Juvenile Court

Fearing that sentencing a 14-year-old boy to an adult prison for voluntary manslaughter would result in his being "physically and psychologically abused," Common Pleas Judge Paul Ribner yesterday said he wants Wesley Robinson retried and sentenced in Juvenile Court. "I don't think a mandatory sentence (of five years) as an adult would be appropriate in this case," Ribner said after rejecting motions for a new trial. Robinson, of 52nd Street near Cedar Avenue, was tried in adult court and convicted by a jury of the Jan. 15, 1986, fatal shooting of Andre Floyd, 18, who was mildly retarded.

Two Judges, Thousands of Children, and a $2.8 Million Kickback Scheme By William Ecenbarger New Press. 272 pp. $26.95 Reviewed by David W. Marston Zero tolerance. That was Judge Mark A. Ciavarella's rigid formula for dealing with even trivial juvenile misconduct, and the tough boss of "kiddie court" made sure everyone in Scranton knew it. But almost no one - except Ciavarella's coconspirator, President Judge Michael T. Conahan - knew that zero tolerance was also the secret ingredient fueling a lucrative kickback scheme that paid millions to the corrupt judges.

PITTSBURGH - A boy who was 11 when he was accused of killing his father's pregnant fiancée and her unborn son was found guilty Friday of their 2009 shotgun slayings. Lawrence County Court Judge John Hodge found Jordan Brown, now 14, delinquent, the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty verdict, in the deaths of Kenzie Houk, 26, and her unborn child. The judge closed the trial, held about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, to the media and all but close relatives because of the boy's age during the killings.

The attorney for a 16-year-old Bristol Borough youth awaiting trial on charges of first-degree murder has asked a Bucks County judge to move the case to juvenile court. Attorney Raymond F. McHugh filed the motion Tuesday on behalf of Mark Graber, 16, of the 500 block of Pond Street, who is charged with the Feb. 10 fatal shooting of Shane Reilly, 18, who lived in the 900 block of Spring Street, also in Bristol. McHugh contended that Graber should be handled as a juvenile because of his age and lack of a criminal record and because the juvenile system would be better able to handle Graber's needs.

A 16-year-old boy charged with attempting to kill his mother and another woman last month will be tried as a juvenile, not an adult. Assistant Public Defender Maureen Repetto and Deputy District Attorney Kevin Kelly agreed to move the case of William J. O'Neill Jr. into Juvenile Court. Repetto said that A. Leo Sereni, president judge of Delaware County Court, was expected to sign the order. O'Neill was arrested Aug. 3 after his mother, Lori Cahill, and the other woman, Diane Galloway, said he had attacked them with a knife and rubber mallet, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The attorney for a 21-year-old Aston woman accused of setting a fire eight years ago that killed her uncle and cousin has asked that she be tried as a juvenile rather than as an adult. Kelly Ann Mullen of the 200 block of Raymond Avenue was arrested in April and charged with homicide and related charges in the fire, which killed her uncle Joseph Wallace, 47, and her cousin John Wallace, 13, on Feb. 5, 1980. Mullen, who was 12 at the time, was spending the night at the Wallaces' residence in the first block of Dogwood Lane, Aston, when she deliberately set fire to a hockey net in a first-floor den, according to a confession police said she gave on April 7. Before her arrest, authorities had questioned her about threatening telephone calls made to the home of Aston Police Chief James C. McCarthy in April.

An attorney for the 15-year-old girl accused of luring Fishtown teenager Jason Sweeney to his death filed a motion yesterday requesting that his client's murder trial be transferred from adult to Juvenile Court. Defense attorney William J. Brennan cited Justina Morley's young age, lack of a criminal record and history of mental-health disorders, and the nature of her alleged role in the May 30 slaying. According to testimony at the preliminary hearing last month, Morley lured 16-year-old Sweeney to a vacant lot with the promise of sex. There, prosecutors charge, three boys attacked Sweeney and beat him to death for the $500 he had earned working construction with his father.

The case of an 18-year-old accused of killing a friend in a game of Russian Roulette has been transferred to juvenile court. James Burr of Caln Township faced charges of criminal homicide, murder and involuntary manslaughter in the killing of Anthony Glasco, 17, of Coatesville, last January. Burr was 17 at the time. In her Oct. 1 decision to transfer the case to juvenile court, Judge Paula Fransico Ott cited testimony from a psychiatrist, Bruce Mapes, that Burr was "immature for his age" and would need at least two years of rehabilitation.

Joseph P. McCabe Jr., 72, a retired Common Pleas Court judge who spent the latter part of his career on the bench adjudicating juvenile cases, died of complications associated with diabetes Sunday at his home in Cheltenham. Judge McCabe had been a longtime resident of Frankford before moving to Cheltenham a few years ago. He served on the bench from 1971, when he became a Municipal Court judge, to 1996, when he retired from Juvenile Court. He was first elected to Common Pleas Court in 1985.

They were secretaries, civil servants, business owners and nurses. Most were in their middle years. Some were married, one was a mother-daughter pair. All had a desire to help young people. About 25 prospective volunteers gathered in Mount Holly last week to learn about opportunities to work in one of several programs designed to make the county's court system more humane, more efficient and more accountable. The County Superior Court Family Case Management Division offers training sessions several times a year for citizens who want to work in juvenile programs.

TV courtroom jurist Judge Glenda Hatchett and activist/commentator Jeff Johnson will discuss college student leadership Thursday as part of a lecture series at Lincoln University. "Educating Student Leaders to be Health, Wealthy and Wise," is one of three scheduled so far as part of the 2013 Legacy Lecture Series sponsored by the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Foundation Inc. The foundation, which advocates on behalf of historically-black colleges and universities, organizes the annual lecture series to encourage student leadership.

Group admits to blast in Turkey ANKARA, Turkey - The suicide bomber who struck the U.S. Embassy in Ankara spent several years in prison on terrorism charges but was released on probation after being diagnosed with a hunger strike-related brain disorder, officials said Saturday. The bomber, identified as Ecevit Sanli, 40, killed himself and a Turkish security guard on Friday, in what U.S. officials said was a terrorist attack. On Saturday, the outlawed leftist militant group Revolutionary People's Liberation party-Front claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on a website linked to the group.

A story Sunday about an investigative report into ticket-fixing at Philadelphia Traffic Court incorrectly described the status of two senior judges, Warren Hogeland and Bernice DeAngelis. Hogeland, a District Judge from Bucks County assigned to Traffic Court in 2005, has not been certified to sit since Aug. 10. DeAngelis, a Traffic Court judge since 1992, has not been assigned to the court since April 20. A book review Sunday incorrectly identified the Pennsylvania city where the juvenile court corruption scandal known as "kids for cash" took place.

A 23-year-old Chester County man previously adjudicated delinquent for fatally shooting a friend has been declared a fugitive after violating the terms of his parole on a drunken-driving conviction. Sean O'Neill tested positive for alcohol and illegal drugs before absconding, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said Monday. In 2006, O'Neill shot and killed Scott Sheridan at O'Neill's family home in Willistown. He was charged as an adult but his case was transferred to Juvenile Court.

Two Judges, Thousands of Children, and a $2.8 Million Kickback Scheme By William Ecenbarger New Press. 272 pp. $26.95 Reviewed by David W. Marston Zero tolerance. That was Judge Mark A. Ciavarella's rigid formula for dealing with even trivial juvenile misconduct, and the tough boss of "kiddie court" made sure everyone in Scranton knew it. But almost no one - except Ciavarella's coconspirator, President Judge Michael T. Conahan - knew that zero tolerance was also the secret ingredient fueling a lucrative kickback scheme that paid millions to the corrupt judges.

Two teenage brothers who were charged in the strangulation of 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale in Clayton, Gloucester County, should be tried as adults, county Prosecutor Sean Dalton said Thursday. A motion to have the suspects transferred will be filed in the next seven to 10 days with Superior Court Judge Colleen Maier of the Gloucester County Family Division of state court, Dalton said. "It is the state's position, based upon the gravity of the juveniles' actions in causing the death of Autumn Pasquale, that these cases should be heard in adult court," Dalton said.

CARRIE GARDNER got her teenage son and nephew involved with the nonprofit organization she works for, in hopes that the boys wouldn't end up in jail or dead. So, when her 18-year-old nephew Kharee Tillmon was gunned down at a crowded playground in North Philadelphia early Monday night, blocks from his home, Gardner's pain was that much worse. "I'm sick to my stomach," Gardner, 39, who works with God's Love at Work, said Tuesday at a memorial for her nephew, tears streaming down her face behind dark sunglasses.

She was a pioneer in the field of law — in 1988, she became the first African American woman to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. But Juanita Kidd Stout had been quietly crashing through barriers for years. Three decades earlier, she had been the first African American woman elected to a court of record in the United States. On Thursday, Philadelphia City Council paid tribute to the jurist, who died in 1998 at age 79, by renaming the Criminal Justice Center in her honor.

An Allegheny County grand jury's indictment Friday of state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin represents a new low for Pennsylvania's highest court, but it could prove to be a valuable driving force for reforming the state's discredited system of electing its appellate judges. Melvin, 56, says she will fight the criminal charges that she misused her taxpayer-funded staff while serving as a Superior Court judge by having it do political campaign work in her 2009 pursuit of a state Supreme Court seat.

PITTSBURGH - A boy who was 11 when he was accused of killing his father's pregnant fiancée and her unborn son was found guilty Friday of their 2009 shotgun slayings. Lawrence County Court Judge John Hodge found Jordan Brown, now 14, delinquent, the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty verdict, in the deaths of Kenzie Houk, 26, and her unborn child. The judge closed the trial, held about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, to the media and all but close relatives because of the boy's age during the killings.