A Carbon County man allegedly stole a pickup truck and rifle from the rear of a rural farming property in Moore Township, court records say. Alan James Arthofer, 22, of Bowmanstown, Pa., admitted to police that he stole the vehicle from Kleintop Farm, 3262 Scenic Drive in Moore Township, on July 22, according to court records. Arthofer admitted to the theft after police say they found the 1987 Dodge Dakota truck at his home.
Police alerted Thomas Kopchak, of Kleintop Farms, that authorities found the vehicle, which is registered to his wife. Kopchak told police he did not even know the truck was missing because it was parked behind the barn and used only for farm-related work.
The owners told police no one had permission to take the vehicle, court papers say. Arthofer was also found to be in possession of a stolen .22-caliber rifle that had been left inside the pick-up truck for shooting groundhogs on the farm property, court papers say.
Arthofer was charged with two counts of theft and one count of unauthorized use of a vehicle. He was arraigned today before District Judge Robert Hawke, who set his bail at $30,000. Authorities say Arthofer remains in Carbon County Prison.
County Countroller Stephen Barron chalked the news up as a victory after saying no tax increase was needed last year to balance the 2012 budget.
Northampton County Executive John Stoffa announced his 2013 budget will not include a tax increase, which if passed would mark nine straight years without a tax increase other than one approved by voters.
Stoffa did not present the budget, which is still being finalized, but said he would not call for an increase despite a lack of growth in revenue. Northampton County Council last voted for a tax increase in 2004, though voters did approve a 0.5 mill increase in a 2006 referendum question.
"I know of few other counties or municipalities that can boast that record," Stoffa told council members.
The news comes nine months after Stoffa decried the council's decision to ignore his recommendation for a 1 mill tax increase. With the swaption and other large capital projects pending, the county would not be able to meet all of its needs without the hike, he said.
"I think it's an irresponsible vote," Stoffa said at the time.
Instead, the council opted last year to follow the advice of Northampton County Controller Stephen Barron, who suggested the county dip into its large reserve fund. After tonight's meeting, Barron said the news that no tax increase was needed to balance the budget was vindication. The county balanced the budget despite not selling the county-owned nursing home, Gracedale, and buying out of most of the swaption debt.
"We don't need to be stockpiling money the way we were," he said.
Stoffa, however, stood by his call for a tax increase from last year. The $59 million reserve has shrunk dramatically, he said, though he could not immediately provide an estimate of where it stands. Acting Director of Fiscal Affairs Doran Hamann said earlier this week the budget will be presented Oct. 3.
The county will have to dip into the reserve again this year to balance the budget, which will need somewhere between $4 and $6 million to subsidize Gracedale, Stoffa said. The reserve cannot continue to dwindle much longer, he said, or taxpayers will eventually face a painful jump in taxes rather than a slow increase.
"You cannot continue to eat the seed corn," Stoffa said, borrowing a phrase from former Councilman Ron Angle.
Instead, Stoffa said his decision to recommend no tax increase was one of political necessity.
"They'll never vote for a tax increase in an election year. I'm not dumb," he said, referring to the 2013 election as he stuck a finger at the dais. Five of the council's nine seats will be up for election in November 2013.
The 48-year-old had also altered the price tags of other products that she was planning on buying from the Walnutport store.
A Lehigh Township woman allegedly attempted to steal clothing today from a Walnutport K-Mart by wearing one of the products and changing the price tags on others, according to court records.
Shirley E. Fister, 48, of the 1000 block of Honeysuckle Road in Lehigh Township, was allegedly wearing a $20 shirt she had put on in the dressing room when she was checking out at the K-Mart, 400 North Best Ave. in Walnutport.
Police say Fister was being observed by store security for about two hours as she shopped in the store and tried on clothing. Fister was wearing one of the shirts she had tried on when she was paying for merchandise, court papers say. Store security also discovered that she had changed several price tags on the clothing she was about to buy, court papers say.
When confronted, authorities say Fister admitted to altering the prices and wearing a shirt she had not yet paid for. Fister also admitted to stealing other items from the K-Mart store recently, according to court records.
Fister faces two counts of retail theft and was arraigned today before District Judge Robert Hawke. The judge set Fister's bail at $8,000 unsecured.
A $650,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant awarded to Northampton County today is intended to help redevelop brownfields, or former industrial sites.
View full sizeExpress-Times File Photo | CHRIS POSTNorthampton County has used prior Environmental Protection Agency grants for work at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, where today's grant announcement took place.
A $650,000 federal grant awarded to Northampton County today may help fund environmental cleanup at sites such as the Steel General Office building in Bethlehem and the Dixie Cup plant in Wilson Borough.
The county has used prior Environmental Protection Agency grants for work at the Simon Silk Mill in Easton and the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, where today’s grant announcement took place.
The new grant is intended for the redevelopment of brownfields, or former industrial sites, of which the county has many, said Alicia Karner, Northampton County’s economic development administrator. The challenge will be finding projects that are ready to be redeveloped, she said.
“We want to see a project that’s going to take off,” she said.
Easton may apply for some of the money for cleanup work at 118-120 Northampton Street, said Gretchen Longenbach, the city’s community and economic development director. If the city is able to remediate the building’s lead paint, it’ll make it more enticing for redevelopment, she said.
Bethlehem will likely seek funding to assist in the cleanup of the former Steel General Office building, but another former Steel building may get pushed to the forefront if a developer shows interest in it, Mayor John Callahan said.
“There’s a lot of buildings here that could use that help,” he said.
Parts of the former Dixie Cup plant in Wilson Borough are currently being used, but an idea to develop the site into condominiums never came to fruition.
EPA Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin pointed to the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks as a prime example of how brownfields grants should be used. The county used part of a previous brownfields grant to remediate asbestos from the former Steel building that was torn down to make way for the center, Karner said.
“This is what brownfields were made for,” Garvin said. “Every time I come up here, it amazes me.”
Within the mid-Atlantic region, $70 million in brownfields grants have been awarded since 1992, leading to the investment of $673 million in private money and creating 8,200 jobs, Garvin said.
Within Northampton County, three EPA brownfields grants totaling more than $1 million have allowed for $19 million in private investment and the creation of 150 jobs, officials said.
Callahan said redevelopment of the Steel site — which is the nation’s largest privately owned brownfield at 1,800 acres — wouldn’t be possible without government investment. Brownfields are more costly to redevelop than open space and often require a public-private partnership, he said.
About $63 million of state investment alone on the Steel site has led to $816 million in private investment, Callahan said.
“Most of it wouldn’t be possible without public investment,” he said.
Judge Michael Koury dismissed jurors at about 12:30 this afternoon in Northampton County Court.
The trial of an Upper Nazareth Township man accused of molesting a young girl for eight years is scheduled to resume Monday.
Jurors will return at 9 a.m. for the trial of Dennis Prendes, 62, who allegedly performed sex acts on a Bethlehem Township, Pa., girl between 1996 and 2004, beginning when she was 5 years old.
Judge Michael Koury dismissed jurors about 12:30 this afternoon in
Northampton County Court, saying that there wasn't enough time for
closing arguments and deliberation before 5 p.m.
Earlier this week, the alleged victim, now 21 years old, and family members testified about the alleged abuse. Prendes has denied these claims, at one point employing pictures of his genitals, and asserted that he was never alone with the alleged victim.
Before adjourning for the day, Koury twice warned jurors not to read any newspapers or websites over the weekend covering the case, specifically The Express-Times and Morning Call.
An Allentown
man today denied allegations that he grabbed women's buttocks at Musikfest last
year and is willing to take a lie-detector test before heading to trial next
month.
Rafael Santiago-Lozado,
30, allegedly touched the women while walking around at the annual Bethlehem music festival. City police allege Santiagio-Lozado was drunk at the time and ignored police instructions, according to court documents. He was one of 33 people arrested for disorderly conduct at the festival in 2011.
The 30-year-old takes
issue with the alleged grabbing.
"It's disorderly conduct
for something I didn't do," he said.
Assistant District
Attorney Patricia Fuentes Mulqueen said a polygraph test would take place sometime before the trial, which is slated for
Oct. 1. Santiago-Lozado acknowledged he thought the polygraph test went a bit "overboard," but said he couldn't
plead guilty to an offense he didn't commit.
"I would just like to get
this whole thing behind me," he said.
The case was transferred
to Northampton County
court in July, according to court documents. Northampton County Judge Leonard Zito
said the court will move ahead with the trial in October.
"This will not be
continued," Zito said. "You can take all the polygraph tests you want."
Zito said Santiago-Lozado
would have faced a probation sentence if he pleaded guilty to public drunkenness
and failure to disperse upon an officer's order. Mulqueen indicated that two Bethlehem
police officers would testify at the trial.
If Santiago-Lozado goes to trial, he will also face a disorderly conduct charge.
"You want a trial, you will have a
trial," Zito said.
A motion filed this week calls for the more robbery and conspiracy charges.
An Allentown man
accused of masterminding a home invasion three years ago may face 17 additional
charges if the judge grants a motion filed today by the Northampton County
District Attorney's Office.
Garry Harvey Mason Jr., 34, who allegedly ordered his two co-defendants
to force their way into a Hanover Township
home, could face additional charges stemming from the 2009 incident.
The motion calls for eight more counts each of robbery and conspiracy,
as well as one count of burglary, according to court documents.
Mason, along with convicted conspirators Nelson Perez and
Daniel Negron, allegedly broke into a home on the 3800 block of Bath Pike and
attacked five people, according to court documents.
The men stole $20,000 in
cash, three flat-screen TVs, a samurai sword, a laptop computer and a shotgun, according
to authorities. Mason allegedly sexually assaulted one of the men and pistol-whipped another.
Authorities believe Mason is a high-ranking member of the Bloods
gang and that the robbery was part of Perez's initiation.
He already
faces two counts of robbery, three counts of conspiracy and one count each of
theft, receiving stolen property, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse and
aggravated assault. Assistant District Attorney Robert Eyer didn't return calls
for additional information.
Mason was scheduled to begin trial this week, but a continuance
was filed Monday by his defense attorney Gregory Noonan. His co-defendants, who are serving state prison terms,
accepted plea deals in September, but Mason claims he was working at the time
of the robbery.
The nine defendants were convicted for murders they committed between the ages of 18 and 21 and argue their brains had not finished developing at the time of their crimes.
Over the last 40 years, Daniel L. Graves has had a first-row seat to the evolution of the Pennsylvania legal system. Now the convicted murderer from Easton is hoping one more change in the law will make him a free man for the first time since the Nixon administration.
In 1972, a Northampton County jury convicted a 21-year-old Graves for murdering Sebatsiano Patiri, a 75-year-old recluse from West Berwick Street, while high on LSD.
The day of his conviction, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional, and Graves was sentenced to life in prison without parole. In 1976, he was given a second trial because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found he should have been able to use intoxication as a defense. The second jury also found Graves guilty, and the Pennsylvania legislature passed a law banning intoxication as a defense, partially because of his case.
Now, the 62-year-old man from Easton is arguing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling should allow him to apply for a shorter sentence. If successful, Graves would almost certainly be released from state prison.
Graves and eight others convicted of murder in Northampton County as adults, however, have appealed their sentences as well. All nine were convicted for murders they committed when between the ages of 18 and 21 and argue their brains had not finished developing at the time of their crimes.
"If differences between mature and immature brains warranted the conclusion that life-without-parole sentences may not be imposed on juveniles ... there is no reason why those differences would not warrant the same conclusion for defendants in their mid-20s," Graves wrote in his appeal.
His argument mirrors one made by First Assistant District Attorney Terry Houck, but from the opposite perspective. Houck argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that Batts deserved life without parole for what he called a brutal execution of another Easton teenager.
“They overestimated the immaturity of these inmates," Houck said Thursday of the U.S. Supreme Court justices. "What is the magic age when someone is suddenly mature?"
Northampton County judges have dismissed appeals two from inmates who were young adults at the time of their crimes, including Michelle Hetzel. However, Judge Michael Koury has granted Graves a hearing Friday to explain why he should be allowed to appeal.
Matthew Potts, Gaves' court-appointed attorney, declined to comment for this article.
District Attorney John Morganelli, though, grumbled last week the hearing creates unneeded work. The Supreme Court's wording limited the case to juveniles, so their ruling should not affect Graves. Though Morganelli said he respects Koury's decision, he hopes the Graves hearing will not become a trend.
He said he already spends about half of his working hours defending appeals from prisoners who have already been sentenced, let alone 40-year-old cases that have finished the appeal process.
Corey 'Lemon' Maeweather wants a new trial or reduced sentence for the 1996 torture and murder of a 13-year-old.
Express-Times file photoCorey Maeweather, seen here in a 1997 photo, is appealing his life-without-parole sentence.
A 36-year-old man convicted of the 1996 kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old girl has been granted a hearing to argue why he should have a right to appeal his life-without-parole sentence.
Corey "Lemon" Maeweather pleaded guilty in 1998 to the kidnapping and murder of Richezza Williams, a 13-year-old runaway from Long Island.
Authorities said Maeweather, Kwame Henry and Stanley "Wildman" Obas tortured and killed the girl in a basement in the 700 block of Bushkill Street in Easton. The three men, part of a drug ring called the Cash Money Brothers or Cash Money Boys, hid her body in a kerosene heater box at vault at Easton Cemetery for weeks, police said.
Maeweather denied taking an active part in hiding Williams' body or her torture and death. However, he told police he fetched a corkscrew, a turkey baster and electrical cords for Obas and Henry as they tortured her. He was later convicted of assaulting a key witness with Henry and Rainbow Fucci, Henry's girlfriend.
Like Daniel Graves and seven other convicted murderers out of Northampton County, Maeweather has appealed his case based on the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that bans automatic life-without-parole sentences for juveniles. Maeweather was 19 when Williams was murdered, but is arguing his brain had not matured enough to be sentenced as an adult.
President Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden has scheduled a hearing next month to determine if Maeweather should be allowed to appeal his case. Brian Lawser, his court appointed attorney, declined to comment, saying he had not yet received notice he was appointed to the case. Maeweather is seeking a new trial or reduced sentence.
Henry went on the run but was eventually arrested in Trinidad. He was
sentenced to life in prison in 1999. Obas has never been caught and is
listed on Pennsylvania State Police's 10 Most Wanted.
The 21-year-old Tobyhanna, Pa., man allegedly met the 13-year-old girl online.
A former East Stroudsburg student accused of having sexual contact with a 13-year-old Lehigh Township girl he met online waived his right to a preliminary hearing today.
Court records say the victim and both men exchanged sexually explicit photos. While the victim told police she was clear about her age, the men both said they believed she was 18, according to court records.
Lopes told police he did not have sex with the girl, according to court papers.
By waiving his right to a preliminary hearing today, Lopes acknowledged that the Northampton County District Attorney Office had enough evidence to proceed to trial on at least one of the criminal charges. Unless a plea deal is worked out beforehand, the case against Lopes could proceed to trial.
A call to Lopes' attorney Mark Minotti was not returned this afternoon. Both Lopes and Sitaras face charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault,
unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communication facility
and corruption of minors.
Both men have posted 10 percent of $10,000 bail, court records show. Attempts to find a phone number for both men were unsuccessful.
The only charge still pending is corruption of minors.
The two former East Stroudsburg students accused of sexual contact with a 13-year-old Lehigh Township girl have waived their preliminary hearings, but court records show the most serious charges have been withdrawn.
Brian Lopes, 21, of Tobyhanna, Pa., and Nicholas Sitaras, 24, of the 3200 block of Beaufort Drive in Bethlehem, each now face only a single count of corruption of minors, according to court records.
The men were originally charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault,
unlawful contact with a minor, criminal use of a communication facility and corruption of a minor. Lopes gave up his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday and Sitaras did the same today before District Judge Robert Hawke, according to court documents.
But both Lopes and Sitaras denied having sex with the girl and said they believed her to be 18 years old.
The men now face trial on the corruption of minor offense unless a plea or other disposition is worked out.
Both men have posted 10 percent of their $10,000 bail. Efforts to reach them were unsuccessful. Neither of the defendants' attorneys could be reached for comment.
The county has admitted no wrongdoing in agreeing to pay John Mucha $200,000 to settle his lawsuit that claims he was beaten by other inmates.
View full sizeExpress-Times File PhotoNorthampton County has settled with a former prison inmate who was allegedly assaulted by other inmates operating a contraband ring.
Northampton County has agreed to pay a former inmate $200,000 after he was injured in 2009 when inmates involved in a prison smuggling ring allegedly assaulted him.
John Mucha filed a federal civil rights lawsuit a year and a half ago alleging that county
officials knew the prison had serious issues with inmates smuggling
contraband such as cellphones, tobacco, drugs and homemade weapons. At
the time of the alleged assault, Mucha was serving a short sentence for a driving under the influence offense, according to a statement released
by his attorneys today.
Mucha is permanently disabled following
the attack that resulted in "debilitating back injuries," Mucha's attorney Nicholas Sabatine III stated.
Northampton County admitted no wrongdoing in settling the case.
"Nevertheless, the magnitude of the settlement should send a message to all Northampton County elected officials that it is in everyone’s interest to eradicate corruption within the prison and install effective procedures to prevent this type of incident from reoccurring," Sabatine wrote.
"It's unfortunate that these things occur," Northampton County Executive John Stoffa said when asked about the settlement.
He said the decision to stay out of court was ultimately made with county residents in mind. Taking the lawsuit, which was in courts for over a year, through the legal system would only result in draining the county's coffers.
"They all take an enormous amount of time and taxpayer money," he said of lawsuits.
Mucha's suit claims prison guard James Boehm was helping inmates who ran a "tobacco gang." Boehm was suspended for his involvement in "illicit and organized tobacco distribution" in the prison, according to the lawsuit. Small pouches of tobacco were being sold in the prison for $50 each, Sabatine stated.
Boehm resigned as a guard in February 2009, Northampton County Executive John Stoffa previously said.
In other news, council appointed Arnie Matos, the acting director of corrections, the position on a permanent basis.
Northampton County Council opted to postpone a decision to award a contract on non-emergency medical transportation for Gracedale nursing home after its current providers turned out in force to protest the bidding process.
About two dozen people attended tonight's meeting in support of Nazareth Ambulance Corps as employees picked apart the presentation LifeStar Response made to council members Wednesday night in a committee meeting.
William Schreck, a Nazareth Ambulance Corps employee, said the winning LifeStar bid offered services the county never asked for, such as putting Gracedale's name on the side of ambulances as a form of free marketing.
"There seems to be more in the bidding process that seems to have gone on behind the scenes," Schreck said.
Mike Snyder, a second employee, said the Gracedale contract is critical to the ambulance corps' operations. He criticized the county's decision to award a contract to a company nationally headquartered out of New Jersey and ultimately based out of the country.
In contrast, the current non-emergency transportation providers are based in Northampton County and many have relatives staying at the nursing home.
"It would quite literally be a death blow to our ambulance corps," Snyder said.
Few details about the differences between the two bids were immediately available, but county documents show the two were the only bids considered.
LifeStar's would-be winning bid called for a one-year $315,600 contract that could be renewed for up to three years at $946,800. Councilman Bruce Gilbert tossed some criticism at Councilman Scott Parsons, the council's liaison on the bidding process, for failing to provide that information to council.
The vote drew a round of applause from the supporters in the room, many of them in their ambulance corps uniforms, and a fist pump from Schreck. Councilman Bob Werner warned that while the county wouldn't look at the matter strictly from a perspective of dollars and cents, it would have to make good logic for the county to continue the transportation deal.
"It is not as simple as, 'We're from Nazareth and we care about you,'" Werner said.
*********
At the same meeting, council unanimously approved making Arnie Matos the county's director of corrections. Matos was tapped for the position on an acting basis after Robert Meyers retired July 6.
Councilman Lamont McClure congratulated Matos and told him to savor the evening but to be prepared for the job. McClure ran through a list of problems at the Northampton County Prison over the last five years, including MRSA, lawsuits and safety, and let him know the council would be watching.
"There are a lot of challenges you're going to be dealing with," he said.
The parking garage alongside the Northampton County Courthouse is stable, County Executive John Stoffa said, but needs more than $700,000 in repairs.
Northampton County is seeking more than $700,000 from a Michigan-based construction company after the parking deck it worked on three years ago began to crack and show signs of disrepair.
Northampton County awarded RAM Construction Services of Cleveland a bid to resurface its Easton parking garage's upper deck in 2009, but the garage is now laced with cracks and fractures, according to the lawsuit filed this afternoon in county court. After RAM said it completed the job, the county discovered improperly installed joints, hairline cracks in the cement and patches of cement falling off onto the lower level, the suit said.
In total, the county paid $2.2 million for the work, but has been withholding the final $44,000 because of the problems, said County Executive John Stoffa. County officials tried negotiating with RAM to have them correct the defects that turned up in the work, but those have since fallen through, Stoffa said.
Stoffa insisted the garage is stable and is not at risk to collapse, though he noted it is dated and does not meet safety regulations that would be required of a parking garage built today. However, he said the construction workers who worked on the job botched the process of laying the concrete, saying it did not dry properly. He blamed the result on RAM periodically sending in workers from Michigan to complete the project.
"These guys would work six or seven days in a row, and then there would be nobody there watching it," he said.
The $700,000 amount is the estimated cost of repairing the garage, which is alongside the Northampton County Courthouse, Stoffa said.
An after-hours call to RAM's Michigan headquarters seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The Easton, Pen Argyl and Bethlehem area school districts all did not make adequate yearly progress -- the state's measure of whether a district is on target to meet the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
View full sizeExpress-Times File PhotoStudents watch a basketball game between the students and faculty last school year during a week of activities to reward students for their hard work while taking PSSA tests at Easton Area Middle School.
Five of Northampton County's eight school districts met state math and reading testing benchmarks in standardized tests last school year.
The scores measure whether a district is on track to meet the 100 percent proficiency by 2014 mandate embedded in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
The Easton and Pen Argyl area school districts landed on the state's warning list after failing to make adequate yearly progress, the measure of compliance. The Bethlehem Area School District moved into the more severe District Improvement I after landing back on the warning list.
Statewide, Pennsylvania students' scores dropped slightly in the most recent round of testing due to a state crackdown on alleged cheating in some districts, the Education Department said.
An investigation into alleged cheating in Bethlehem has been closed, but the department plans to continue to monitor the district along with five other districts and charter schools.
Overall, Easton struggled academically and with its graduation rate. Poor students and special education students did not reach the 85 percent graduation threshold. In Pen Argyl, the district as a whole also struggled to meet the 85
percent graduation mandate with special education and poor students.
A new federal regulation required high school graduation rates to be calculated by looking at the number of graduates in 2012 and the number of freshmen back in 2008. The rate is now also applied to subgroups. The switch meant many districts and schools missed adequate yearly progress in 2011-12.
Easton's black, Latino, special education, non-English speaking and low-income student subgroups struggled to meet math targets. If a district has 10 or more students that fall into a subgroup category, that group's scores count toward it meeting state targets.
Among the subgroups, only Asian students in Easton hit state reading proficiency targets. The following Easton schools did not make adequate yearly progress: Cheston, March and Paxinosa elementary schools; Easton Area Middle School 5-6 and 7-8; and Easton Area High School.
Pen Argyl High School missed the graduating target but met all academic testing goals; something it did not do in 2010-11. Plainfield Elementary School hit all testing benchmarks as it did in 2010-11. Wind Gap Middle School again struggled to meet academic testing goals.
A statewide public defender's office would ensure defendants receive fair and equal representation in all county courts, officials said. Vote in the NEWS POLL.
View full sizeExpress-Times File Photo | MATT SMITHNorthampton County Chief Public Defender Michael Corriere
The Northampton County Bar Association last week joined colleagues throughout the state by endorsing a series of changes that would drastically alter the way criminal cases are defended in Pennsylvania.
By unanimous vote Thursday night, the bar recommended 10 principles that should be required of public defenders.
The standards, which were already approved by the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia bar associations, include requiring public defenders to continue to receive training after law school and to be reviewed by their supervisors, and they set limits on how many cases they can be assigned.
The most prominent proposal included in the resolution calls on Pennsylvania to create a statewide public defender's office to ensure defendants receive fair and equal representation in all county courts.
As of now, Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation that does not provide funding to public defenders, according to a study released in December. By not providing the funding, Pennsylvania is ignoring a 49-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling saying states are obligated to provide those services under the Constitution.
Victor Scomillio, president of the Northampton County Bar Association, said the bar's decision to endorse the resolution is not a knock on the county's public defender's office, but an effort to equalize defense across the state.
In Luzerne County, for example, the chief public defender filed a lawsuit against the county earlier this year, saying county leaders were under-budgeting his office to the point it cannot meet constitutional standards.
"We're looking to help other counties not blessed with the quality defenders we have here," Scomillio said. "We are pleased with the function of the public defender's office here in Northampton County."
Northampton County said to meet standards
Chief Public Defender Michael Corriere said his office already meets most of the principles spelled out in the resolution. The county supplies funding independent of the courts, conference rooms are available for lawyers to meet with defendants and clients generally have the same attorney throughout the case.
Other scenarios, such as periodic reviews of attorneys, do not exist at a formal level but do occur from time to time, he said.
"I thought our office really met those standards. Maybe not to the letter, but we really are meeting those requirements," Corriere said. His office supported the resolution as well.
The endorsements will mean little unless the state takes action to create the statewide system.
Steve DeFrank, chief of staff for state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh/Monroe/Northampton, said he is unaware of any bills looking to create a state public defender's office. Boscola, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has not taken steps to introduce the legislation but supports the concept as a core function of government, he said.
"Adequate legal representation in our legal system should be one of those functions," he said.
More time with clients means better defense
Attorney Gary Asteak, who advised legislators in the state study, said funding from the state would allow for more public defenders, which would lessen their caseloads. That would create more time for attorneys to spend defending their clients, which usually brings better results.
Attorneys with more time and funding can perform a more nuanced background check on defendants, allowing them to show a judge each client is a person and not just another name on the docket, Asteak said.
Without other cases falling into their laps, the attorney can do a better job showing mitigating factors such as substance abuse and mental health issues, or form better arguments to counter the prosecution, he said.
"There is a human component," Asteak said. "These are things that can really impact the quality of a defense."
With no new funding likely, the county will continue to fund the public defender's office. This year, the county budgeted $1.5 million for the office, but some costs are expected to increase. Corriere said he requested funding to hire another attorney to help with the increasing workload.
"I would go half-in with the state. I would love to get it all, but I'll take what I can get," Corriere said.
A total of 18 workers were transported to local hospitals after firefighters discovered a carbon monoxide leak at the warehouse today. See PHOTOS.
More than a dozen employees of a Trader Joe's warehouse in East Allen Township were taken to local hospitals for evaluation today following a carbon monoxide leak at the facility, according to a fire official.
The leak was found when firefighters responded 7:09 this morning to an automatic fire alarm at the warehouse, 6835 Silver Crest Road, according to Ray Anthony, the township fire company's assistant chief.
All 197 employees in the warehouse at the time were evacuated, Anthony said. After being evaluated by paramedics, 18 workers who "complained of not feeling well" were taken to local hospitals, he said. Information on the workers' statuses was not immediately available.
After responders ventilated the building, employees were allowed back inside about 11:42 a.m., according to Anthony. A problem with the batteries of five of the forklifts inside the warehouse was cited as the source of the carbon monoxide leak, he said.
By mid-afternoon, representatives of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were still at the warehouse conducting an inspection, according to OSHA spokeswoman Lenore Uddyback-Fortson.
Uddyback-Fortson said she couldn't comment further on the conditions at the warehouse but indicated the organization has six months to complete the inspection and release its findings.
The incident drew responses from three fire departments and 10 emergency medical units, according to Anthony.
