Judicial Conduct Board failed to probe Conahan, Ciavarella..

[Bob Sciarrone]

Judicial Conduct Board failed to probe Conahan, Ciavarella complaints
By Michael R. Sisak (Staff Writer)
Published: March 10, 2010

A state agency under scrutiny for failing to act on misconduct complaints against two former Luzerne County judges never investigated an earlier complaint and adjusted its handling of the most detailed allegations because it was already prosecuting ex-county Judge Ann H. Lokuta, agency officials said.

The state Judicial Conduct Board has received four complaints against former Judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. but never took action because the allegations were either outside the scope of state judicial code or conflicted with other investigations, officials said.

In written answers to questions from a state panel investigating Mr. Conahan, Mr. Ciavarella and the county kids-for-cash scandal, conduct board chief counsel Joseph A. Massa Jr., and attorney Paul H. Titus said the board was initially advised to investigate a 2006 complaint against the judges, but was later told to hold off while they focused instead on allegations against Ms. Lokuta.

The anonymous 2006 complaint accusing Mr. Conahan and Mr. Ciavarella of consorting with a mafia boss and fixing cases for allies.

Mr. Titus said Mr. Massa made a written recommendation in May 2007 advising the board to authorize a full investigation into the complaint. Mr. Massa later made an oral recommendation to table the matter until an October 2007 meeting because of the pending Lokuta prosecution.

The timing of the 2006 complaint led board members and staff to suspect it had been authored by Ms. Lokuta, deputy chief counsel Francis J. Puskas told the state panel, the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, last month. Ms. Lokuta has acknowledged that a member of her staff had filed the complaint.

Federal prosecutors charged Mr. Ciavarella, 60, and Mr. Conahan, 57, in January 2009 with pocketing $2.8 million in kickbacks from juvenile detention center developers. Ms. Lokuta, who was removed from the bench in December 2008, was accused of acting discourteous to her staff, badgering witnesses and attorneys and arriving late to court.

Contact the writer: msisak@citizensvoice.com

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/judici ... bled=false

[Bob Sciarrone]

So what's the excuse in my case?

[Bob Sciarrone]

I now state that the JCB is lying about that unless and until they prove it by documentation and correspondence between the agencies.

[Bob Sciarrone]

conduct board chief counsel Joseph A. Massa Jr. is a pimp of corrupt activity within the Judiciary of PA. No wonder why everything is status quo.