D.A.'s group in Pa. issues new rules for juvenile cases

CARLISLE, Pa. - The group representing district attorneys across the state adopted new standards for handling juvenile cases Wednesday, aiming to prevent another scandal like the one in Luzerne County courts.

The new policy directs district attorneys to make juvenile prosecutions a top priority, improve training for juvenile prosecutors, and require prosecutors to be present at all stages of juvenile proceedings.

"The problems exposed in the Luzerne County juvenile justice system are a worst-case wake-up call for everyone involved in Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system," said Edward Marsico, Dauphin County district attorney and president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association.

The new standards also serve as a reminder to prosecutors that on occasion they must take an active stance to protect defendants' rights - such as when a juvenile waives the right to counsel, Marsico said.

Such waivers figured in the Luzerne County "kids-for-cash" scandal. Witnesses have told the panel investigating the scandal that one judge pressured young defendants to waive the right to counsel - even going so far as to set up tables outside the courtroom where teens signed away those rights.

That led to fewer than half the juvenile defendants in Luzerne County courts being represented by lawyers, a figure far below the statewide average.

The prosecutors' group announced the new standards at the annual meeting of its education and training arm. Marsico said the group would forward the standards to the Interbranch Commission for Juvenile Justice, the panel formed last year to study the court system's role in the Luzerne scandal and offer recommendations.

The commission's final report is due by the end of May.

The scandal revolved around two Luzerne County judges, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael P. Conahan, who are accused of collecting $2.6 million in payments from two private detention centers in return for sending thousands of juvenile defendants to them.

Ciavarella and Conahan pleaded guilty, but a federal judge threw out their plea agreements, saying they had not accepted responsibility for their actions. They await trial.

Robert Listenbee, a chief of Philadelphia's juvenile defenders unit and a member of the Interbranch Commission, said the standards address shortcomings that came to light in the panel's hearings.

"It is very important that the district attorneys association emphasize that juvenile prosecution is a top priority and that training is critical," said Listenbee, who is also president of the Juvenile Defenders Association.

He said Luzerne prosecutors told the panel that when Ciavarella and Conahan were sentencing children, those prosecutors did not realize that under existing rules, they were obliged to make sure juvenile defendants understood the perils of going to court without a lawyer.

Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler and Philadelphia Deputy District Attorney George Mosee Jr. said Wednesday that prosecutors were absent from the courtroom more often in smaller counties with fewer prosecutors.

Nonetheless, Mosee, who is also on the Interbranch Commission, said prosecutors have a moral duty to be vigilant about defendants' rights.

"If a judge doesn't live up to his responsibility," Mosee said, "it's up to the prosecutors to say something."