Two more Philly judges under scrutiny
Two Municipal Judges suspended; linked to corrupt ex-judge Joseph C. Waters.
A SPOKESMAN for the court system said that despite the suspensions of two Philadelphia Municipal judges yesterday and the abrupt resignation of another city judge Tuesday, the work of the court will carry on uninterrupted.
"We have senior judges who fill in for vacancies in circumstances like this," Jim Kovall, spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, said yesterday.
It still is not clear who exactly would be taking over the case loads of suspended judges Joseph J. O'Neill and Dawn Segal, and those of former Municipal Judge Joseph C. Waters Jr., because Philadelphia Municipal Court President Judge Marsha Neifield was unavailable for comment.
Her secretary said Neifield was off from work in observance of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.
Although the state Supreme Court issued the suspension order against O'Neill and Segal on Wednesday, Kovall said he did not have a copy of the order nor had it been posted on the court system's website.
Published reports have stated that the two judges were contacted by Waters, who asked them to help friends of his who had cases in their courtrooms.
Waters pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of mail fraud and one count of honest-services wire fraud on Wednesday. When sentenced on Jan. 22, Waters, 61, is expected to receive two years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $5,500 fine.
O'Neill, 63, and Segal, 54, have not been charged criminally. Both are suspended with pay. O'Neill was first elected to the bench in November 2007. Segal was first elected in November 2009.
The Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania will investigate the conduct of both judges and, if warranted, will file charges against them in the Court of Judicial Discipline, Kovall said.
If the court finds them guilty, it can impose sanctions ranging from a reprimand to removal from office.
In other court news, Deputy Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts Deborah E. Dailey was fired in May for misappropriating roughly $78,000 in court money.
The firing was first reported yesterday by The Legal Intelligencer, which quoted Judge John Herron, administrative judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Trial Division, saying Dailey "wrongfully misappropriated court monies, confessed, made restitution, and the court reported the matter to the District Attorney's Office for the appropriate investigation."
D.A. spokeswoman Tasha Jamerson declined to comment, the Intelligencer reported.