Judge orders D’Elia to testify next week

ALLENTOWN – A Lehigh County judge has ordered reputed mob boss William “Billy” D’Elia to testify at a hearing next week that will determine whether a $3.5 million defamation verdict against the Citizens’ Voice newspaper should be overturned.

Whether D’Elia or another key witness for the newspaper, Robert Kulick, will get to tell their stories remains unclear, however.

D’Elia is currently serving a nine-year federal prison sentence on federal money laundering and witness tampering charges.

Judge William H. Platt signed an order on June 16 directing D’Elia be transported from the federal prison in Minersville so that he could testify at the hearing, scheduled for July 1-3 in Lehigh County Court. But federal authorities are not obligated to comply with the order, according to attorney James Swetz, who defended D’Elia in his criminal case.

Attorneys for Scranton Times LP, which owns the Citizens’ Voice, are seeking to overturn a $3.5 million verdict former judge Mark Ciavarella awarded area businessman Thomas Joseph following a non-jury trial in 2006.

The state Supreme Court in April ordered a hearing regarding the papers’ request for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence that former judge Michael Conahan – Ciavarella’s co-defendant in a kickback scheme -- had improperly steered the case to Ciavarella.

The newspaper wants to question D’Elia about comments he allegedly made to Kulick prior to the start of the Joseph trial.

Kulick has given a sworn statement, alleging D’Elia told him he had spoken to Conahan, who assured D’Elia that the outcome “was going to be positive” for Joseph.

Swetz said Friday he does not know yet whether he will challenge Platt’s order compelling D’Elia’s testimony. He won’t make that determination until the federal prison system decides whether to comply with the order to transport D’Elia.

“The commonwealth of Pennsylvania does not have jurisdiction to tell the federal government to do anything,” Swetz said. “Until we know what the bureau of prisons is going to do about the issue, deciding what we are going to do is premature.”

Joseph’s attorney, George Croner, is also hoping to prevent Kulick from testifying about the comments D’Elia allegedly made to Kulick.

In a court motion, Croner argues there is no independent corroboration that D’Elia made the comments to Kulick; therefore the testimony is considered “hearsay” and is inadmissible.

“Kulick’s repetition of statements allegedly made by others is admissible only where the reliability and trustworthiness of each declarant is independently established,” Croner wrote.

In Kulick’s case, Croner said his credibility is at issue as he is awaiting sentencing of federal firearms charges. Croner alleges Kulick has offered his testimony in hope it will earn him a lesser sentence.