost where the perspective’s vanishing point ends.

Moore, 46, an avid cyclist and hiker, was in good shape, and there’s no question his high level of fitness allowed him to head for home after being struck and left for dead in the road.

The pictures show the proximity of the impact and the homes of Meredith Nilan (lives on Winesap) and Peter Moore. We present them to educate people on where the incident took place. Perhaps any potential super sleuths out there might be able to glean more information based on the evidence and information so far made available and these pictures.

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THE HEAD SHOT IS AN IMAGE THAT DOESN’T EASILY GO AWAY

Speaking of pictures, none is more devastating than the photo that shows the impact where Moore’s head went through the windshield of Nilan’s car near the driver’s side.

To date, the Boring Broadsheet has not published this picture, though it has possession of it. Given the news value of the case, that is an extremely questionable editorial call.

The image is a haunting one when we contemplate that it was made by a human head. We cannot shake the image, also, of the man whose broken body was left alone, in the cold and dark, to his own fate, with only his dog as a comforter and companion. The dog stayed by Peter Moore’s unconscious body until Moore woke up and, in an instinct of supreme self-survival, he willed himself home.

In this photo below, the extensive damage of the front hood and the missing front grill testifies to the impact and speed of the car upon hitting Moore.

The head hole ion the windshield, the heavy dents in the hood, and a front grille that has been ripped away testify to a vehicle moving at a pretty good clip when it plowed into Peter Moore. (PLANET VALENTI)

You can more or less connect the dent with the hole in the windshield and get a picture of how Moore’s body hit the car.

The striking thing about the hole in the windshield is its delineation. The hole is clean on the edges with not much splaying.

This — along with the hood damage and the lack of grille work — suggest a high rate of speed, sufficient enough for a head to go through in this “clean” manner.

Also, notice the proximity to the steering wheel. That’s another image that doesn’t go away. It’s hard to imagine anyone in a sober frame of mind not knowing that the hole was caused by a human being.

THE PLANET wonders if magistrate Byrnes looked at these photos or of pictures of Moore’s injuries prior to reaching his decision that there wasn’t enough evidence to send the case to trial. There is no evidence to suggest that he did. Officials have release NO INFORMATION on the closed, secret hearing.

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 MORE LETTERS AND COMMENTS FROM WE THE PEOPLE

While the Boring Broadsheet has yet to publish its first letter on the Nilan-Moore Case, and while it apparently expects us to believe that the reason is because they haven’t received a one, THE PLANET continues to engage in dialogue with We The People. We present a sampling here:

Can Citizens Call for a Grand Jury?

I heard that in Massachusetts the citizens can call for a Grand Jury to hear evidence in cases like this. Do you sign a petition?  Do you go through the DA’s Office?  Or around the local DA’s office.Or What?Because this is plain wrong! — AS

‘Please Don’t Stop Fighting on behalf of Peter Moore and Justice’

Please don’t stop fighting on behalf of Peter Moore and justice.  Please keep it going.  I believe full heartedly someone will finally do right in rectifying the injustice.  My uncle Tom is one of the very best men I know.  He’s also my godfather.  I love him and my cousins very much.  We are a very close bunch thanks to Grandma Jean, the best grandmother ever.  Please keep it going with your fight for justice.  Peter does not deserve this failure in a judge.  Nor does his father or our family. — HEATHER JEAN MOORE HOUTS, cousin of Peter Moore.

‘Cannot Believe the Goings On in This Community’

Comments: Cannot believe the goings on in this community and the apathy of it all in many situations.  In the movie “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” the forthright hero was the Bogart character. Will we ever have anyone with that character to represent the little people, answer is no, because the people in this community are the minority and the gob’s long arm extends to many more. I was hearing the goings on with the DPW trucks not functioning, for instance. Mayor Bianchi is going to have a hard time if he makes one enemy with any of the City’s Employees Unions, this is the City Council’s

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VOTERS LIST FROM WINESAP SHOWS NAMES OF PEOPLE WHO MIGHT HAVE MORE TO SAY

Finally, we share this information.Table This is a list of voter on Winesap Road, supplied by the Registrar of Voters. Each of these people is a potential witness or source of information. They live in the neighborhood. They hear the “water cooler talk.” They live near Meredith Nilan, her father, and Peter Moore.

We have already spoken to several people. No one wants to go on the record and no one wants to use their names.

We can only say that as backgrounder, what we are hearing makes the case more understandable.  We may be sharing some of this after we have conducted more interviews.

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WE ENCIRLCE THE OCEANS AND THE MOUNTAiNS OF EARTH AND, ON THE PLANET, ALL THE HAPPY FORMS OF OF ITS DEATHS AND BIRTHS, AND CHANGE, WITH PERCY, THE MUSIC TO ONE OF SWEET MIRTH …

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

“LOVE TO ALL.”