Prosecutor

Memorial services will be held today for Gloucester County Prosecutor Harris Y. Cotton, 68, who died Friday at Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury just moments before his term ended and his successor sworn in. Officials said services for Mr. Cotton will be held at 12:45 p.m. in the Gloucester County Justice Center in Woodbury. A Wenonah resident since the late 1960s, Mr. Cotton, known for his flamboyant style and his dedication to the job, was considered the dean of the county prosecutors in New Jersey.

A former Delaware County prosecutor has alleged in a federal court lawsuit that she was fired as an assistant district attorney because of racial discrimination. Treva Hall Melvin of Berwyn said in the lawsuit that she was terminated Dec. 2, 2004, while on medical disability leave, "on the pretext that she did not reside in the county," though such a rule was not applied to the white deputy district attorney and assistant district attorneys who resided outside Delaware County. Melvin filed a racial bias claim with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which concluded in September 2006 that she was terminated "because of her race (black)

Benjamin Asbell, a former New Jersey deputy attorney general and acting Camden County prosecutor, died yesterday. He was 76 and lived in Westmont, N.J. An attorney for more than 50 years, Asbell was named a deputy attorney general in April 1958 to serve as acting Camden County prosecutor when the prosecutor, Mitchell H. Cohen, became a judge. For the previous 10 years Asbell had been serving as an assistant prosecutor. He held the prosecutor's job until 1960. Asbell was the father of Samuel Asbell, the current Camden County prosecutor.

Alvin G. Shpeen, who served as Gloucester County's first full-time prosecutor for five years, has accepted a job as a deputy attorney general. Shpeen, 54, of Pitman, was sworn in Monday by Donald Belsole, director of the Division of Criminal Justice. He has been assigned to the prosecutor's supervisory section in Trenton, where he will provide legal advice to the state medical examiner and to the coordinator of a support group for crime victims. "I feel very comfortable with this job," Shpeen said.

HOUSTON - After two Texas prosecutors were slain in two months, law enforcement agencies across the state are considering steps to better protect attorneys who go after violent criminals, including providing round-the-clock security details and withholding personal information from public records. Last weekend's fatal shootings of the Kaufman County district attorney and his wife in their home were so alarming that county officials assigned a 24-hour security detail to the interim prosecutor who took over the job. Another prosecutor in the state's Panhandle region encouraged his staff to request that property records not list their home addresses.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has named former Philadelphia prosecutor Robert Spinelli as the new chairman of the Archdiocesan Review Board, which advises him on matters of child sexual abuse and misconduct with the five-county archdiocese. Chaput also named Arnold Gordon, a former Philadelphia first assistant district attorney, as the board's vice chairman. Both men have served on the 12-member panel since June 2011. Christine Campbell, trauma program manager at St. Christopher's Hospital, and the Rev. Stephen Leva, pastor of St. Timothy's parish in Mayfair, were also appointed to the board.

Police Commissioner Willie L. Williams yesterday reassigned four narcotics officers to administrative duties while investigators determine whether they were paid for courtroom appearances while they were actually helping a prosecutor move out of her home in Northeast Philadelphia. The officers will remain in desk jobs pending the outcome of the internal police probe, according to Sgt. Theresa Young, a department spokeswoman. They are: Joseph Painter, a 14-year veteran; David Rash, a five-year veteran; Lance Seidel, a 14-year veteran, and Thomas Toohey, a 21-year veteran.

The unflappable and methodical prosecutor who twice convicted Ira Einhorn of murder and put the hippie fugitive away for life has left the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office for private practice. Joel Rosen, who worked in the office for 22 years and once headed the elite Major Trials Unit, began work this week as a personal injury lawyer for the Center City firm Kessler Cohen & Roth. The firm handles plaintiffs' litigation in product liability and medical malpractice. "It's a group of great lawyers - very bright attorneys - and they have great cases," Rosen said yesterday.

After holding out for a year, state Sen. Wayne Bryant has endorsed Lee Solomon for Camden County prosecutor - a move that in part clears the way for the acting prosecutor to be appointed on a permanent basis. Solomon must now be approved by the state Senate Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to interview him on Thursday. Though Bryant refused comment yesterday, consideration by the committee could not occur without Bryant's backing. From the committee, Solomon's nomination will likely, either that day or the following week, be recommended to the full Senate for confirmation.

INDIANAPOLIS - An Indiana prosecutor said that one of his deputies resigned yesterday after admitting he sent an email to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker suggesting that the Republican fake an attack on himself to discredit the public-employee unions protesting his plan to strip them of nearly all collective bargaining rights. Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper said that Carlos Lam resigned in a phone call about 5 a.m. yesterday after acknowledging that he sent the Feb. 19 email to Walker suggesting that "the situation in WI presents a good opportunity for what's called a 'false flag' operation.