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Source: The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.儲存Oct. 12--WILKES-BARRE -- A box-cutter slashing case that an attorney suggested had racial overtones after his black client was charged with a felony ended in a plea deal this week.Daniel Dade, 32, of Scranton, pleaded guilty to a second-degree misdemeanor simple assault charge, voiding a jury trial on a more serious count of aggravated assault.Duryea police initially charged Dade, an African American, and Jason Kuna, 39, of Duryea, with simple assault after a fight erupted over Dade blocking Kuna's driveway on Main Street on March 18, 2012.Dade told police Kuna, a Caucasian, allegedly banged on the driver's side window and yelled threatening racial slurs. Dade said he got out and was punched in the head by Kuna, causing a laceration above his eye, according to the criminal complaint.Dade had stopped at a friend's residence to pick up a sweater.Kuna previously testified he arrived home on a motorcycle to find his driveway blocked. Kuna approached Dade, who was accused of slashing Kuna with a box cutter causing slash wounds on his body.Kuna pleaded guilty to a third-degree simple assault charge at a preliminary hearing. He was fined $168.50.Police added a felony aggravated assault charge against Dade prior to his preliminary hearing, which was questionemini storage by his lawyer at the time, James Haggerty.Haggerty said he was "astonished" when he learned the felony assault charge was being added against Dade, saying how the case was being handled "screamed of bias.""Kuna gets a M3 (simple assault) deal and police jack up the charge on the black guy," Haggerty said at the time.Police at the time said they upgraded the charge after re-interviewing Kuna and his wife, Jeanine, and after allegedly finding a box cutter with blood near Kuna's house. Dade was questioned once by police -- the night of the fight.Haggerty was permitted by Luzerne County Judge Joseph Sklarosky Jr. to end his representation of Dade in December 2012 due to a breach of their private contract.After Haggerty's release from the case, Dade was represented by Attorney Thomas M. Dickey of Altoona.Prior to the start of selecting a jury on Wednesday, Dade elected to plead guilty to simple assault. Prosecutors withdrew the felony aggravated assault count, including three other simple assault counts, two summary counts of harassment and one count of disorderly conduct against Dade.Dade is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) Visit The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) at .timesleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage