Silver Lake - Rev. J. Townsend Russell and family and servants arrived at “Sheldoncroft” last week. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Pearsall and Mr. and Mrs. Harry Pascall are occupying the corner house at “Sheldoncroft Farm” again this year.
Rush - John Reynolds shot and killed a black owl that measured four feet 6 in. from tip to tip.
New Milford - F. G. Inderlied is fixing a place in his block for a meat market to be used by the D. L. & W.
Bennett Corners, Auburn Twp. - Alfred Grow, of Auburn 4 Corners, was 72 years of age on May 8. About 50 gathered to help celebrate the occasion and were entertained royally and all enjoyed the excellent dinner. There were 18 grandchildren present. Among those present from a distance were Mrs. Bullock, of Tunkhannock and Mrs. Carrie Bagley, of Sayre.
Montrose - Atty. G. C. Comstock, daughter, Mary, and son, George, together with a nurse and maid, are expected to arrive here from New York today and will open the Comstock summer home for the season. Mrs. Comstock will come later in the month. Their house on Monument Square will be occupied this season by the Brown family, which was here two years ago. And Miss Louise Jessup has opened her summer home on Monument Square for the season.
Heart Lake - Frank T. Mack, proprietor of Heart Lake Inn, has purchased a motor boat for the entertainment of his patrons.
Alford - The first steam shovel to work on the Montrose branch of the Lackawanna, in connection with the Clark’s Summit-Hallstead cut-off, was unloaded at Alford yesterday. Work will be started at once to dig away the mountain above the L & M track and the track will be located fifty feet further above, but on the same grade as at present. The wagon road will be re-located some 75 or 100 feet beyond its present location. An electric plant, valued at $50,000, is to be temporarily installed for drilling rock, furnishing light, and work will be pushed day and night and Sundays until completed. A large force of men is being gathered and the L & M track will be moved first to make room for the main line track, which is to be located on the lower side of the creek, towards Montrose. Alford is to remain the terminal of the L & M branch, the line not being changed to New Milford, as was once contemplated.
Forest Lake - The 20 horsepower traction engine purchased by the township for working roads has arrived and is in use. It is a powerful machine, coming from the International Harvester Co. and the supervisors of the township expect to make the roads of their township models for the rest of the county within the course of a few years. Scarcity of horses for road-working purposes caused the supervisors to make the purchase, many farmers disliking to have their teams do the hard work which is usually attended by a nerve-wracking, tissue destroying pull at the road-working machine. The cost of the engine is $1,500.
Springville - There has been quite a change in the faculty of the high school in this place. Prof. Tiffany did not apply for the principalship and a young man, who graduates from Mansfield, in June, is engaged for the position. Miss Wilson was reengaged, if she wishes the place, but rumor has it she may teach in California this year, where she goes on a trip. Miss Seeley, of the intermediate room did not apply, as she will teach near her home in Bridgewater. Her place was given to Miss Lena Lyman. The primary children are again taught by Miss Nettie Muzzy. Quite a sweeping change, but all hope matters will soon adjust themselves although, at first, it may seem odd to the children, as these teachers have been together here for several terms.
Franklin Forks - May Monroe & Frances Summers will sell ice cream in the Alliance Hall on Decoration day, and every Saturday evening through the summer.
Elk Lake - C. S. Lathrop has purchased a trio of Indian Runner ducks of an Iowa firm.
Lathrop Twp. - Grandma Sweet had a stroke and is not much better at this time.
Hop Bottom - People whose property will be taken by the railroad company in building the cut-off are wondering where they will live when it becomes necessary to vacate, there being no houses or barns for rent. Quite a large gang of workmen are quartered in shacks, built by contractors, about a mile above the village.
Clifford - A good congregation assembled in the Methodist church last Friday evening to listen to a report of the National Women’s Christian Temperance Union held last year. After a short entertainment by local talent, Mrs. Stanton gave a report of the meeting which was very instructive as well as entertaining. In the afternoon the young people met at the school house and Mrs. Stanton organized a Loyal Temperance Legion.
Herrick Center - Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Bowell gave a reception in honor of their son, Elmer, and his newly made wife, whose marriage occurred at Buffalo, NY, May 8.
South Harford - Mrs. Hull, who is 80 years old, walked to Harford recently. She is very smart and active for one of her age.
Flynn - For Sale: A good dairy farm of about 150 acres, well watered, situated in the township of Middletown. Close by church, graded school, stores, post office, creamery near by etc. About 35 acres of wood and good timber. Terms $500 down and $100 of principal with interest yearly until paid for. Write J. W. Flynn, 16 Eaton Pl., Binghamton, NY.
Lenoxville - A large number of unemployed men from near by cities have been drifting into this place for the past week, seeking work, which cannot be found.
News Brief: Employees of the Erie R.R. have been notified that hereafter smoking and chewing tobacco, while on duty, will not be permitted. The order points out that the habit is unsanitary and unpleasant to passengers.
A few years ago, I went to a prosecutor training that dealt with the “science” of plea offers. Given the stark reality of the numbers of cases, there is a constant pressure to get criminal cases resolved in some reasonable and just manner that avoids the necessity for a full jury trial. Every prosecutor, defense attorney and judge struggles with this very issue. A guilty plea proceeding is a relatively short hearing when compared with the formalities of a jury trial - and there are virtually no appellate issues that arise from a guilty plea while a jury trial often creates a multitude of potential appellate arguments. Even the simplest criminal case will take a full day for trial as it requires the jury selection process, opening instructions, opening statements, prosecution witnesses, cross-examination of those witnesses by the defense attorney, defense witnesses and cross-examination of those witnesses by the prosecutor, closing arguments, closing instructions, jury deliberations, and reading of the verdict.
I have read that well over ninety percent of all criminal cases are resolved through negotiated plea agreements resulting in guilty pleas. This makes sense as the court system could not possibly find the time to conduct jury trials on every single criminal case. For instance, in Susquehanna County, we have averaged around 550 misdemeanor and felony criminal case filings a year over the past 4 years. In a small county like Susquehanna, there is only one judge to preside over these criminal proceedings - and there is no way logistically to try every single criminal case as there are not enough business days in the year to do it. Of course, in a single judge county, the judge also has a civil case load to hear, which would number into the thousands of cases, coupled with the juvenile docket, orphan’s court proceedings, probation violations hearings, summary appeals, license suspension appeals, and countless other miscellaneous issues over which the a Court of Common Pleas Judge has jurisdiction. The court calendar is filled every single day oftentimes months in advance.
Thus, I was interested in the training session regarding plea negotiations as it was suggesting that it would help to expedite the process and keep cases moving. The instructor was an experienced prosecutor out of Arizona who provided a very compelling presentation on placing a value of the defendant’s willingness to accept responsibility - and creating a plea negotiation atmosphere that encouraged the acceptance of responsibility sooner in the process rather than later. How can a prosecutor create this kind of atmosphere? The suggestion was that the better plea offers should occur earlier in the case and that the defendant needs to understand that for each procedural hoop that a defendant forces the prosecutor to jump through will result in a harsher offer.
My initial question was a simple one: how does a prosecutor even know that a defendant is aware of the plea offer? Prosecutors speak to defense attorneys - not directly to the defendant. There are rare occasions when all the parties meet together - but that is the exception, not the rule. Normally, a prosecutor will simply give the offer to a defense attorney and wait to hear a response. At the training, I queried that there may be instances where the offer is never conveyed to the defendant and what happens when the defendant finds out that he could have received a better “deal.” I was concerned that an appellate court would conclude that a defendant was denied his constitutional right to competent legal representation based upon the attorney’s failure to apprise a defendant of a proposed offer.
Well, the United States Supreme Court has just answered that question and thrown a monkey wrench into the entire criminal justice system. The Court has determined that a defendant’s constitutional right to effective legal counsel is violated when they are not apprised of the plea offers made by the prosecution - and the defendant ends up getting something more detrimental than what the initial plea offer would have provided. Prior to this ruling, there was never any constitutional right to a plea agreement so there was never any “record” made of the offers made by the prosecution. Now, the issue about prior offers will come into play not only in every new case, but all prior prosecutions where a defendant learns (or simply alleges) that he was not told of a potential plea offer that was better than what he ended up receiving.
To say that this decision has the potential of opening up a floodgate of litigation would be an understatement. The other pressing issue will be how the courts now document or record the plea offers that are made between a prosecutor and a defense attorney. Generally, the courts are not privy to the plea negotiations as there is the potential that the knowledge of those negotiations could taint the impartiality of the tribunal. Given this new ruling, the courts will have to get involved and create some record, not only of the offers that were made, but that a defendant was aware of the offer and rejected it. Does the Court then have to delve deeper to determine what advice the defense attorney provided and whether the defense attorney advised the client to take the plea offer?
In its decision, the Supreme Court noted that the current criminal justice system “is for the most part a system of pleas, not a system of trials.” While the Supreme Court recognized the reality of the current criminal justice system and the strains upon it, its new ruling will only serve to further impede the administration of justice by forcing prosecutors and courts to intercede and interfere in the relationship between a defendant and his attorney – a relationship that is intended to be a sacred and confidential one. Time will tell just how far reaching this decision will be - but there is no mistaking that it will be transformational.
Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.
