CROOKED PA COUNTY NOW DEADBEATS TOO

They are trying to discourage a lawyer who is the only hope of a man imprisoned on faked evidence

On Tuesday, attorney Noah Geary asked a visiting judge to put one of the Fayette County commissioners in jail until his counsel fees in a murder case are paid. And while Northumberland County Senior Judge Barry F. Feudale refused, the judge entered a judgment against the county to the tune of $123,232.49 plus 6 percent interest - and said he will sanction the cash-strapped county when he enters a ruling at a later date.

Geary, a Washington County attorney who successfully represented David J. Munchinski in a post-conviction appeal, has been trying to collect on court-ordered payments for his services since an order was handed down in December 2004. Six months later, Geary said, he has yet to see a penny from the county, so he went to court to get his payment......

Ferens called Geary's incarceration request "grandstanding," "ridiculous and ludicrous." He said Geary's court appointment to represent Munchinski 21/2 years after he took the case was akin to "giving him an open checkbook." "We feel this was improper, and that's why we aren't paying. We feel an obligation to the citizens of this county to protect their funds," Ferens said.....

"If they think $100,000 is a lot of money, wait until I file my (civil action)," Geary said. He indicated he intends to sue the county next month in federal court for Munchinski's wrongful conviction. "We'll see what 20 years of a man's life is worth," Geary said.

Munchinski, 52, was convicted of the 1977 shooting deaths of James Alford and Raymond Gierke. The men were shot and sodomized at a Bear Rocks chalet on Dec. 2, but police did not make any arrests in the case until 1982, when a witness came forward claiming to know details of what happened. Witness Richard Bowen first told police he was the getaway driver for Munchinski and Leon Scaglione, but later expanded his statement after prosecutors gave him immunity. Bowen told police he was inside the chalet when Munchinski and Scaglione killed the men. Munchinski and Scaglione were tried together in 1983, but jurors could not reach a verdict. Their cases were severed, and both were later convicted of two counts each of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Scaglione later died in prison, and Munchinski, who has continually proclaimed his innocence, has spent the past 19 years filing appeals and fighting to clear his name. In 2002, when Geary took over the case, he successfully petitioned for both county prosecutors and judges to remove themselves from participation. The state attorney general's office and Feudale were assigned to Munchinski's latest post-conviction appeal.

After a number of hearings, Feudale reviewed volumes of evidence and vacated Munchinski's conviction last October for a number of reasons, including questions about Bowen's first interview with prosecutors.

Geary contended a police report that was altered when given to Munchinski's former defense attorneys referenced a taped interview with Bowen. Prosecutors and police officers said no tape existed, but Feudale said he believed it did.

The report that referenced the tape was altered by former county prosecutor, now judge, Ralph C. Warman. He testified he folded the report and photocopied it because it said the interview was taped when it wasn't.

Feudale lambasted Warman and former district attorney, now judge, Gerald R. Solomon in his opinion, questioning if the men committed prosecutorial misconduct for not handing over the original police reports and several other pieces of evidence in the case.

Feudale's decision to vacate Munchinski's conviction is on appeal, and Munchinski remains in prison while that appeal is being resolved.

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