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By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER [email protected]
Thursday, November 02, 2000     Page: 1A

WILKES-BARRE – When Bonnie LaVerdi filed for a protection-from-abuse order
against her father on a Friday afternoon, she assumed it would be served that
day or the next.
   
Friday night came and went. Then Saturday. Then Sunday. Then Monday.
    Still, the temporary court order directing James LaVerdi not to contact or
strike his daughter had not been served by the Luzerne County Sheriff’s
office.
   
It was not until four days later, on Tuesday, Oct. 24 that a sheriff’s
deputy made the first attempt to serve James LaVerdi.
   
The case exposes a little-known glitch in the PFA procedure – people who
seek an order on a Friday wait days longer to have it served to the defendant
than they would if it were filed on any other weekday.
   
That’s because sheriff’s deputies – who bear the primary responsibility to
deliver the orders – do not regularly work on weekends, said Sheriff Barry
Stankus.
   
A review of 34 PFAs filed within the past few weeks showed that those filed
Monday through Thursday were typically served the day they were filed or by
the next day. But for those filed on Fridays, the sheriff’s office did not
attempt to serve the documents until an average of three to five days after
they were filed.
   
That can pose a problem if the defendant violates the order – a criminal
offense punishable by up to six months in prison – before he or she was
served, said District Attorney Dave Lupas. Lupas said if a defendant is not
served, he or she cannot be charged with violating the order.
   
“You can’t violate an order you are not aware of.”
   
Lupas, who is a member of a countywide task force on domestic violence,
said he was unaware there was a problem with protection orders being served
over the weekend.
   
“If that’s a problem it would definitely have to be addressed with the
sheriff’s office,” he said. “They are supposed to be served immediately
unless there’s trouble locating the person. … I thought steps had recently
been taken to have people work evenings and weekends even to serve papers like
that.”
   
Stankus did create a night shift – something that had not existed under his
predecessor – to serve civil papers as well as PFAs. But he said a shortage of
manpower during the day limits the number of days he can put deputies on
nights.
   
As for weekends, Stankus said he is reluctant to have deputies work because
he must pay them time and a half for Saturdays and double time for Sundays.
   
“Do you think taxpayers are going to be receptive to me paying time and a
half and double time on weekends?” Stankus asked.
   
At his request, two deputies have agreed to work some weekends in exchange
for another day off in the week, forgoing the overtime pay. But Stankus said
he schedules them sparingly because they are volunteering for the duty.
   
Stankus also said that if a person seeking a PFA is that concerned, he or
she can request local police to serve the order.
   
“The sheriff’s’s office is not the only one that can serve a PFA. Any law
enforcement agency can,” he said.
   
LaVerdi, 35, of Inkerman, Pittston Township, said she did not know she
could ask police to serve the document. No one in the PFA office or the
Sheriff’s Department told her that.
   
LaVerdi, an employee in the County Prothonotary’s Office, questioned why
the order was not served the day she filed it. A time stamp on the sheriff’s
copy of the order showed the office received it at 2:16 p.m. Her father is
retired and is home most of the time, so it could have been served that day,
she said.
   
“I was appalled. I couldn’t believe it took this long to serve this,”
LaVerdi said. “I realize there are circumstances where they can’t find the
people. That I could accept. But in this case there was no excuse.”
   
In her petition seeking the order, LaVerdi says her father chased her down
a flight of stairs and threatened to kill her during an argument about her
children.
   
In an interview earlier this week, LaVerdi said her father did not strike
her, but she said she was concerned because he became so irate he seemed out
of control.
   
Although she had no imminent fear for her safety, she wanted the PFA served
quickly because she felt it would prevent further confrontations if he knew
she had a court order against him.
   
Barry Dyller, an area attorney who has represented PFA defendants, said the
order is a deterrent to defendants because they know they can go to prison if
they violate it. That’s why it’s important for the order to be served quickly,
as opposed to having the defendant find out about it from the victim, he said.
   
“The fact is it’s an explosive situation that won’t be made any less
explosive if, right in the middle of it, she whips out a piece of paper as
opposed to the sheriff delivering it. The guy has time to think about it,”
Dyller said.
   
LaVerdi’s order was a temporary order that is issued the day a PFA is
sought. A hearing is later held to determine if the order should be made
final. LaVerdi’s hearing was scheduled for Oct. 26, but because her father was
not served until Oct. 24 it had to be continued to give him time to contact an
attorney. The new hearing is scheduled for today.
   
Stankus defended his office’s handling of the case and others that are
filed on Fridays, saying he does the best he can with the manpower he has.
   
“Granted that is an important part of the Sheriff’s Department, but I also
have other parts to the Sheriff’s Department,” Stankus aid.
   
In addition to serving PFAs, Stankus said his office serves various civil
papers, such as items involving real estate and lawsuits, as well as
transporting prisoners to the courthouse.
   
“Do I eliminate the real estate division? Do I forget about transporting
of prisoners? I can only do so much with what I have,” he said.
“Unfortunately I don’t have the manpower to put deputies out 24 hours, seven
days a week.”
   
Ellen Harris, executive director of Luzerne County’s Domestic Violence
Center, said her office advises women of additional steps they can take during
a weekend if a PFA has not been served.
   
“When we know it’s a Friday and know be it will be tough to serve we try
the best we can at providing alternatives,” she said. “Sure, it would be
great if a PFA could be served 24 hours a day. The reality is they can’t. What
we try to do is offer alternatives to victims and try to make sure they know
what do to be safe in the meantime.”
   
Lupas said he thinks priority must be given to PFAs. If the Sheriff’s
Department can’t serve them, he said arrangements should be made to have
police deliver the documents.
   
“A PFA should be served as soon as possible for the protection of the
victim. Four or five days isn’t soon enough.”