Misconduct

A Lower Moreland district justice was accused of eight counts of judicial misconduct yesterday, including allegations that he pressured police to drop a drunken-driving case against a family friend and summarily convicted a juvenile who didn't wear a tie to his courtroom. District Justice Stephen H. Silverman was named in a complaint prepared by the Judicial Conduct Board in Harrisburg, which investigates allegations of ethical misconduct by judges in the state. The board receives more than 500 complaints alleging misconduct each year, but formal charges are rare.

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE - Wildwood Mayor Gary DeMarzo pleaded not guilty Wednesday to official misconduct. Cape May County prosecutors have charged that DeMarzo and lawyer Samuel Lashman improperly used public funds to pay for DeMarzo's defense in a conflict-of-interest case in 2009 and 2010. Lashman also entered a not-guilty plea Wednesday. DeMarzo is a former Wildwood police officer who took a leave of absence after being elected a city commissioner in May 2007. He became mayor in December 2009.

Temple University President Peter Liacouras has decided not to charge outgoing African-American studies chairman Molefi Asante with "grave misconduct" for his actions toward an untenured assistant professor who claimed he plagiarized her work. But Liacouras did conclude that soured business dealings between Asante and his onetime star pupil, assistant professor Ella Forbes, "sufficiently tainted" the review of Forbes' application for a permanent faculty position. "Once Dr. Asante entered into the external business relationship with Dr. Forbes . . . a potential conflict of interest within the university was created," Liacouras wrote in his decision.

An administrative hearing for a police officer who was acquitted of charges that he made obscene phone calls to the Deptford Mall has gotten underway, with both sides arguing over procedure. Michael Gallo, 30, faces charges of misconduct that may result in the loss of his job as a police officer, even though a municipal court judge dismissed harassment charges against him early this month. A two-hour hearing Tuesday was closed. Afterward, Stuart J. Alterman, Gallo's attorney, said he had asked the township manager, Bradley Blubaugh, to remove himself as the hearing officer because of an alleged friendship with Police Chief Raymond Milligan.

The last thing you expect when you put your money in a bank is to have it rob you. But robbed is how thousands of Wachovia Bank customers must be feeling today. Wachovia, the biggest bank in the Philadelphia region, engaged in a "pattern of misconduct" that enabled fraudulent telemarketers to steal millions of dollars from unsuspecting customers, according a probe by the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The telemarketers targeted mainly elderly people, offering them identity protection, medical discounts, grants and other products in return for a fee that the telemarketers would obtain directly from the customer's bank account.

A Chester County judge yesterday admitted that he fraternized with law- enforcement officials at his favorite restaurant at lunch time, but denied that he committed "extra-judicial misconduct" by allowing jurors in a controversial murder case to see him doing so. Judge Leonard Sugerman was testifying during an unusual hearing on an appeal by Andrew Byrne of his murder conviction on charges of killing his wife. The defense alleges that the jurors, who also ate lunch at La Cocotte in West Chester, saw Sugerman socializing with a key prosecution witness during the trial.

A panel of federal judges, including Gov. Rendell's wife, has been appointed to conduct a judicial-misconduct inquiry of a well-known California judge caught up in a flap about sexually explicit images on a Web site bearing his name. The investigation will focus on Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which handles federal appeals for Western states, Hawaii, and Alaska. Kozinski asked for the inquiry after the Los Angeles Times reported last week that sexually explicit photos and videos were on the Web site, http://alex.

The Coatesville Police Department has suspended a high-ranking officer amid allegations of misconduct, according to the Coatesville City Council president. Joseph Hamrick said Wednesday that the council received word of the probe after the officer was put on paid administrative leave Aug. 22. Sources familiar with the investigation but who are not authorized to comment identified the officer as Lt. Chris McEvoy. They said he was accused of fraternizing inappropriately with a subordinate.

A former Camden police officer who pleaded guilty to official misconduct was spared a prison term yesterday after an emotional outpouring of support by friends and family members. Superior Court Judge Frank M. Lario Jr. said he was impressed by the pleas for mercy, as well as by the many letters he received in behalf of Carmen Santiago, of Camden. He ordered her to be put on the sheriff's supervised work program for 270 days, serve 600 hours of community service, and be on probation for four years.

I have never experienced a more egregious abuse of the criminal-justice system by a prosecutor than what was orchestrated by former Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham in filing murder charges against William Barnes for the death of Walter Barclay. To pursue an official charge of homicide involving a death that occurred 41 years after the original injury without having a complete autopsy performed and before obtaining and thoroughly reviewing all of the victim's medical and hospital records is truly incomprehensible and connotes serious professional negligence - if not personal malevolence.

A Washington Township police officer pleaded not guilty Monday to official misconduct, falsifying records, and other offenses stemming from a traffic stop last summer of Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty (D., Gloucester). Joseph DiBuonaventura, a 17-year veteran of the force, wrote in a police report that he stopped Moriarty on July 31 on the Black Horse Pike in Turnersville after the legislator cut him off. He said he smelled alcohol on Moriarty's breath and ordered him out of the car. Video footage from DiBuonaventura's car showed his vehicle parked on the median and then his chasing Moriarty.

A grand jury has indicted a Washington Township police officer on charges of tampering with records, falsifying records, and official misconduct, the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday, stemming from the officer's arrest of Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D., Gloucester) in a July traffic stop. Joseph DiBuonaventura, 42, arrested Moriarty on July 31 on drunken-driving and other charges. If convicted of all charges, DiBuonaventura could face decades in prison. Moriarty said in an interview he felt vindicated by the indictment of the officer.

The state's Judicial Conduct Board filed formal charges Friday against a Lancaster County Magisterial District Judge, who had pleaded guilty to fixing her own traffic tickets. In November, 2010, Judge Kelly S. Ballentine received three summary traffic citations totaling $268.50 - two for parking violations and one for an expired registrations for a BMW sedan. Ballentine entered the court's computer system and dismissed her tickets. She pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to tampering with public records.

JOSE DURAN thought he'd find justice after releasing a video that showed narcotics officers cutting wires to his surveillance cameras before they allegedly looted his bodega. Instead, Duran has lost his business, his livelihood, his home, his dignity. "It makes me angry. They stole my future. Everything," Duran said in a recent interview. "They must think I'm nobody. I believed in the American dream, and now I see that it's not. The cops - they stole it from me. " The Daily News obtained the video of the Sept.

WASHINGTON - Likening sexual assault in the Air Force's ranks to a cancer, the service's top officer resolved Wednesday to tackle the problem by screening personnel more carefully and putting an end to bad behaviors like binge drinking that can lead to misconduct. But Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, underscored the challenge by telling a House oversight committee that the service recorded a disturbing number of reports of sexual assault last year even as it worked to curb misconduct after a sex scandal at its training headquarters in Texas.

HARRISBURG - Former State Rep. Bill DeWeese appealed his corruption conviction Tuesday, alleging judicial errors and prosecutorial misconduct. In the appeal, filed in Superior Court, DeWeese (D., Greene) contended that the trial judge erred by limiting the number of defense witnesses who testified and refusing to let his lawyer challenge a prosecution witness' credibility. He also said prosecutors committed misconduct at his preliminary hearing by selectively reading parts of his grand jury testimony.

WASHINGTON - The top federal prosecutor in New Orleans, the longest-serving U.S. attorney in the country, resigned Thursday amid an investigation into possible prosecutorial misconduct by two of his top deputies. Jim Letten, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, announced his resignation at a news conference. In an emotional speech, he praised the office and said he would stay on briefly to help with the transition to new leadership. The resignation comes eight months into a scandal that led to a Justice Department investigation of Letten's top deputy and a second veteran prosecutor in connection with anonymous online criticism of the target of a federal inquiry.

Colwyn police Cpl. Trevor Parham was acquitted today of simple assault and official oppression for Tasering a 16-year-old boy who was shackled to a bench in a holding cell. Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Kevin F. Kelly said that regardless of whether Parham's actions were appropriate in a civil or departmental context, they did not rise to the level of criminal misconduct. Much of the testimony during the two-day trial - for which Parham, 40, waived his right to a jury - centered on departmental policies on arrest and use of force.

HARRISBURG - A senior state senator faces allegations that he violated rules of professional conduct for lawyers while working for a Utah-based company that helps find heirs to people who died without leaving a will. The Supreme Court's Disciplinary Board this week scheduled an October trial in the case of Dauphin County Republican Sen. Jeff Piccola, a 35-year legislative veteran and Education Committee chair. According to a 72-page complaint filed June 29 by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Piccola's violations include a rule that prohibits dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.

A Chester County district judge has been suspended for a month without pay for giving her son preferential treatment and lying about it. Rita A. Arnold will start her suspension Wednesday, followed by two years of probation, the state Court of Judicial Discipline ruled Tuesday. Arnold could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The ruling by an eight-judge panel concluded an 18-month investigation of a case that started with a fight between two of Arnold's sons on Jan. 19, 2010.