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WILKES-BARRE — A senior judge with no ties to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas will likely be assigned to preside over the divorce and child custody cases of a couple after a Chester County attorney alleged in a recusal motion of improper communications involving a Luzerne County judge.
Luzerne County President Judge Michael T. Vough last week granted the motion filed by Attorney Samuel C. Stretton, on behalf of Anthony Banta, to recuse all county judges from presiding over his divorce and child custody dispute with his estranged wife, Suzanne Mattern Banta.
Stretton, who is only representing Anthony Banta on recusal issues, alleges in the motion Luzerne County Judge Jennifer L. Rogers, as the domestic administrative jurist, had improper communications with Suzanne Mattern Banta before and during divorce and child custody proceedings.
According to the recusal motion filed Dec. 15, Stretton alleges the improper communications were found on a laptop computer that Suzanne Matern Banta had returned to Anthony Banta.
Luzerne County Judge Stefanie Salavantis presided over the divorce and child custody issues, not Rogers.
Vough granted the recusal motion in a two page order filed last week barring the “entire judiciary of the 11th Judicial District of Pennsylvania,” and requested the Pennsylvania Office of Court Administration to assign an out-of-Luzerne County senior judge to preside over the divorce and child custody proceedings.
In a related issue, a second motion filed by Stretton to preserve phone, computer and any and all records of communications involving Suzanne Mattern Banta allegedly had with Rogers and Salavantis remains open without a ruling.