Luzerne County Judges

January 21, 2010

First juvie retrials to begin Tuesday

Judge Grim to try juveniles whose convictions were vacated last fall.

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com
Law & Order Reporter
Terrie Morgan-Besecker on Facebook   |   @TLTerrieMorgan on Twitter

WILKES-BARRE – The retrials of some of the juveniles whose convictions were vacated by the state Supreme Court are scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

Senior Berks County Judge Arthur Grim is scheduled to hear the cases of five of the 27 juveniles whom the Luzerne County District Attorney’s office has opted to re-prosecute.

The status of the remaining 22 juveniles will not be known until after he hears arguments on Monday regarding pretrial motions that challenge the retrials on various legal grounds, Grim said. If he sides with defense attorneys, Grim said, it’s possible that none of the remaining juveniles will be retried.

The retrials are being pursued in line with the Oct. 29 ruling by the state Supreme Court that vacated the convictions of an estimated 6,5000 juveniles who appeared before former juvenile court judge Mark Ciavarella from 2003 to 2008.

The ruling was based on a report issued by Grim, who was specially appointed to review Ciavarella’s cases after Ciavarella and former judge Michael Conahan were arrested on corruption charges last January.

Grim recommended, and the Supreme Court agreed, that the convictions of all juveniles be overturned and that prosecutors be barred from retrying all but a small portion of the cases.

The Supreme Court order forbids retrials under any circumstance for any juvenile who appeared before Ciavarella without an attorney, or if the juvenile was committed to the PA Child Care or Western PA Child Care juvenile detention centers, regardless of whether the youth was represented.

For juveniles who do not fit into those categories, the court granted prosecutors permission to retry only those juveniles who are currently incarcerated, on probation or still owe fines or restitution.

District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll in November provided Grim a list of about 50 juveniles she planned to retry. Grim said that number was further reduced based on discussions with Musto Carroll, juvenile probation officials and defense attorneys.

Grim said he will hear two of the five cases slated for retrial starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The other three will be heard beginning at 1 p.m. The cases will be heard in the Penn Place courthouse.

Grim said he is still reviewing the cases to determine which ones will be open to the public.

Under the state’s Juvenile Act, a juvenile proceeding is public only if the youth is age 15 or older and is charged with a felony. Grim said the public and media will be permitted into those hearings.

Grim said he is also considering allowing the media into hearings that don’t fit that criteria, but only under the condition that the names of the juveniles involved not be publicized.

Grim was appointed in February to review Ciavarella’s cases after Ciavarella and Conahan were charged with accepting more than $2.6 million from Robert Powell, who once co-owned the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers, and Robert Mericle, the contractor who built the facilities.

The original petition that sought to vacate the juvenile convictions was filed by the Juvenile Law Center, a Philadelphia-based juvenile advocacy group.

Marsha Levick, legal director for the center, said the center is not representing any of the five juveniles currently scheduled for retrial. She said she believes most of the juveniles are being represented by members of the Luzerne County bar who have agreed to defend the youths free of charge.

Attorney Matthew Cartwright of Scranton and Robert Schaub of Wilkes-Barre were members of the committee that sought out the volunteer attorneys.

Cartwright said 16 attorneys agreed to represent juveniles facing retrial. As of Wednesday, 14 juveniles had sought assistance, he said.

“We wanted to be certain that every juvenile who might need representation had an opportunity to be represented,” Schaub said. “I’m delighted that so many lawyers agreed to donate their time.”

Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7179.

Tweet	Follow @TLnews

Send Question or Remark to the Publisher