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May 3, 2008

DeNaples’ defense claims win in ruling

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com
Law & Order Reporter
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HARRISBURG – The state Supreme Court on Friday ordered a Dauphin County judge to hold a hearing to determine whether the secrecy of the grand jury proceedings used to indict casino owner Louis DeNaples and the Rev. Joseph Sica was violated.

In a separate ruling, the high court rejected requests by attorneys for DeNaples and Sica to throw out the grand jury’s recommendations for charges.

The decisions mean the cases against DeNaples and Sica will proceed in Dauphin County Court, but could face additional legal challenges by the defense at a later date.

Kevin Feeley, spokesman for DeNaples, said the ruling regarding the secrecy violation is a significant victory for DeNaples. His attorneys have argued alleged leaks to the media were extremely prejudicial to DeNaples’ case and should result in the dismissal of the indictment.

“They granted us a hearing on the central question of this prosecution which, in our view, is the fact is was poisoned from the beginning by leaks,” Feeley said.

But Dauphin County First Assistant District Attorney Fran Chardo downplayed the significance of the decision.

Chardo said he’s confident the hearing will show there were no leaks. Even if there were, Chardo said, no court would have the authority to dismiss the case. The most that could happen would be that the violator would be held in contempt of court, he said.

“It’s nonsense,” Chardo said. “Even if they are right on the factual issue, there is no basis in law to dismiss the charges.”

DeNaples, the owner of Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Pocono Mountains, was charged on Jan. 30 with four counts of perjury for allegedly lying to state gambling investigators regarding his relationship with alleged organized crime figures.

In a separate indictment issued on Jan. 2, Sica, a priest with the Diocese of Scranton and longtime friend of DeNaples, was charged with lying about his relationship with an alleged mob figure during testimony before the grand jury that was investigating DeNaples.

Attorneys for Sica and DeNaples had asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the indictments on a variety of legal grounds. The court declined to review the case on those issues, however, ruling the appeal was filed prematurely.

Because the court did not rule on the merits, DeNaples and Sica are free to raise the issues at a later date, Feeley said.

On the secrecy issue, the Supreme Court ordered Todd Hoover, the supervising judge of the grand jury, to hold an expedited hearing regarding the alleged leaks and to appoint a special prosecutor if deemed necessary.

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