The Associate Press is reporting through the Times Leader than an ex PA-House Democratic personnel director has chosen to plead guilty in AG Tom Corbett's corruption investigation of legislative practices in the Commonwealth chambers.
Earl Mosley will plead guilty Wednesday in Dauphin County Court along with six other defendants, according to Mosley’s attorney, Matthew Gover.
However, a potentially fatal blow to those prosecutions could hinge on a judge's decision over email evidence.
Prosecutors warned in a court motion obtained by The Associated Press that the corruption case against a former state lawmaker and Democratic legislative aides may hinge on how a judge rules in a battle over e-mail evidence.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina said in papers filed in Dauphin County court that defense attorneys do not have a legal basis to support their demands about proving e-mails are valid and viewed in the proper context.
He said the dispute, which has previously been waged behind closed doors, needs to be resolved before the trial of former state Rep. Mike Veon and as many as four others next month.
The defendants, accused of diverting state workers and resources for campaigns or other purposes, were among the first 12 to be charged in the three-year probe that has resulted in 25 arrests and one acquittal.
“It has been lingering undecided for over six months, and continues to resurface with a vengeance in almost every proceeding,” Fina wrote. “Exclusion of the commonwealth’s e-mail evidence on the grounds offered by the defense would ’terminate or substantially handicap the prosecution.”’
SOP thinks that the judge will rule in favor of the Commonwealth otherwise pleading guilty would not make sense at this point.
No comments:
Post a Comment