Before Mike O’Pake became Schuylkill County’s District Attorney, he served as a public defender. In that role, he was assigned to defend Shawn Christy, the McAdoo man facing a number of charges at the county and federal levels.

Christy’s first brush with the law came in March 2017, when he was charged with four felony counts of aggravated assault and two misdemeanors for simple assault after an altercation with Stephan Holley, who was then mayor of McAdoo. O’Pake was assigned to represent Christy in that case at that time.

Christy, 27, was in Schuylkill County Court Wednesday, seeking to have one of his Schuylkill County cases transferred, claiming a conflict now that O’Pake is district attorney. Neither O’Pake nor Judge Jacqueline Russell had any objection to the action. The case to be transferred is from August 2018, involving Christy’s alleged burglary, theft and criminal mischief at Skipper Dipper’s Restaurant, Route 309, Hometown.

Russell said she had some procedural concerns.

“When people are representing someone, they learn about things,” she said. “Things a lawyer learns about a client may be things they can use at trial.”

O’Pake said he was on board with that move. He noted as a rule of law, the matter will first be referred to the Attorney General’s office for review, before it is transferred to another county, which must neighbor Schuylkill.

Christy faces both local – including Carbon County – and federal charges. The federal charges stem from alleged Facebook threats to Northampton District Attorney John M. Morganelli and President Donald Trump; Christy threatened to shoot both.

Christy failed to appear for jury selection for his trial in the Holley case in June 2018 and fled from the law for 113 days. According to police reports, he traveled to Maryland, New York, West Virginia, Kentucky and Maryland, reportedly stealing vehicles and firearms along the way, before he was captured in Ohio Sept. 20. His federal trial is scheduled to begin in November.

Before the hearing, Shawn Christy’s mother, Karen Christy, said that her son would rather be held in Lackawanna County Prison, where he has access to a law library. Christy has been representing himself at proceedings. During the proceeding, Karen Christy tried to hand paperwork to a Sheriff’s Deputy, asking him to pass the papers to her son.

Those efforts were stopped by Judge Russell at that time. After the hearing, Russell allowed Karen Christy to hand papers to a deputy, who would clear them through the county prison mail system before distributing them to Shawn Christy.

Karen Christy said her son’s trouble with the law began with one incident – the altercation with Holley. She said that the family’s home in McAdoo fronts on an alley, and that the Christys have had issues with timely plowing. She said her husband is in poor health and could need transport by ambulance at any time. At the time Shawn Christy and Stephan Holley argued, she said, a major blizzard was taking place.

“Shawn was upset that they weren’t plowing the alley; he was worried about his dad,” she said. “I’m hoping that McAdoo and Schuylkill County court will be held responsible – that was the start of everything.”