Luzerne County Judges

By Edward Lewis elewis@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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Senior Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp was immediately put to work presiding over a backlog of Luzerne County Court proceedings soon after he relocated to Plymouth Township from Perry County in September.

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Senior Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp.

Aimee Dilger/the times leader

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Rehkamp, 61, has officiated pre-trial matters for four homicide cases and is presiding over the upcoming theft trial of former dean Peter Moses.

Those cases may be reassigned to another judge if Rehkamp is disciplined or elects to step away from the bench after state police at Wyoming charged him with assaulting his wife on Saturday.

District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll said Monday she expects to meet with county President Judge Thomas Burke today to discuss what might happen to cases assigned to Rehkamp.

The courthouse was closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Burke said he plans to consult with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts first thing this morning to review the situation involving Rehkamp.

“I have confirmed that Judge Rehkamp has not been scheduled any assignments in Luzerne County this week,” Burke said Monday.

Rehkamp could not be reached for comment on Monday.

State police charged Rehkamp after his wife, Valerie Rehkamp, 50, claimed he shoved and choked her during an argument in their West Mountain Road, Plymouth Township, home on Saturday, according to the criminal complaint. She alleged he choked her after she asked him to stay elsewhere for the night.

Rehkamp surrendered Sunday on a misdemeanor charge of simple assault and a summary charge of harassment. He was arraigned by District Judge Donald Whittaker in Nanticoke and released without bail.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled on Jan. 26 before Whittaker.

Whittaker ordered Rehkamp, as part of the bail conditions, not to have contact with his wife.

Rehkamp became a senior judge in August 2008, when he retired after spending nearly 16 years as a court of common pleas judge for Perry and Juniata counties. The two counties share the same judiciary.

Rehkamp and his wife opened C.J.’s Ribs, a restaurant in his then-hometown of Ickesburg in Perry County in May 2007. It was unknown Monday if the Rehkamps still own the restaurant. A phone number for the restaurant was disconnected.

Prior to becoming a judge, Rehkamp was an assistant district attorney in Perry County in 1976 and district attorney until 1982, when he went into private practice. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 1973.

Rehkamp is scheduled to begin the theft trial of Moses, 58, on Feb. 1.

Moses, former associate dean of administration and auxiliary services at Luzerne County Community College, was charged in 2008 with stealing more than $17,000 and two laptop computers from the school. Nanticoke police allege Moses stole the money from the school’s cafeteria, which he oversaw as part of his duties.

Former county President Judge Chester Muroski on Dec. 23 reassigned the double-homicide trial of Hugo Selenski to Rehkamp. Selenski, 36, is accused of killing Tammy Fassett and Michael Kerkowski in May 2002. Rehkamp scheduled a Feb. 5 pre-trial hearing for Selenski.

Rehkamp was also assigned to preside over the capital homicide trial of Donnell Buckner, 35, accused of shooting his estranged wife, Kewaii Rogers Buckner, 31, in her Lehigh Street, Wilkes-Barre, residence on March 29. Rogers Buckner died from four gunshot wounds, according to arrest records.

A pre-trial hearing for Buckner is tentatively scheduled for the first week in April.

Rehkamp also handled pre-trial matters in the homicide case against Johan Pujols, 23, accused in the Hazleton shooting death of Yeury Colon, 25, outside a nightclub on Aug. 1, according to court records.

Edward Lewis, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7196.