Luzerne County Government

By Sherry Long slong@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

All five candidates seeking the Luzerne County chief public defender post formerly held by Basil Russin have represented suspects as public defenders at some point during their careers.

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A county official identified the five candidates as attorneys Tom Marsilio, Mark Singer, Jonathan Blum, Al Flora and Scott Rudolf. Four of the five candidates currently work in Luzerne County – Marsilio, Singer, Blum and Flora. The fifth candidate, Rudolf, serves as public defender in Allegheny County in Pittsburgh. They all confirmed they submitted their names for the post.

Luzerne County Manager/Chief Clerk Doug Pape confirmed that he and county solicitor Vito DeLuca will be conducting preliminary interviews with the candidates today. Pape would not confirm the names of the candidates.

Pape said he is looking for an attorney experienced in criminal defense work who has administrative and leadership skills to run the office.

Pape and DeLuca will then chose the top two or three candidates and forward those names to county commissioners, who could be interviewing the candidates early next week, Pape said.

Commissioners hope to name Russin’s replacement during their meeting on Wednesday.

Flora was named the acting chief public defender after Russin’s departure in mid-March. Flora said he would take the post if the county decides not to hire Blum, whom Flora recommended for the position in his cover letter.

He said he recommended his colleague as a matter of professional courtesy because Blum has a month more seniority in the public defender’s office than he does.

“He is an excellent lawyer. He would make an excellent administrator in the office. He has the respect of all the lawyers in the office,” Flora said.

Flora said he applied for the position only to serve as a back-up contender if Blum is not chosen, because he wants to ensure professionalism and experience is maintained in the office.

Marsilio said he worked as a public defender for two years in the mid-1980s. He also previously served as an assistant district attorney from 1988 to 1992 and spent two years as Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General.

He is a criminal defense attorney in a solo private practice in Wilkes-Barre.

Singer said he has served as an assistant public defender for five years after serving as an assistant district attorney for five years.

The other candidates said they would work as chief public defender in a part-time capacity.

Blum started as a public defender in 1978 and still works in that capacity part-time. He said the rest of his time is spent as a private-practice criminal defense attorney.

He said he has handled “every aspect of representation in that office” and he has operated the office when Russin was unavailable.

Rudolf responded in an e-mail, saying he felt he should discuss his qualifications with the commissioners to let them decide if he is the best candidate.