Britt and Garrett Reid, charged in connection with separate traffic incidents on the same day, Jan. 30, were in the Norristown courtroom for a second round of pre-trial conferences.
Garrett Reid, accused of running a red light in Plymouth Meeting and injuring a 55-year-old woman in the subsequent crash, was No. 13 in O'Neill's rapid parade of cases. Police have said he admitted using heroin earlier on the day of the accident. He is charged with misdemeanor drug and traffic offenses.
Britt Reid, who faces a felony weapons charge, as well as misdemeanor charges that include lying to authorities and drug possession, was No. 16 on the judge's run-through. Police have said he waved a handgun at another another driver in a road-rage encounter in West Conshohocken.
After getting a quick update of all cases - and then hearing three guilty pleas in drunk-driving arrests - O'Neill again took up the Reid cases.
He left the bench and went behind closed doors to confer with their lawyers and with attorneys for the state Attorney General's Office, which is prosecuting the cases.
The Reids themselves did not go into the judge's chambers. For almost 45 minutes, they sat alone on padded, plum-colored cushions at the end of the second row in the spectators' section. They were isolated as if by a force field. No one went near them. But as soon as either ventured into the hall, news cameras tracked their every footstep. Garrett Reid, at one point, asked for directions to the men's room, then turned on his heels and went back to his seat.
The pair, in their early 20s, have been under intense media scrutiny since their arrests made national news because of their famous father. Andy Reid took a month's leave of absence from the Eagles to pull his family together and to prepare his sons for what already has been a long slog through the courts.
