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Times Leader staff

PLAINS TWP. – The panel investigating the juvenile justice scandal and how to prevent it from happening in the future is bringing its show to the county at the center of the controversy.

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Lupas

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Musto Carroll

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The Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice will kick off its two-day public hearing at the Best Western East Mountain Inn in Plains Township on Monday. Among those scheduled to testify at the first day of the public proceeding are: Sandra Brulo, a former Luzerne County Juvenile Probation official who pleaded guilty to altering a juvenile’s record; Senior Berks County Judge Arthur Grim, the special master who issued the report that led the state Supreme Court last month to vacate the convictions of all juveniles who appeared before Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella from 2003 to 2008, and Joseph Massa, chief counsel for the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board, which investigates allegations of impropriety against judges.

The hearing will continue on Tuesday with the testimony of Luzerne County Judge David Lupas, who now presides over juvenile court and who served as district attorney during part of Ciavarella’s tenure as juvenile judge; county District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll; county Chief Public Defender Basil Russin; and John Johnson of the county’s Juvenile Probation Department.

The Interbranch Commission was formed in August to analyze what went wrong in the county’s juvenile system and provide recommendations to ensure those problems are not repeated here or elsewhere.

The commission held its first hearing in Harrisburg on Oct. 14 and made it clear that it would be asking tough questions of prosecutors and defense attorneys who took part in juvenile hearings but failed to alert anyone to concerns about how Ciavarella was handling juvenile cases.

Ciavarella and fellow former judge Michael T. Conahan, are under indictment and facing a federal trial for their alleged roles in a cash for kids scheme.

Federal prosecutors say the men accepted millions of dollars from the owner and builder of two juvenile centers the county utilized. They initially pleaded guilty, but later withdrew their pleas and are awaiting trial on 48 charges, including racketeering, bribery and fraud.