The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing into an alleged case-fixing allegation involving disgraced Judges Conahan and Ciavarella. Dave Janoski writes the story in today's Citizens Voice.
The Citizens’ Voice will get a hearing on evidence of alleged case-fixing in a $3.5 million defamation verdict against the newspaper handed down by former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The court named Lehigh County President Judge William H. Platt to hold a hearing “as soon as practically possible” and ordered him to recommend whether the newspaper should be granted relief, possibly including a new trial.
D’Elia associate Robert J. Kulick, a convicted felon awaiting sentencing on a federal firearms charge, gave a sworn declaration to attorneys for the newspaper in February alleging that he, D’Elia and Conahan met twice a month in an unnamed Wilkes-Barre restaurant to discuss pending court cases for nearly eight years. Kulick said Conahan acted on his requests to give a “fair shake” to plaintiffs Kulick supported in cases handled by Conahan and other, unnamed judges.
Read the Order
Read Kulick's declaration
