Legal News Headlines

 
Copyright 2009

 Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News

 November 3, 2009 Tuesday

SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS

ACC-NO: 20091103-YC-Kids-for-cash-probe-investigator-interviews-potential-witnesses-examines-records-1103

LENGTH: 405 words

BYLINE: Michael R. Sisak, The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

BODY: 

Nov. 3--An investigator for the state commission probing the Luzerne County kids-for-cash scandal has taken up residence at the county courthouse, poring over records and interviewing potential witnesses ahead of hearings next week in Wilkes-Barre.

The investigator, retired Philadelphia prosecutor William Fisher, has been working out of an office in the second-floor jury room and "will continue, presumably, as long as needed," said Stuart Ditzen, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

President Judge Chester B. Muroski issued an order last week granting Fisher and commission attorney Darren Breslin access to the records and transcripts of all juvenile proceedings since 2002.

Former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., who presided over juvenile court between 1999 and May 2008, and former Judge Michael T. Conahan are accused of accepting $2.8 million in kickbacks between 2003 and 2006 to support two for-profit juvenile detention centers.

Ciavarella often rushed young defendants through terse proceedings, failing to inform them of their right to an attorney and skipping over a required pre-sentence colloquy, attorneys and juvenile advocates said.

The commission, the 11-member Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, will hold its second round of hearings Nov. 9 and 10 at the Best Western East Mountain Inn & Suites, in Wilkes-Barre.

Arthur E. Grim, the Berks County senior judge who recommended clearing the records of the thousands of juveniles sentenced by Ciavarella, is expected to be the lead witness and is scheduled to begin testifying at 1 p.m. on Nov. 9, Ditzen said. Current and former county officials will also testify, Ditzen said.

The Interbranch Commission was established by state law Aug. 7. The commission will have until May 31 to issue a report examining the actions and inactions that allowed Ciavarella and Conahan's scheme to flourish, and recommendations for preventing judicial corruption in the future.

msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061

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LOAD-DATE: November 3, 2009