Criminal Investigation

Bob Torricelli tried to change the subject last week. Taking a cue from his confidant and political ally Bill Clinton, the Democratic senator from New Jersey sought to raise doubts about the Justice Department's criminal investigation of his 1996 election campaign by suggesting that it might be politically biased. In calling for the appointment of an independent lawyer to oversee the Republican-controlled investigation, Torricelli used a tactic long favored by defense attorneys: Blame the prosecutor.

The police helicopters flew away, bloodhounds jumped back into the trucks, the elaborate command center closed. The three-day search for little Shanae "Na Na" Burton, 3, is over. Now it is a criminal investigation, Chester officials said. "We've covered every square inch of about a half-mile-square area, even parks a couple of miles or so away and done it at least five to seven times, by land, by air and by sea," Chester Fire Commissioner Joseph Cliffe said yesterday. "There is no indication that the child is anywhere in this area at this time.

When needles, cotton swabs and blue pill casings began washing up on Avalon's beaches over the weekend, borough officials quickly became suspicious. This didn't look like an accident. The medical waste was concentrated along a short stretch of the Cape May County shoreline, making it unlikely that it had fallen from a barge at sea and been carried in by the tide. That left the officials, joined by investigators from the state Attorney General's Office and Department Environmental Protection, with another possibility: sabotage.

A Philadelphia police officer was arrested Wednesday on charges that he exposed himself to a woman while on duty. Officer Joseph Harvey, a seven-year member of the force, also has been suspended for 30 days with intent to dismiss. Harvey, 35, is charged with indecent exposure, official oppression and false imprisonment, police said. Harvey was assigned to the 24th District and was working on an investigation with other officers around midnight Oct. 9, said Chief Inspector Anthony DiLacqua, head of the Internal Affairs Division.

A day after an election marred by fighting and charges of fraud, the loser in the contest to represent the city's blue-collar workers began a campaign to get the results overturned. Herman "Pete" Matthews sent a letter yesterday to District Council 33 officials, advising them that he will ask federal and state authorities to begin a criminal investigation into the "fraud that has obviously been committed. " Matthews, who lost to incumbent DC33 president James Sutton in the balloting Tuesday night, also plans to ask the union's umbrella organization, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, to hold an immediate hearing and then declare him the actual winner.

Following allegations by the Ford Motor Co. in a wrongful-death civil lawsuit involving an air bag it made, the Cape May County prosecutor said yesterday that he had begun a criminal investigation of the 1997 death of a Middle Township woman. Two years after her death in a car accident, the woman's husband sued Ford, contending that a defective air bag killed his wife, who was six months pregnant with their second child. But soon after Eric Thomas filed his lawsuit, Ford began to fight back with allegations that Thomas had caused his wife's death.

U.S. officials yesterday delayed an FBI criminal investigation into the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 to let Egyptian experts review phrases of a Muslim prayer uttered by a crew member shortly before the plane plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. The decision reflects the sensitivity of the Cairo government to the suggestion that a crew member - possibly a copilot - might have deliberately crashed the plane. It also underscores the enormous importance the United States places on maintaining good relations with one of its key Arab allies.

A Chester County lawyer, who was chairman of the board of the Southern Chester County Medical Center for four years, has been suspended from the practice of law in Delaware because $345,000 that should have been paid to a real estate company is missing. Everett P. Priestley has been suspended by the Delaware Supreme Court under a rule that permits suspensions "when there might be some risk to his clients or to the public," said Charles S. Crompton Jr. of Wilmington. Crompton has been named receiver for Priestley's practice.

Authorities searched for clues in the stench and squalor of a Lansdale-area apartment yesterday after announcing a criminal investigation into the death of an emaciated 4-year-old boy who lived in the home. Shawn Seymore, a quadruplet, suffered severe malnutrition and weighed 25 pounds when he died early Thursday. His parents had called police to the condominium in Towamencin Township because their son was unresponsive. Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr., after touring the "deplorable" conditions inside the home and describing the malnourishment of Shawn's quadruplet siblings, said the nature of the case had changed since Thursday.

WASHINGTON - Federal authorities have opened a criminal investigation of whether IRS employees broke the law when they targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, the latest setback for an agency that is the subject of withering bipartisan criticism and multiple congressional inquiries. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Tuesday that the Justice Department and the FBI began the probe after the IRS acknowledged that it selected conservative groups with the words tea party and patriot in their names for special reviews.

WASHINGTON - Federal authorities have opened a criminal investigation of whether IRS employees broke the law when they targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, the latest setback for an agency that is the subject of withering bipartisan criticism and multiple congressional inquiries. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Tuesday that the Justice Department and the FBI began the probe after the IRS acknowledged that it selected conservative groups with the words tea party and patriot in their names for special reviews.

WACO, Texas - Texas law enforcement officials on Friday launched a criminal investigation into the massive fertilizer plant explosion that killed 14 people last month, after weeks of largely treating the blast as an industrial accident. The announcement came the same day federal agents said they found bomb-making materials belonging to a paramedic who helped evacuate residents the night of the explosion. Bryce Reed was arrested early Friday on a charge of possessing a destructive device, but law enforcement officials said they had not linked the charge to the April 17 fire and blast at West Fertilizer Co. "It is important to emphasize that at this point, no evidence has been uncovered to indicate any connection to the events surrounding the fire and subsequent explosion ... and the arrest of Bryce Reed by the ATF," a McLennan County Sheriff's Office statement said.

LIFETIME has made a number of popular, salacious movies since it went on the air, but this time it looked as if it may have gone too far - until a New York judge stepped in. The network was scheduled to air "Romeo Killer: The Christopher Porco Story" this weekend, about a man who killed his father and maimed his mother with an ax, but a judge temporarily banned the showing after Porco sought to stop it. The convicted killer argued that...

Cleveland police face U.S. probe TOLEDO, Ohio - The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it will open a wide-ranging civil rights investigation into the use of force by Cleveland's police department, whose officers fired 137 shots at the end of a massive police chase last fall, killing two likely unarmed people. Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said the investigation will look beyond the November car chase that involved more than 60 patrol cars and ended in the shootings of Timothy Russell, 43, and his passenger, Malissa Williams, 30. Perez said the probe will not be a criminal investigation; its focus is the entire department, not individual officers.

By all accounts, Luis Medina is a gentle giant, a burly 21-year-old who lives with his parents. The autistic young man often retreats into "his own world," a neighbor said. The Camden police officer who lives across the street is known in his department as a quiet man, too: a "good cop" and a 12-year, second-generation veteran of the force, Police Chief Scott Thomson said. He and the Medina family had moved to the 2800 block of Arthur Avenue around the same time, almost two decades ago. On Friday afternoon, the police officer, reportedly believing someone was breaking into his house, shot Medina and his caretaker as Medina banged on his front door and the caretaker tried to get him back to his own house.

By all accounts, Luis Medina is a gentle giant, a burly 21-year-old who lives with his parents. The autistic young man often retreats into "his own world," a neighbor said. The Camden police officer who lives across the street is known in his department as a quiet man, too: a "good cop" and a 12-year, second-generation veteran of the force, Police Chief Scott Thomson said. He and the Medina family had moved to the 2800 block of Arthur Avenue around the same time, almost two decades ago. On Friday afternoon, the police officer, reportedly believing someone was breaking into his house, shot Medina and his caretaker as Medina banged on his front door and the caretaker tried to get him back to his own house.

By Louis Lombardi Less than a year ago, Edward Avery, a defrocked priest, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing an altar boy from Northeast Philadelphia. The crime he admitted was horrific, and he was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 5 years in a state penitentiary. But last week, Avery was in court again recanting his confession. Now, convicted criminals routinely insist on their innocence, and we don't usually pay them much mind. But sometimes we should. The question of Avery's guilt affects not only him, but also Msgr.

JERUSALEM - Israel's Justice Ministry filed its indictment against former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in a Jerusalem court on Sunday, charging him with breach of trust and fraud in a case that could further harm his political career. Lieberman is accused of trying to advance the career of a former diplomat after the envoy relayed information to him about a criminal investigation into the former cabinet minister's business dealings. On Dec. 13, the Justice Ministry released a draft indictment to both Lieberman and the news media.

JERUSALEM - Israel's powerful foreign minister was charged Thursday with breach of trust for actions that allegedly compromised a criminal investigation into his business dealings, throwing the country's election campaign into disarray just weeks before the vote. While Avigdor Lieberman was cleared of more serious allegations, the indictment sparked calls for the controversial politician to step down. He declined to do so at a news conference but said he would consult with his lawyers on what to do next.

For three weeks, the state Supreme Court has had a scathing report on ticket-fixing in Philadelphia Traffic Court, so why haven't the justices, who have authority over the lower court, said what they will do about it? At the very least, those judges who admitted to investigators that they fixed tickets for anyone politically savvy enough to call a ward leader or an elected official's office should be suspended. Their caseloads could be picked up by Municipal Court. Beyond that, it's time to screen candidates who want to be Traffic Court judges based on their abilities and integrity, rather than their fealty to Philadelphia's dominant Democratic Party, which has shown little or no interest in putting forth decent candidates.