Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani must have had a feeling of deja vu Monday when John Bright stood before him.
Two decades ago, Feliciani was a court-appointed attorney representing the Monessen father as the man pleaded guilty to misusing burial funds donated for his murdered 8-year-old daughter.
Bright, now 57 and a convicted sex offender, was in Feliciani’s courtroom Monday to answer new allegations that he failed to report his address to police as required by state law.
Prosecutors claim Bright, who was convicted of a sex offense against a child in 2015 in Franklin County, did not report that he moved from Monessen to Uniontown in February.
In court Monday, Feliciani, first elected to the bench in 2003, reminded Bright of their past connection.
“Did I represent you 20 years ago?” Feliciani asked.
Bright responded no. But the judge again questioned him about their prior relationship, noting that Bright resembled a former client of the same name.
“I’m not sure it matters, if you’re OK with it,” Feliciani said about any potential conflict of interest.
Feliciani also served as Bright’s defense lawyer in a criminal case filed in 2002 in which the Monessen man was accused of assaulting his wife, court records indicate.
Charges against Bright in the assault case were dismissed; Bright and his wife pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in the theft case and were sentenced to probation.
Feliciani on Monday specifically questioned Bright about the theft case from 2001, in which the couple was accused of taking money donated to a memorial fund to purchase a used car.
Police said the couple’s 8-year-old daughter, Annette, was shot in the head in July 2001 by a family friend and buried in a shallow grave in Rostraver. During the investigation, police said the couple allowed their daughter’s killer access to their children in exchange for gifts.
A few years later, in 2015, Bright was convicted of attempted aggravated assault against a child in Franklin County and was sentenced to three to six years in prison. As part of that sentence, Bright has to register with the state police as a convicted sex offender for the rest of his life.
Defense attorney Tim Dawson said he was not aware of his client’s history until Feliciani referred to it in court Monday. The judge agreed to delay Bright’s case to allow Dawson to review the allegations.
Bright will remain free on a $5,000 unsecured bond.
