Luzerne County Judges

November 4, 2009

Former juvenile probation official to testify at juvenile hearings

By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com
Law & Order Reporter
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WILKES-BARRE  - A former Luzerne County Juvenile Probation official who pleaded guilty to illegally altering a juvenile's record is among the witnesses scheduled to testify next week before a commission formed to investigate failings within the county's juvenile justice system.

Sandra Brulo, who served as deputy director of forensic services, is scheduled to testify on Monday at 7 p.m. before the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, which is holding a two-day hearing at the Best Western East Mountain Inn in Wilkes-Barre.

Brulo pleaded guilty in March to altering a juvenile record that was part of a federal lawsuit that seeks damages for juveniles who allege their civil rights were violated by former juvenile judge Mark Ciavarella and numerous other defendants connected to the county’s juvenile justice scandal.

 She was scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5, but the hearing was continued indefinitely so that she could testify at the pending trial of former judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan.

The agenda for the hearing, released by the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, does not indicate the substance of Brulo's testimony.

Other persons scheduled to testify on Monday are Judge Arthur Grim, the special master who issued the report that led to the state Supreme Court to vacate the convictions of all juveniles who appeared before 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 presides over juvenile court and who served as District Attorney during part of Ciavarella's tenure as juvenile judge. Also scheduled to testify are District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll, Chief Public Defender Basil Russin and John Johnson of the county's juvenile probation department.

For the complete story read Thursday's Times Leader

 

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