John Waldron (lawyer)

Last updated
John Waldron
Born
Alma mater La Salle University (BA), Villanova University School of Law (JD)
OccupationLawyer
Employer Huber, Waldron & Williams LLP
Known forCriminal Defense
Website hwwfirm.com

John J. Waldron is an American lawyer based in Allentown, Pennsylvania and is best known for his work as a criminal defense attorney. His notable clients have included Robert Durst, Jamie Silvonek, George Juno, and James Alan Austin. He is known for his role during the Katheryn Deprill 'Burger King Baby' [1] reunification case and for his representation of Stacey Esterly during the Kevin Esterly/Amy Yu affair. He is a founding partner at Huber, Waldron & Williams, [2] a Lehigh Valley law firm, and a past board member of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Contents

Education

Waldron earned his undergraduate degree from La Salle University in 1978, where he finished magna cum laude. He obtained his Juris Doctor from Villanova University in 1982.

Waldron was admitted to the State Bar of Pennsylvania in 1984. After his admittance to the bar he worked as a prosecutor in Lehigh County under current Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge William H. Platt, who was the District Attorney at the time. In 1987 he cofounded Huber & Waldron with James T. Huber. The firm specializes in White Collar Criminal Defense, Homicide and Narcotic cases, Commercial Litigation, and Wrongful Death cases.

Robert Durst

In 2001, Waldron represented Robert Durst, a Manhattan Real Estate Heir, on his charges in Pennsylvania (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Robert Durst, State of Texas v. Robert Durst). Durst was subject to speculation for his involvement with the murder and dismemberment of Morris Black, his neighbor in Galveston. Durst was sought by authorities in Texas and evaded capture for six weeks before his arrest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in December 2001. Waldron was featured on HBO's 2015 miniseries The Jinx . [3] [4]

Jaime Silvonek

Waldron also represented Jamie Silvonek one of the youngest females in Pennsylvania State history to be tried as an adult. In March 2015, Jamie Silvonek was indicated and arrested for her involvement in the murder of Cheryl Silvonek, her mother. Waldron argued that because of Silvoneks age, her intellectual capacities were still developing, which affected her impulse control and, more generally, her capacity for crime. Waldron has been featured on HLN's Nancy Grace and CNN's Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. [5] He has also been highlighted in People , [6] CBS, [7] Huffington Post', [8] and Fox News. [9]

Personal life

Waldron has three children.

Awards and recognition

Waldron has been recognized as a Philadelphia Magazine "Super Lawyer".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry Mason</span> Fictional attorney

Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a client being charged with murder, usually involving a preliminary hearing or jury trial. Typically, Mason establishes his client's innocence by finding the real murderer. The character was inspired by famed Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Earl Rogers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Blake (actor)</span> American actor (1933–2023)

Robert Blake, billed early in his career as Mickey Gubitosi and Bobby Blake, was an American prolific Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning actor, who appeared in some 200 films. He was best known for starring in the 1967 film In Cold Blood and playing the title role in the late 1970s television series Baretta.

The Atlanta murders of 1979–1981, sometimes called the Atlanta child murders, was a series of murders committed in Atlanta, Georgia, between July 1979 and May 1981. Over the two-year period, at least 28 children, adolescents, and adults were killed.

Dick DeGuerin is an American criminal defense attorney based in Houston, most notable for defending Tom DeLay, Allen Stanford, David Koresh and Robert Durst. In 1994, DeGuerin was named Outstanding Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year by the State Bar of Texas Criminal Justice Section.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Durst</span> American murderer (1943–2022)

Robert Alan Durst was an American real estate heir and convicted murderer. The eldest son of New York City real estate magnate Seymour Durst, Robert gained attention as a suspect in the unsolved 1982 disappearance of his first wife Kathleen McCormack, the 2000 murder of his long-time friend Susan Berman, and the 2001 killing of his neighbor Morris Black.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Berman</span> American journalist and author (1945–2000)

Susan Jane Berman was an American journalist and author. The daughter of mobster David Berman, she wrote about her late-in-life realization of her father's role in organized crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Birkbeck</span> American journalist and author

Matt Birkbeck is an American investigative journalist and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Riley Ann Sawyers</span> Murder of American child

Riley Ann Sawyers was a two-year-old American girl who was beaten to death by her mother Kimberly Dawn Trenor and her mother's partner Royce Zeigler in a filicide. Her body was later found in Galveston Bay, Texas.

<i>All Good Things</i> (film) 2010 film by Andrew Jarecki

All Good Things is a 2010 American mystery/crime romantic drama film directed by Andrew Jarecki and written by Marcus Hinchey and Marc Smerling. Inspired by the life of Robert Durst, it stars Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, and Frank Langella. Gosling portrays the wealthy son of a New York real estate tycoon (Langella) who develops a disturbing relationship with his wife (Dunst) and becomes suspected of a series of murders, as well as his wife's unsolved disappearance.

<i>A Deadly Secret: The Strange Disappearance of Kathie Durst</i> Book by Matt Birkbeck

A Deadly Secret: The Strange Disappearance of Kathie Durst is the true story of Robert Durst, the heir to a New York real estate dynasty who has been a person of interest in the missing-person case of his wife Kathie since her 1982 disappearance. The book was written by journalist and author Matt Birkbeck, and was published by Berkley/Penguin. A Deadly Secret was released in hardcover in 2002 and in paperback in 2003.

David Zeltner Chesnoff is an American criminal defense attorney based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Chesnoff was a law partner of Las Vegas Mayor, Oscar B. Goodman. Chesnoff has represented celebrities as well as crime figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kermit Gosnell</span> American infant serial killer (born 1941)

Kermit Barron Gosnell is an American former physician and serial killer. He provided abortions at his clinic in West Philadelphia. Gosnell was convicted of the murders of three infants who were born alive after using drugs to induce birth, was convicted of manslaughter in connection with the death of one woman during an abortion procedure, and was convicted of several other medically related crimes.

Michael Edmund Cardoza is a defense attorney in California. Prior to his criminal defense work, he worked in three of California's District attorney offices: Los Angeles County, San Francisco County, and Alameda County. He currently operates Cardoza Law, a private practice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Castro kidnappings</span> 2002–2004 kidnappings in Cleveland, Ohio, US

Between 2002 and 2004, Ariel Castro abducted Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina DeJesus from the streets of Cleveland, Ohio and later held them captive in his home of 2207 Seymour Avenue in the city's Tremont neighborhood. All three girls were imprisoned at Castro's home until 2013, when Berry successfully escaped with her six-year-old daughter, to whom she had given birth while imprisoned, and contacted the police. Police rescued Knight and DeJesus, and arrested Castro hours later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Durst</span> American real estate investor and developer (born 1944)

Douglas Durst is an American real estate investor and developer. He is the president of the Durst Organization, which he has been in charge of since 1992.

<i>The Jinx</i> (miniseries) 2015 documentary miniseries

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst is a 2015 HBO documentary miniseries about New York real estate heir Robert Durst, a convicted murderer. It was written by Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, and Zac Stuart-Pontier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Smerling</span> American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and director

Marc Smerling is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and director. He was nominated for an Oscar for Capturing the Friedmans in 2003, and co-wrote and produced The Jinx, a six-part HBO documentary on suspected murderer Robert Durst. He directed the FX docuseries A Wilderness of Error based on the book of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Bella Bond</span> Homicide of American child

Bella Neveah Amoroso Bond, previously known as the Deer Island Jane Doe and "Baby Doe", was an American child whose body was found in a plastic bag on the shore of Deer Island in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 25, 2015.

<i>Making a Murderer</i> 2015 American true crime documentary series

Making a Murderer is an American true crime documentary television series written and directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos. The show tells the story of Steven Avery, a man from Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, who served 18 years in prison (1985–2003) after his wrongful conviction for the sexual assault and attempted murder of Penny Beerntsen. He was later charged with and convicted of the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach. The connected story is that of Avery's nephew Brendan Dassey, who was accused and convicted as an accessory in the murder of Halbach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">July 2017 Pennsylvania murders</span> Crime spree

Between July 5 and July 7, 2017, four young men were reported missing in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. All were subsequently found murdered. The victims were Dean A. Finocchiaro, age 19; Thomas C. Meo, age 21; Jimi T. Patrick, age 19; and Mark R. Sturgis, age 22.

References

  1. . People Magazine http://people.com/babies/burger-king-baby-reunites-with-birth-mother-through-facebook/.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Huber, Waldron & Williams". Huber, Waldron & Williams LLP Homepage.
  3. "Robert Durst offered to wire Northampton County Prison for cable TV during his stay". The Morning Call.
  4. http://newstowatch.com/market-news/stocks-and-trading/robert-durst-reveals-he-was-on-meth-the-whole-time-during-hbos-the-jinx.html.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. . CNN http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1705/17/ptab.01.html.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "Teen Girl Who Texted 'She Needs to Go' to be Tried as Adult in Mom's Murder". People Magazine.
  7. "No death penalty sought against soldier in Pa. Woman's murder". CBS.
  8. "'She Needs to Go' 14-Year-Old Texts Soldier Boyfriend Hours Before Mother Killed: Cops". Huffington Post. 2015-04-03.
  9. "14-year-old girl to remain in adult jail, not juvenile center, until trial in mother's murder". Fox News. 2015-05-25.