District Attorney John Morganelli is broke. That's what he told Northampton County Council's Personnel Committee late yesterday afternoon. In fact, he's so cash-strapped that he has nearly stopped extraditing people picked up on warrants in other states. "I get 6 to 8 requests per week. I'm turning down 75% of them because we can't afford to go get them."Morganelli will still pick up a Defendant wanted for a crime that affects the public safety, and includes drunk driving in that category. But he told Council that rising costs associated with experts and advancing technology, have wiped out his budget this year. At the same time that costs are rising, his caseload is increasing.
Casino cases, which consist mostly of thefts, assaults and DUI, are starting to trickle into his office. "We don't have a major problem there yet, but there will be a different clientele when table games are there." He pointed to studies showing that table players tend to be younger than those using one arm bandits.
Morganelli currently has 11 full-time and 9 part-time prosecutors. Two of the PT positions are currently vacant, and Morganelli is using those salaries to keep his office going.
Next year, he'd like to convert those to full-time positions because "we get more efficiency with full-time DAs. We really need to continue the movement towards full-time DAs." Morganelli told Council he will hold off on asking for funds for a new grand jury or vehicle because Executive John Stoffa asked him to make an effort to keep costs at a minimum in a difficult economy.
Morganelli's proposal was unanimously approved by Council's Personnel Committee.
Maybe he should have a bake sale.
5 comments:
Two more nice full-time jobs. Nice.
Perhaps you'd prefer to compromise the public safet of our communities. It is hard to argue w/ someone like Morganelli, who runs a tight ship and rarely asks for anything. He justified it.
I don't trust Morganelli as far as I can throw his crooked buddy Severson. Morganelli has no credibility on anything anymore. He needs to go away. Shouldn't he be announcing his latest candidacy for something? Has he testified at any of the Severson hearings? The guy is an ethical oil slick who still hasn't been forthright about his Scissorhands dealings. And what of the funeral debacle? It goes on and on with this guy.
Morganelli did what a good lawyer should do with Severson: he recused himself and his staff so that the AG could pursue it. That is an ethical approach. That's all you can ask of him.
Sounds like the problem you have isn't with two more full time jobs, rather in who is DA. It's a shame you would put politics ahead of the safety of your kids. Is that what politics has become?
Bernie O'Hare was disbarred in 1986 for sabotaging his own client's civil rights litigation w/ "evil intent." See: Part 2: George Usry
When they finally caught up w/ O'Hare he had just successfully finished sabotaging the wrongful death litigation of a grieving widow and her three fatherless children. See: Part 3: Lucille White
Recently, O'Hare publicly threatened (twice) to sabotage the wrongful death litigation of Sheena Villa. See: Why is Bernie O'Hare Defiling Sheena Villa?
In 1986, O'Hare's own lawyer told the PA Supreme Court that O'Hare had a "serious emotional problem."
Obviously, O'Hare has never been rehabilitated.
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