Pocono News Section

Lawyers Question Cases Handled by Toole Since September

Lawyers Question Cases Handled by Toole Since September - Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 11:30PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Thursday, Dec 3, 2009 @ 11:30pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY -- Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole has been relieved of his judicial duties by the state Supreme Court. It comes one day after it was learned Toole admitted to federal fraud and tax charges.

But Toole signed a plea agreement in September yet remained on the bench for more than two months. Now there are questions about what happens to cases Toole handled during that time.

Judge Toole will plead guilty to case fixing and tax evasion. He admits he used a New Jersey beach house owned by a lawyer, and then made favorable rulings in a case that lawyer was involved in. He also admits to taking $30,000 from another lawyer as a referral fee and not reporting it on his tax return.

The plea agreement was signed on September 25th, but Toole remained on the bench for more than two months.

Luzerne County President Judge Chester Muroski was not happy. At a news conference he said he would have removed Toole from the bench immediately had he known about the agreement.

"This is something you’re going to have to address with federal authorities. The first mention of any kind of agreeing to responsibility that I heard was today," Muroski said Wednesday.

Eyewitness News did address that question to the U. S. Attorney's Office. They would not comment.

For now both prosecutors and defense lawyers are reviewing Toole's rulings to see if they want to challenge any of them.

District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll says it’s another unknown impact of the Toole guilty plea. "I think we’re going to have to wait and see what defense attorneys do, what cases they can make, and we’re going to have to answer those claims."

People we talked with can't understand how a disgraced judge could decide the fate of those who came before him.

Melissa Sherfield of Hunlock Creek said, "Honestly I don't think that was right at all. If he knew he was doing something wrong, to sit and judge other people? I don't think he should have been on the bench."