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Latest Articles by Terrie Morgan-Besecker

November 4, 2009

Brulo, others set to testify in court probe

WILKES-BARRE – A former Luzerne County Juvenile Probation official who pleaded guilty to 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.

November 4, 2009

Olszewski’s goose cooked by photo, analyst contends

WILKES-BARRE – Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski’s bid for retention was essentially doomed the day a photo of him posing with a convicted drug dealer and disgraced former colleague was made public, a local political analyst said.

November 4, 2009

Top court overturns CV verdict

HARRISBURG – The state Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a $3.5 million defamation verdict against The Citizens’ Voice newspaper and ordered a new trial, ruling there was a “pervasive appearance of impropriety” in how the case was assigned to and handled by former Luzerne County judge Mark Ciavarella.

November 4, 2009

Former juvenile probation official to testify at juvenile hearings

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.

November 3, 2009

Booted from bench: Olszewski voted out

WILKES-BARRE – Like jurors weighing evidence in a trial, Luzerne County voters rendered a verdict in the judicial retention race Tuesday, and it was a split decision.

November 2, 2009

Sentence reductions possible

WILKES-BARRE – In light of Thursday’s state Supreme Court ruling that vacated the convictions of thousands of juveniles, Luzerne County officials are debating how to go about identifying adult offenders who might be eligible for a reduced sentence.

October 31, 2009

Bringing justice to them all

WHITE HAVEN – Laurene Transue thought the teenagers were kidding.

October 30, 2009

How juvie scandal was uncovered

WILKES-BARRE – Tipped off that a county judge was improperly incarcerating juveniles for minor offenses, attorneys for the Juvenile Law Center knew there was just one way to get to the truth:

October 29, 2009

All Ciavarella juvie convictions vacated

HARRISBURG – Seeking to remedy what it deemed a “travesty of justice,” the state Supreme Court on Thursday vacated the convictions of all juveniles who appeared before former Judge Mark Ciavarella from 2003 to 2008 and barred retrials in all but a small portion of those cases.

October 28, 2009

DA, defender offices take criticism at hearing

WILKES-BARRE – Attorney Dan Segal couldn’t help but think of what might have been.