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Latest Articles by Terrie Morgan-Besecker

November 15, 2009

Official: Sheriff Sale contract ended

WILKES-BARRE – Acting Luzerne County Sheriff Charles Guarnieri said he has terminated a controversial contract with a company that listed properties that are up for sheriff’s sale on a Web site.

November 13, 2009

DA will retry 50 juvenile cases

WILKES-BARRE – Luzerne County District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll said Friday she expects her office will seek to retry approximately 50 of the 106 juveniles whose cases were eligible for retrial under the state Supreme Court ruling that vacated the convictions of all youths who appeared before former judge Mark Ciavarella from 2003 to 2008.

November 13, 2009

Political activist has eye on county corruption

WILKES-BARRE – Political activist Gene Stilp spent part of Friday afternoon plastering posters announcing the creation of a “Luzerne County Courthouse Crime Watch” around the courthouse.

November 12, 2009

Farmer is found guilty in dispute

WILKES-BARRE – A fruit farmer who got into a dispute with a customer over the quality of the farmer’s peaches was found guilty of harassment following a hearing before a district judge last week.

November 12, 2009

Guilty plea should be withdrawn

WILKES-BARRE – A woman sentenced to five to 10 years for a robbery has been granted permission to withdraw her guilty plea based on former judge Michael Conahan’s failure to conduct a colloquy – a series of questions that ensure a defendant understands the ramifications of pleading guilty.

November 11, 2009

W-B Area counters assertions

WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes-Barre Area Superintendent Jeff Namey said allegations that school officials have been too quick to refer cases to juvenile court in order to rid themselves of troublemakers is “absolutely not true,” at least not in his district.

November 10, 2009

PA Child Care insurer claims it is not liable

SCRANTON – An insurance company representing PA Child Care Center has asked a federal judge to rule it has no obligation to defend the center or pay any damages that might result from several lawsuits that allege juveniles were improperly detained at the facility.

November 9, 2009

Powell Law Group dismissed as a defendant in juvenile lawsuit

SCRANTON – The law firm owned by attorney Robert Powell has been dismissed as a defendant in a lawsuit filed on behalf of juveniles who allege they were wrongly incarcerated as part of a scheme to benefit Powell and others financially.

November 9, 2009

Repairing broken justice

PLAINS TWP. -- Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella engaged in the “most egregious violation of trust given a judge” in his handling of juvenile cases, a Berks County judge testified Monday before a commission investigating failings within the county’s juvenile system.

November 8, 2009

Benefit in memory of late student set