Free Republic

SCRANTON - Mark Ciavarella admitted he pocketed up to $20,000 from donations to his retention campaign in 2005. About 15 minutes later, Ciavarella's attorney William Ruzzo finished a brief redirect and Judge Edwin Kosik closed the testimony for the day. The admission came after Ciavarella admitted he had recieved business deals through Robert Powell that the average person could not get. He conceded he e had received half ownership in a Florida condo without paying a penny, and that he got involved in W-Cat, a business promising him up to $300,000, without paying any money. Ciavarella said he had to...

SCRANTON – Attorney Al Flora lost his bid to have a mistrial declared in former Luzerne County judge Mark Ciavarella’s corruption trial Friday, but he planted the seed for an appeal should Ciavarella be convicted, several attorneys said. Flora requested U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik declare a mistrial after Kosik objected, for the third time in two days, to questions Flora sought to ask prosecution witnesses regarding Robert Powell. The judge denied the motion. The objections, which were raised by Kosik and not prosecutors, precluded Flora from introducing evidence he contends is important to Ciavarella’s defense of a 39-count federal...