winter 2013
Gideon turns 50 How the Berks Bar Led the Local Response to This Landmark Decision
PJ & the General Keeping an Eye on "Skiers"
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02 | Berks Barrister
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winter 2013
The Official Publication of the Berks County Bar Association
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Eugene Orlando, Jr., President G. Thompson Bell, III, President-Elect Jesse L. Pleet, Vice President James m. smith, Secretary eden r. bucher, Treasurer tonya A. butler, Director andrew f. fick, Director karen h. cook, Director Alisa r. hobart, Director Jill Gehman Koestel, Director Elizabeth A. Magovern, Director Frederick K. Hatt, Past President Justin D. Bodor, President YLS
BAR ASSOCIATION STAFF
DONALD f. SMITH, JR., Esquire, Executive Director andrea j. stamm, Lawyer Referral/Secretary Karen A. Loeper, Law Journal Secretary Paula j. ziegler, Communications Manager Patsy Page, Bookkeeper Eric J. Taylor, Law Journal Editor Roarke Aston, Law Journal Assistant Editor Matthew M. Mayer, Barrister Editor
Please submit materials or comments to: Berks County Bar Association 544 Court Street, P.O. Box 1058 Reading, PA 19603-1058 Phone: 610.375.4591 Fax: 610.373.0256 Email: berksbar@berskbar.org www.berksbar.org
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Our thanks are extended to the numerous people who have contributed the Berks Barrister. Your time, energy and efforts are sincerely appreciated. Publisher: Hoffmann Publishing Group Reading, PA | 610.685.0914 | hoffmannpublishing.com
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Berks County Bar Association Plays Leading Role in County’s Response to the Landmark Gideon Decision
11 19 23 26 28
31 32
Reading Attorney’s Poetry Published Life Sentences for Juveniles After Miller v. Alabama Rubbing Elbows with the Kennedys The New PJ...More at Home in the Courtroom than the Tennis Court L.A. Being “L.A.” Berks Bar Hosts Latino Chamber Board Berks County Bar Association’s HOLIDAY RECEPTION
Departments:
President’s Message: Mentoring: A Continuing Tradition of the Profession ......... 3 Book Review: Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts............................ 12 Spotlight on New Members .............................................................................. 16 Miscellaneous Docket ....................................................................................... 18
Foundation Updates........................................................................................... 20 In Memorium..................................................................................................... 21 Restaurant Review: Pasta and Date Night menu at Panevino ..............................22
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President’s Message Eugene Orlando, Jr., Esquire, 2013 President
To Be a Mentor, To Be Mentored—A Continuing Tradition of the Profession
I
t was fortunate for me that during law school I was required to work, in order to support my penchant for eating. During my second and third year in law school I worked part time for a threelawyer firm in Springfield Massachusetts as county records searcher, examining titles and public records. One of the partners was the author of the Massachusetts practice book on Conveyancing, and she always took the time to answer questions. Both of the other partners went out of their way to help me learn the job and answer my questions. While they were of course motivated to train a competent searcher, they frequently went the extra mile and shared insights with me about legal practice and issues that went well beyond showing me what indices to search. It was almost as if they felt a duty to positively guide a budding lawyer. In my last semester of law school, I took a trial practice seminar, and I was lucky to be assigned to senior criminal defense attorney Wilfred P. Conlin, Esquire, who volunteered to take me under his wing for a semester. Under his guidance, I actually conducted more than half a dozen hearings in misdemeanor matters through the student practice program in District Court. Mr. Conlin was not only a skilled
defense lawyer but also a wonderful man, who took extra time to share not only his considerable trial skills, but also his life and experiences as a defense lawyer. At the end of the semester, he insisted on treating my wife and me to a great steak dinner which was a special treat for a law student more used to canned stew. Like other attorneys in the trial practice program, Mr. Conlin was a volunteer who was willing to devote his time to help train the next generation of attorneys. While studying for the bar exam, I was fortunate to find work as a “legal assistant to the president” of a manufacturing company in Philadelphia that owned large land holdings in Princeton. Although not an attorney, President Jack O’Donnell was well acquainted with lawyers and the legal profession, and he introduced me to a few of Philadelphia’s most respected business lawyers. While he did need the land report, he also took a genuine interest in my legal career. He personally spent a great deal of time helping me evaluate career options as well as hosting lunches with attorney John Cunningham, the company’s outside counsel who also generously gave to me his time, insight, and advice. When I passed the bar exam, I had three career options: 1) associate in a small
center city personal injury firm, 2) office sharing arrangement with a well respected firm in my hometown, and 3) associate in a two lawyer firm in Boyertown with a busy general practice. On a cold October morning, I slipped into my 99 dollar Boscov’s suit, fired up the engine of my 1968 Plymouth Satellite and pointed the car north to Boyertown and the law offices of Murphy and Parish P.C. to start my first day as an attorney in Berks County. The personalities of my new employers could not have been more diverse. John Murphy was a bright and engaging Irishman with a mind that flashed quickly along the straightest line to the desired result. Terry Parish was a southern transplant whose folksy sayings and Oklahoma accent belied his scholarly and thorough understanding of the law and his emphasis on thoroughness in the process. Although they approached issues from almost opposite directions, each man brought a quality to the analysis that complemented and aided the other. Their mutual respect for each other allowed their differing temperaments to blend surprisingly well. As a young lawyer looking to learn the practice of law, I knew I had been guided to the right place. Murphy and Parish was a busy general
Berks Barrister | 3
dealing with clients, colleagues, and opponents as it is about substantive knowledge. Every issue was discussed and viewed through the lens of professionalism and ethics. Even though financial pressure was clearly evident in that small town legal practice, it did not interfere with doing the right thing and doing things the right way. John and Terry were not saints, but their professional attitudes and actions were consistent with the moral values my parents instilled in me, and their example encouraged an approach to the business of law that complemented the foundation built by my parents in my youth.
Email: cwaszkiewicz@financialguide.com Website: www.financialguide.com/Colin- Waszkiewicz
practice that included criminal defense, divorce, estates, real estate, personal injury, workers comp, zoning, and everything in between. There was little time to train a new lawyer. But, they made the time. During my first week, Terry took the better part of a day to personally show me around. I was introduced to the prothonotary, and his chief deputy, the recorder of deeds and her chief deputy, the sheriff, clerk of courts, register of wills, and several conference officers in the domestic relations office as well as several attorneys we encountered in the halls of the courthouse. I was also introduced to Judge Twardowski and the Executive Director and staff of the bar association. Terry encouraged my participation in the bar association not only as something good for me, but as part of my obligation to positively contribute to the profession. During this time, John was running a plastics reprocessing business while also maintaining his practice. Because of this I was immediately immersed in all of John’s files. This was a great opportunity to face issues and handle cases requiring an attorney with a lot more experience than I
4 | Berks Barrister
possessed. I worked every night and every Saturday, for the next several years. But hard work alone would not have been sufficient to achieve success. I needed the frequent counsel and experience of my employers to guide me, and they willingly gave of their time and their experience. I could only meet with John in the evenings and weekends, but Terry’s door was always open and he patiently answered my many questions, provided direction, and kept me on the right track. He could not have been a better mentor. Although it is true that part of Terry’s motivation was certainly to service and protect the firm’s clients, I know for certain he also viewed my training as part of his obligation to the profession to mold an attorney worthy of the name. I was told that continuing education was not only expected but encouraged. Long before continuing education was a requirement in Pennsylvania, I was attending frequent seminars throughout the year. I was never denied a request to attend any seminar, even though it meant I was out of the office all day. The practice of law is as much about
Although mostly unspoken, there seems to be recognition of an obligation even in small ways to the future of the law and its practitioners. After several years, the plastics business failed and John returned to the practice full time. It was time for me to move on. Both men helped me find a new position. And a year after I left Murphy and Parish, John volunteered to serve as co-counsel and help me represent a client charged with murder where the pay certainly wasn’t equal to the responsibility. Although Leukemia took John’s life in 1984, Terry remains my trusted friend and mentor to this day. I have been blessed with great mentors from the beginning and I know many of my colleagues have like me, benefited from mentors in the legal profession and the wonderful generosity of spirit which they have shared. Throughout the decades many of my contemporaries have shared their own experiences with many varieties of mentors of their own. In all I have heard and seen, there seems to be a common thread. Mentors in the legal profession all seem to act as if legal practitioners are part of something larger than themselves, and contributions made to help a colleague young or old,
ripple beyond the pool of the individual beneficiary. Although mostly unspoken, there seems to be recognition of an obligation even in small ways to the future of the law and its practitioners.
Safe Ask Panel Our Bar Association has established a “Safe Ask” panel of attorneys in various disciplines who will field questions from younger attorneys on a confidential basis.
When I came to the bar in 1978, there were less than 225 lawyers in Berks County. Today Bar membership approaches 600 and there are even more attorneys in the county who are not members of the Association. With increasing numbers and the economic pressure of increased competition, many firms find it difficult to devote time to mentor younger lawyers. Many more attorneys are embarking on their careers without the benefit of the mentoring I was blessed to receive. These pressures will have a negative impact on the future of our profession, if left unchallenged. Our Bar Association is attempting to address these needs. We have established a “Safe Ask” panel of attorneys in various disciplines who will field questions from younger attorneys on a confidential basis. New attorneys are encouraged to seek out these practitioners for assistance. The members of the Safe Ask panel are listed in the Members O nly section of the Berks Bar website. The Solo and small practice section of the Bar Association has been created for attorneys in small firms or solo practice as a forum to discuss issues and share ideas. The section maintains a list serv where members can email each other for guidance and assistance. In addition to our own efforts, the Pennsylvania Bar Association maintains many other list servs where mentors frequently share their knowledge and ideas and answer questions from their colleagues to aide them in the ever increasing complexity of legal practice. These positive programs help to meet the need created by the dynamics of modern legal practice. But there is no substitute for sharing the unique perspective each of us brings to the profession, and the positive contribution we can make to the future as mentors to each other.
Berks Barrister | 5
Berks County Bar Association Plays Leading Role in County’s Response to the Landmark Gideon Decision Edited and annotated by Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire March 18, 2013 marks the 50th Anniversary of the landmark decision of Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d (1963), in which the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that state courts are required under the Fourteenth Amendment to provide counsel in criminal cases for those defendants who are unable to afford to pay for counsel. The following are excerpts from an article written by Robert E. Fawcett and appearing in the Reading Eagle on April 11, 1965, which details the history of the Berks County response to the decision.
A
legal experiment rounded out a year’s trial run in Berks County last month and met with such success that more than a score of the state’s 67 counties are considering similar programs. Berks County’s Public Defender program differs from others in two essentials:
1. It is almost wholly-supported by $13,120 in tax monies. Quarters with a value of about $1,200 a year are provided by the Berks County Bar Association. 2. It is operated through the association, which is responsible for its administration. It was just a year ago in March that Emmanuel H. Dimitriou, anaggressive young lawyer, accepted the $6,000-a-year appointment from the bar association’s president. Now some 259 cases later, “Manny” is more enthusiastic than ever about his job—despite the effort and hours it adds to his long day in also properly maintaining a busy civil practice. Other than in his official capacity, he is barred from criminal practice.
Gesticulating with his inimitable cigar, Dimitriou emphasizes with a cloud of smoke the point most important to him. “Often,” he says, “It’s the only time anyone has shown any interest in them.” He’s referring to the criminal defendants whom he represents.
6 | Berks Barrister
Of the 259 cases which in sometime devious ways reached him in the year, Dimitriou officially represented 146. Eleven were still pending at the end of the first year, 13 were turned over for various reasons to other lawyers appointed by Dimitriou, 36 were advised to seek private counsel because they were found not indigent, and 53 were found not the type of case for the public defender. Although the operation of the defender office is paid for by county tax monies
granted directly to the association, its headquarters are not a county expense. Dimitriou’s offices are located in the association’s building, a stone’s throw from the 18-story courthouse. From the county allocation, the association pays Dimitriou’s salary and salary of his full-time secretary ($3,120). Earmarked for associate counsel fees is $2,000. Routine expenses account for the balance. At the urging of President Judge Hess, a study of the public defender system
“Gideon” flashed across the legal sky and its waves rippled into the courts throughout the land.
In February of 1961, Clarence Earl Gideon appeared in circuit court in Bay County, Fla., charged with breaking and entering. Gideon said he couldn’t afford a lawyer and asked the court to appoint one for him.
Emmanuel H. Dimitriou was launched by the bar association years ago with Atty. Joseph E. DeSantis, then chairman of the criminal law committee, in charge. Few of the lawyers or the judges were happy with the then prevailing method of representing defendants who could not afford lawyers.
A common practice in Berks and other counties—it’s still in operation in some areas—was to ask a defendant in the
Honorable Albert A. Stallone courtroom if he wanted a lawyer. If he replied he did, the judge would look about, see a young lawyer who just happened to be present, and name him “defense counsel” on the spot. What frequently resulted was a hurried conference, sometimes lasting only a few minutes, right on the scene. The unfairness to both counsel and client is obvious. But even as the special committee of the bar association studied the problem, the “Age of Gideon” made its advent. Like Sputnik to the scientist and educator
The jurist: “Mr. Gideon, I am sorry, but I cannot appoint counsel to represent you in this case. Under the laws of the state of Florida, the only time the court can appoint counsel to represent a defendant is when that person is charged with a capital offense. I am sorry, but I will have to deny your request to appoint counsel to defend you in this case.” The defendant: “The United States Supreme Court says I am entitled to be represented by counsel.”
Albert A. Stallone, then an assistant district attorney who took up the study started by DeSantis, observed in the final report which went to the bar association membership:
“Gideon’s words were prophetically correct. He was convicted of the charges against him and sentenced to five years in prison. His subsequent appeal reached the Supreme Court of the United States. “On March 18, 1963, that court held the 6th Amendment to the Constitution requiring provision of counsel in criminal proceedings also was made obligatory on the states by the 14th Amendment. “The Gideon decision became a new landmark in the law,” Stallone wrote.
Almost four years after he was originally denied a lawyer, Gideon, on Aug. 5, 1963, was retried on the same charges. This time he had a lawyer. A one-day trial and Gideon was found innocent.
Clarence Earl Gideon Gideon Petition – Mr. Gideon’s pro se petition requesting review by the United States Supreme Court
The effects of the Gideon case have been dramatic, far-reaching and, for a profession which to laymen seems to move with sluggard-pace, almost as instantaneous as dehydrated coffee.
Gideon set the stage. More than ever, the courts and the lawyers saw the need for some sort of public defender program. It was a question now of how.
Berks Barrister | 7
receives $100, and for appeals requiring court argument, $50.
The photo that accompanied the Reading Eagle article on April 11, 1965. It depicts Public Defender Dimitriou standing while his secretary and future wife interviews a potential client.
The fact that he is, in a sense, a public official has misled many to think of him as another district attorney or an agent of the police. Dimitriou is finding this logic the hardest to combat. But gradually he is gaining the confidence of those he represents and with it their understanding that he is, after all, a “defense attorney” with all the privileges— and all the obstacles—the term implies.
Berks County’s feelings on this were best expressed by Judge James W. Bertolet when he appeared before the county commissioners at their annual budget review. The program “is a governmental function rather than a charity function,” the jurist said.
The [bar association committee’s] report recommended that the defender be an employee of the bar association, provided for a schedule of payment for associate counsel and ruled that the defender should not serve more than four years. At its semi-annual membership meeting in October 1963, the association voted the commissioners be approached. Russell L. Hiller, federal bankruptcy referee and then the association’s president, assigned the criminal committee this task. Three months later, the commissioners approved the program and the following February, Hiller appointed Dimitriou to the post. “Associate counsels” are appointed by Dimitriou from a bar association list of interested lawyers. A lawyer assigned by him to represent a defendant who enters a plea of guilty receives $50. For representation at a trial, such a lawyer
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William R. Bernhart, Esquire
Although Dist. Atty. W. Richard Eshelman has been quick to recognize the value of the public defender’s office in expediting cases, the district attorney’s office grants no more and no less to Dimitriou than it would to any other private attorney. Nor do the police or other authorities.
The expediting of cases is a major factor in the approval of the system by Berks
jurists. Judge Readinger comments, “I think the defender system has resulted in handling cases more rapidly and keeping the backlog of cases to a minimum to some extent. It’s much better than the old system...In most instances, we did not have sufficient time to investigate if the appointment was suitable to the lawyers at the time.” “Much of the credit” for the success of the operation, Judge Hess states, must go to Dimitriou. “Highly-pleased” with the initial year, Judge Hess is especially laudatory to the bar association and especially the criminal law committees for the work they invested in the program.” One of Manny’s “Associate Counsels” was William R. Bernhart, Esquire, now the Dean of the Berks criminal defense bar. Bill remembers Manny providing him, not too far in advance of the start of trial, “one hundred dollars and a sheath of a morass of unintelligible paper.” As an “Associate,” Bill claims to have unsuccessfully represented one “charged with carnal knowledge of an attractive sow and a Pastor exposing himself at the ACME.” Manny served as Public Defender until March 1, 1968. By 1975, when William F. Ochs, Jr. became Public Defender, he was not appointed by the BCBA president but rather was hired by the County Commissioners with a salary paid by the County. In 1975 the PD offices were still in the Bar Building, but that changed shortly thereafter with a move to the basement of the Berkshire Building. The Criminal Law Committee continued to conduct interviews of applicants for assistant public defender positions, but that practice ended in the early 1980’s. By that time, the office was completely funded and operated by the County.
The current Chief Public Defender, Glenn D. Welsh, has served in that capacity since 1998. He has a staff of twenty-three assistant public defenders and a total budget of $3,075,452. Quite a legacy established by Clarence Earl Gideon, helped along locally by Emmanuel H. Dimitriou, the late President Judge Warren K. Hess and now-retired Judge Albert A. Stallone.
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Reading Attorney’s Poetry Published
R
eading native Wallace Stevens was a lawyer, the son of a lawyer, Garrett B. Stevens, and his brother was Judge John B. Stevens, one of the founding partners of Stevens & Lee. Wallace Stevens practiced law in New York City but spent most of his life as an insurance executive in Hartford, Connecticut. However, he is best known for winning the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1955.
One of our colleagues is following in the footsteps of Wallace Stevens. While practicing law full time at Koch & Koch, William W. Runyeon writes poetry and has had multiple pieces published. Following are three poems published during the last year by the National Review. A Pulitzer is not beyond the realm of possibility.
B
BELL AND C HALI C E Our reach to Heaven rings true to our humanity through symbols tangible
S
- Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire STAR BRI GH T Each soul is the last of its kind, the last of the Mohicans, the singular Tom Jones of the time,
to the mind and to the eye;
the everyman of fable, legend,
the deeper the history,
and history.
the more compelling the concept,
Whatever comes into the world,
ROS ES A N D T HORNS
the stronger its grip.
however changed
The chalice bearing
by the life lived and dreamed,
Our neighbor died as winter ended.
the spirit of God
when that life is no more,
Across the street from the rose bush,
does so in the wine,
whatever yet remains
rich with blooms, is a new for-sale sign,
the blood of the Son;
exists for all time
and grass that needs cutting.
simple as a drink,
within the illumination
His wife died almost ten years ago,
yet bearing a provenance
of having ever lived.
and my father, not long after.
beyond understanding,
To find the individuation
He and Mother, as their health
the full flower of sacrifice
of experience and understanding
would permit, would date, from time to time.
partially accepted,
diminished by the eternity before,
It was always a relief to see her,
partially understood,
and the endless days
once again, with a luster of girlish sparkle.
even as fully revealed,
of each death thereafter,
The order of our going is painful,
not because of some oblivion,
is untrue to life,
as is ever our renewal.
under the full light of heaven,
the gift of ever having lived,
I must remember, the roses,
to which we are tending,
the soul of creation
with their wild pink excess
but because our lives
affirmed and reaffirmed
of springtime glory,
and understanding are finite,
in each separate way of being.
got that way because
as is the chalice, and each drop
We live, and die,
of another lady, last fall,
that we may drink from it,
within our anecdotes and idiosyncrasies.
up to her elbows in thorns,
in our best moments, joyous and grateful,
Each moment is an only one,
who cut the bush back, way back,
and at other times,
as is each identity;
leaving a thorn field of debris,
still within the history of the gift
plot its course, if you like,
removed with delicate care,
and its meaning,
distinct from any wisdom
in preparation for this moment,
ringing true
of community,
and others, of fair appreciation,
to the most distant hearer
singular, not solitary,
when renewal breaks with fresh color,
of the bells of joyful revelation,
celestial, and star bright.
beyond the hurt and fade,
and the dreams of his children,
into a clarity of light and hope,
and generations, by the grace of God,
cultivated, that it still may be rising.
yet to be born.
R
Š 2012 by National Review, Inc. Reprinted by permission.
Book Review Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts By Antonin Scalia and Bryan A. Garner Reviewed by Pamela DeMartino
A
request to submit a book review seemed a modest proposal until the book’s authorship was revealed. Spending time with Justice Scalia’s legal theory was one thing; assessing the merits of his reasoning quite another. Yet, even Zeus himself deserved some amount of scrutiny for his sexual indiscretions. Thus, I humbly offer this overview of Justice Scalia’s most recent publication: Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts, a new treatise for legal eagles aimed at restoring “sound interpretive conventions” for both lawyers and judges. Although co-authored with Bryan A. Garner (Editor of Black’s Law Dictionary), the voice of the writing is clearly that of Scalia. Read only a couple of Justice Scalia’s opinions (especially his dissents) and one will begin to recognize his matterof-fact stance, his assertive tone, and his sharp sense of wit. I find his rhetoric to be mesmerizing, enticing the reader to adopt his position as the gods’ truth.
12 | Berks Barrister
Justice Scalia, however, is but one of the nine Supremes, so one must approach this treatise with a certain level of skepticism. Had the entire bench joined in this endeavor, our law schools would now have a seminal text for their first year law students and practitioners everywhere would be joining hands and singing Kumbaya as all would now know and understand the correct tenets of legal drafting and interpretation. That is not to be the case here.
Reading Law opens with “The Why of this Book” and “The How of this Book.” The “why” of the book is Justice Scalia’s argument against the unwarranted confusion created by the “tendency of judges to imbue authoritative texts with their own policy preferences.” Simply put, judges must abstain from legislating from the bench under the guise of legal interpretation. Throughout the book, in deeply critical terms, the Justice expounds upon the egregious faults of judges who
“do what they want” when they choose to ignore the language of the legal text. In the “how” of the book, the authors posit a solution to this judicial confusion. They claim that “most interpretative questions have a right answer”, and that answer does not lie beyond the language of the text subject to dispute. Justice Scalia identifies this interpretative approach as textualism and defines it in his straightforward manner: “the exclusive reliance on text when interpreting text.” The textualist discerns meaning from the document as written, relying, when needed, on certain well-entrenched canons that offer insight into the meaning of the text. The reason this legal theorem is deemed far superior to others on the market is the authors’ thesis for this treatise: “We believe that this approach elicits both better drafting and better decision-making.” The authors also use the first two sections of the book to fiercely object to two interpretative philosophies
a list of canons that offer instruction when conducting proper legal interpretation. Now for my Christian colleagues, please hold your gasps as I compare this book to the Bible in one fundamental way. Just as the Bible is not intended to be read once through as a narrative from beginning to end, so too Reading Law presents a series of “sermons” that do not need to be read all at once. Indeed, like many dense texts of this sort, the reader will appreciate the import of each canon more by selected readings in discreet sittings. Justice Scalia’s eloquence is easy on the tongue, but the depth of his discussion requires time to ponder and, given apparent contradictions, time to analyze.
distinguishable from textualism. One of these philosophical approaches is purposivism which seeks to determine the text’s intended purpose and then use that knowledge to determine the text’s meaning. This type of analysis causes manipulability and effects unpredictability. As maintained by the Justice, “the purposivist goes around or behind the words of the controlling text to achieve what he believes to be the provision’s purpose.” In this manner, the judge attains for the legislature its intended objective.
Equally destructive is the theory of originalism defined narrowly as an inquiry of the original intention of the drafters. This form of interpretation “devolves into trying to read the minds of enactors or ratifiers.” Again, the authors make clear their renouncement of any meaning that derives from some inferential assessment of a drafter’s cognitive reasoning. In other words, without a crystal ball, judges need to stop their soothsaying under the guise of legal interpretation.
According to the authors, both of these analyses suffer the same fundamental sin: “They seek to arrive at legal meanings through some method other than discerning the contextual meaning of words and sentences and paragraphs.” With unswerving conviction, Justice Scalia advocates for what he calls the “fair reading method” which requires a judicial body to determine “the application of a governing text to given facts on the basis of how a reasonable reader, fully competent in the language would have understood the text at the time it was issued.” This approach to legal interpretation is, according to these authors, the “oldest and most commonsensical interpretative principle.” Thus, parts one and two of the book
clearly define the principles of textualism and attempt to establish its superiority to other theories of legal interpretation. The well-crafted prose of the Justice may lead one, at first read, to easily join his camp, but, upon further reflection, this textualist approach seems somewhat simplistic. First, if it were really that easy to discern the right meaning from the text using only this approach, then other interpretative theories would have been abandoned long ago instead of enjoying an expansion of their legal applications. Secondly, as an educator of the English language, I can attest to the struggle students will forever experience with their native language, a struggle that continues on into the adult world because words do vary in their meaning. People write within the boundaries of their imperfections. We do not always say what we mean – yet Justice Scalia insists that we mean what we say. Part three of the book categorizes
For example, the English teacher in me gravitated towards the “Semantic Canons” which address such topics as the proper usage of punctuation, pronouns, and clauses. In less than fifty pages, the authors succinctly present an entire semester course from college reserved almost exclusively for English majors. Even rules of grammar change over time, and not even Strunk and White’s renowned Elements of Style has cured all of the writing evils of the world. By Justice Scalia’s own admission, “punctuation is tiny,” so is it really necessary that a company lose millions of dollars to a misplaced comma when such construction clearly contradicts the intentions of the parties? On this point the Justice does not bend: the rules of grammar matter and drafters beware. However, he condones the court fixing textual errors resulting from what he calls “scrivener’s error.” His caveat is this: “A little: If an easy correction is not possible, the absurdity stands.” His distinction then is one more of degree, not of kind.
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If we are to faithfully follow the Justice’s directives, then an absurd result should be made to stand just as an unintended one, for it is not for the court to serve as editors of legal texts.
the goings on during the manufacturing of the text. Only the product matters; its packaging should be discarded. Again, here the authors present a convincing argument for the use of judicial blinders, but so too do other highly respected jurists who appreciate the guidance that can be afforded by the expressed intent of the legislature. Indeed, if the rule is all that matters, then why include the first fortysix pages of Reading Law which present
If too constrained by time for no others, please read numbers 66 and 67 of the “13 Falsities Exposed.” Therein, the Justice makes clear the reasons for his abhorrence for consulting legislative history. He soundly rejects any merit for knowing
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nothing but a brief history of the varying interpretative approaches and the purpose and intent of the authors. Undoubtedly, both authors felt compelled to present a firm understanding of their reasoning so that the prescriptions that followed would be correctly embraced by the reader. Is that not one of the fundamental purposes of publishing legislative history in the first place?
To offer some relief from his topic’s seriousness, Justice Scalia does interposes some mirth throughout his discourse. Recognizing the difficulty of legal interpretation, he admonishes his audience that “Nothing is easy.” Another notable example of his humorous side appears in his Preface wherein he acknowledges that occasions may be found where he did not follow the very advice that follows “whether because of the demands of stare decisis or because wisdom has come late.” Neither difficulty of task or lack of wisdom, however, is present in the unique dissent in the recent controversy of National Federation of Independent Business et al. v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al., wherein Chief Justice Roberts led a slim majority in upholding President Obama’s overhaul of health care coverage in this country. Independent of Reading Law, I engaged in a review of the dissent authored by Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas and Alito to see just how faithfully the dissenters followed Justice Scalia’s sage advice. I found, therein, a heavy reliance on his endorsed textualist approach to legal interpretation as the majority is charged with blatantly ignoring the true meaning of “what the statute says”, which meaning the dissenters believe “is entirely clear.” The crux of the argument in the Sebelius dissent rests on the Government’s assessment of a cost – be it a penalty or a tax – for a failure to act or engage in commerce. One of the points of emphasis is on the meaning of commerce and the need for volition or intentional conduct by the individual. The joint dissent hones in on the meaning of “regulate” by referencing its original meaning at the time of the Constitution’s ratification when “to regulate” meant “[t] o adjust by rule, method or established
mode.” Various dictionaries are cited for supportive meanings of these terms (See Appendix A of Reading Law “A Note on the Use of Dictionaries”). Several of the interpretative canons discussed in Reading Law invoked, such as his admonition that “where a statute is silent as to scienter, we traditionally presume a mens rea requirement if the statute imposes a ‘severe penalty.’” (Canon 50). And the dissent reaffirms that it “is one of the canons of interpretation that a statute that penalizes an act makes it unlawful.” (Canon 48). It is, according to this realm of interpretation, completely irrelevant what result is hoped to be achieved, nor is the statute’s laudable purpose a valid consideration in its making. Accusing the majority of manipulating the meaning of the text sub judice, in what is clearly Scalia tone, the Justice angrily concludes that the “Court today decides to save a statute Congress did not write.... The Court regards its strained statutory interpretation as judicial modesty. It is not. It amounts instead to a vast judicial overreaching.” If complete credence is given to the textualist approach, he is spot on here. Reduced to its essence, Reading the Law is a warning to all judiciaries against rectifying the mistakes of lawmakers. If a legal text is poorly written, its drafter must perfect it – not the courts. The interpretive approach is a narrow one, grounded in conservatism, and contrary to the judicial reasoning of some of this country’s most
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famous and long-standing Supreme Court decisions. Proponents of textualism will find this book to be an invaluable aid in appellate advocacy, but the Justice’s logic can be equally instructive to those with a more expansive view of legal interpretation. As set forth in its preface, the book seeks to help the legal system “regain a mooring” it has lost. The authors establish a harbor that is both safe and sound, but as ships are intended to travel, I do not believe theirs will serve as the only port of call.
Editor’s Note: Pam DeMartino practiced law for sixteen years before obtaining her teaching certifications in both Elementary and Secondary Education. Pam is currently the Department Leader for the English Department at Boyertown Area Senior High where she teaches classes for 11th and 12th grade students. She developed her own legal interpretative skills during her two-year appointment to the Staff Attorneys Office for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as her ten-year tenure as a Support Master in Berks County.
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Spotlight on New Members Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire
Gabriela Raful
Joseph M. Blackburn
Charles Rick
Gabriela Raful is an associate with the Philadelphia firm of Galfand Berger, LLP, but spends several days each week in the firm’s Reading office. A native of the Dominican Republic, Gabby is a graduate of the Kutztown University and the Widener University School of Law. Her practice is in the areas of workers’ compensation, personal injury, products liability, employment and labor law and Social Security Disability. Prior to graduating from law school, she had worked as a paralegal and at the United Nations Association of the Dominican Republic. She is married to Lenin Agudo, Director of Community Development for the City of Reading. When not working, Gabby enjoys reading, writing, travel and spending time with her husband and their miniature schnauzer, Mia.
areas of family law, general civil litigation, corporate, municipal law and real estate. His outside interests are fly fishing, watching baseball and generally being in the outdoors.
the Daniel Boone Homestead. Her work experience also includes having been a law clerk at the Supreme Court of the Northern Mariana Islands, which are located about 100 miles north of the Guam. Julie enjoys playing tennis, reading and volunteering.
The Young Lawyers Section’s softball team members are psyched about Joseph M. Blackburn and the skill set he brings to Mogel, Speidel, Bobb & Kershner, namely, that he was an Academic All-Big Ten and Academic All North East Regional baseball player for The Pennsylvania State University and then signed as a free-agent with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008. After spending two years in the Phillies’ minor league system, Joe retired and matriculated at the Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University, graduating in May 2012. Currently, his work is in the
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Julie J. Marburger The new associate at Ebner, Nevins & McAllister is Julie J. Marburger, who is a graduate of Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Her area of practice is criminal defense, family law and DUI. Julie has a master’s degree from the University of Georgia in Historic Preservation, as is her undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston. She had served as a legal intern at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and currently sits on the Pottstown Historic Architecture Review Board and on the board of directors for
Bringing a family law practice to Roland Stock, LLC is its new associate, Charles Rick. His practice also includes personal injury and criminal law. Chad is a graduate of Drexel University with a degree in Management Information Systems/Business Administration. His law degree was earned at Loyola University College of Law in New Orleans, LA. Following law school, he returned to his hometown of Pottstown and joined a small general practice, as well as serving as a Special Assistant Public Defender. Chad lives in Pottstown with his girlfriend of several years, Stephanie, and enjoys spending time with family, country music and has a passion for computer technology. He is a member of the Pottstown Quoit Club and often attends the CMA Festival in Nashville, TN. Benjamin Leisawitz joined Leisawitz Heller in its business group and its estate & trust group. Ben has an undergraduate degree from Muhlenberg College and a Master’s in Business Administration from Alvernia University. Before beginning his legal education
Benjamin Leisawitz at the Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Ben gained seven years of business experience, first for Boscov’s as an assistant buyer in gold and diamonds and then for Industrial Plywood, Inc. as sales and marketing director. The son of Elliot G. Leisawitz, M.D. and the brother of Assistant District Attorney Jesse C. Leisawitz, Ben is married to Michele. They have a nine-month old daughter, Leah. His hobbies are baseball memorabilia and enjoying his family.
James E. Mancuso James E. Mancuso is a new Assistant District Attorney in Berks County. His undergraduate years were spent at Providence College, and his law degree was earned at Gonzaga University. Not the first attorney in the Mancuso family, James is the son of Jack G. Mancuso and a brother of Gilbert M. Mancuso. When not working, James enjoys boxing, fishing and skiing.
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Jason A. Ulrich and Katherine Young were married on September 29, 2012. Jason is with Mogel, Speidel, Bobb & Kershner and is the Young Lawyers’ ace softball pitcher.
Last spring Thomas D. Leidy was among the third-generation attorneys who participated in the Legends from the Bar program. Later that spring, Tom’s daughter, Margaret Ellen (Meg) graduated from law school, subsequently passed the California bar exam and is now employed by a California law firm. To have a fourth generation attorney is very special, although Tom claims it is a “genetic defect.”
In a special ceremony at the Reading Museum Planetarium in December, Alexa S. Antanavage was honored with the Chamber of Commerce’s Rising Star Award. She is with Antanavage, Farbiarz & Antanavage in Hamburg.
On December 24, 2012 the CBS network nationally broadcast a program that included aspects of a Christmas Eve service hosted by Hope Lutheran Church in Reading. Hope’s choir performed and the singers included our very own Michael G. Wolfe of First Energy Corporation. Two of Mike’s daughters also sang, and his wife, Pastor Mary, delivered the sermon.
Assistant Public Defender Roarke Aston exchanged wedding vows with Amanda on October 20, 2012. Roarke also serves as Assistant Editor of the Berks County Law Journal.
Assistant District Attorney Jacquelin M. Hamer gave birth, on January 15, 2013, to daughter Penelope Claire, who joins her brother, Teddy.
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Assistant Public Defender Sarah B. Weaver married Paul Black on September 29, 2012. Thomas W. Beaver’s article “Does the $25 Billion National Mortgage Foreclosure Settlement Help Pennsylvania Homeowners?” was published in the October 2012 issue of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly. Tom is with Rabenold Koestel Scheidt and serves as chair of the BCBA‘s Mortgage Foreclosure Intervention Task Force.
Id., 132 S.Ct. at 2469. Accordingly, the mandatory life sentences were vacated and the cases were remanded for these considerations. Id., 132 S.Ct. at 2475.
Pennsylvania’s Reaction
Life Sentences for Juveniles
After Miller v. Alabama By Alisa R. Hobart, Assistant District Attorney
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n June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States changed the method of the imposition of life sentences for juvenile murderers in Pennsylvania. In Miller v. Alabama, ___ U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012), the High Court decided that the imposition of a mandatory life sentence against a defendant who was a juvenile at the time of the commission of the murder constitutes a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. For states such as Pennsylvania, Alabama and Arkansas that statutorily require the imposition of mandatory life sentences for those convicted of murder, this case represents a significant departure from long-standing legal principles.
Holding in Miller An understanding of the reasoning employed in Miller is helpful. In Miller, the High Court consolidated two cases involving the participation of 14-yearold males in separate underlying murder cases. Kuntrell Jackson of Arkansas stood outside the video store while his codefendants entered the store to commit a robbery, during which a co-defendant shot and killed the store clerk. See Miller, 132 S.Ct. at 2461. In the companion case, after Evan Miller of Alabama and another boy drank and smoked marijuana
with an adult in a neighboring trailer, Miller beat the adult in the head with a baseball bat and the boys set the trailer on fire to cover the evidence of their crimes. Id., 132 S.Ct. at 2462. In reviewing the mandatory sentence imposed upon each of these juveniles after their convictions for their participation in the murders, the often-divided 5-4 High Court found that the mandatory nature of the life sentence against juvenile offenders constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Id., 132 S.Ct. at 2464. In reaching this conclusion, the High Court considered the recent line of cases banning certain punishments against juvenile offenders. Id., 132 S.Ct. at 2463 (citing Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005)(banning the death penalty for juvenile murderers) and Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. ___, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010)(banning inter alia the imposition of a life sentence for juvenile non-homicide offenders)). Continuing in its consideration of the lack of judgment and underdeveloped character in juveniles, the High Court found that the inability of the sentencing court to consider mitigating factors at the time of sentencing created the illegality. Id., 132 S.Ct. at 24672468. Thus while sentencing courts may retain the ability to impose life sentences upon juvenile murderers, the youth of the offender and the accompanying mitigating characteristics must be able to be considered at the time of sentencing.
The question then becomes the application of Miller to Pennsylvania law. Prior to Miller, 18 Pa. C.S.A. § 1102 provided for mandatory life sentences for first and second degree murder, regardless of the age of the assailant. See also 61 Pa. C.S.A. § 6137 (defendants service life sentences may not be released on parole). However, Miller made the mandatory nature of these sentences illegal as they related to juvenile offenders. As a result, S.B. 850 was enacted on October 25, 2012, with immediate effect, to provide for alternative sentences for juveniles convicted of these crimes. Pursuant to 18 Pa. C.S.A. §1102.1, a juvenile convicted of first degree murder will be sentenced to a minimum of 25 or 35 years to life, and a juvenile convicted of second degree murder will be sentenced to a minimum of 20 or 30 years to life, depending on whether the defendant was over 15 or under 15 at the time of the murder. Consistent with Miller, the trial court retains the ability to impose a life sentence, and specific findings must be placed on the record regarding the requirements of the Sentencing Code and the youthful characteristics of the offender. 18 Pa. C.S.A. §1102.1(d). These statutes now provide guidance to our courts in sentencing juvenile offenders consistent with the requirements in Miller, while retaining the ability to impose a life sentence upon juvenile murders when appropriate. Thus, Pennsylvania law has been modified to comply with the decision of the High Court.
Will Miller Apply to Nine Inmates from Berks County? The remaining issue surrounds the applicability of Miller to those juvenile offenders who are already serving mandatory life sentences – the retroactivity question. In Commonwealth v. Knox, 50 A.3d 749 (Pa. Super. 2012)( July 16, 2012), the Superior Court vacated a mandatory life sentence imposed against a juvenile convicted of second degree murder in light of the Miller decision.1 However, because the case was pending on direct
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Law Foundation of Berks County 2012 Annual Giving Campaign The Law Foundation of Berks County’s 2012 Annual Giving Campaign is now completed. As of January 23, those listed below have graciously given to the Foundation. The Board of Trustees thanks all who have provided contributions to the Law Foundation.
Bridge Builder ( $1,000 or more) Sidney K. Kline, Jr. Jim and Lori Lillis (in memory of the Honorable W. Richard Eshelman) Paula M. Szortyka
Foundation President Terry D. Weiler with scholarship awardees, Jessica Beisswanger (L) and Rhiannon Trate (R), at Alvernia University.
Juris ($500 to $999) John and Cathy Badal Brumbach, Mancuso & Fegley P.C. Leisawitz Heller Edwin H. Kershner Heidi B. Masano (in memory of the Honorable Thomas M. Golden) Leon A. Miller (in memory of the Honorable James W. Bertolet) Richard A. Bausher Mr. & Mrs. Donald F. Smith, Jr. (in honor of Professor Robert E. Rains)
President ($250 to $499) G. Thompson Bell, III Kathleen and the Honorable John A. Boccabella John C. Bradley, Jr. Bravo For Rose Catering Karen H. Cook Frederick K. Hatt (in memory of Jan. L. Deelman, Esquire) Edward E. Houseman
Brett and Joanne Huckabee Ellen and Daniel B. Huyett David M. Kozloff Frederick R. Mogel (in memory of my father, Carl F. Mogel, Esquire) Howard and JoAnn Lightman (in memory of Judge Arthur Ed Saylor) Jim & Kathy Snyder John Speicher Honorable Jeffrey K. Sprecher Honorable Albert A. Stallone (in memory of Martin W. Binder) Terry D. Weiler
Partner ($100 to $249) Frances Aitken Antanavage, Farbiarz & Antanavage, PLLC Daniel E. P. Bausher Daniel P. Becker and Dr. Stephanie R. Becker Mark S. Caltagirone, CPA Mauro & Angel Cammarano Paul D. Cohn Margaret Kaiser Collins and Edward M. Collins, III Connors Investor Services, Inc. Pamela A. DeMartino Patrick Donan Merle & Wendy Dunkelberger (in memory of the Honorable Thomas M. Golden)
Daryl F. Moyer East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc. James H. Murray Ned Ehrlich Daniel & Jennifer Nevins David R. Eshelman Paul R. Ober Susan E.B. Frankowski Scott C. Painter James A. Gilmartin Jesse L. Pleet Joanne Judge James Polyak Jill Gehman Koestel Jill M. Scheidt Bonnie Hartman Sodomsky & Nigrini Honorable Scott D. Keller Betsy Hawman Sprow Chris G. Kraras Kate and Bill Thornton Honorable Linda K. M. Ludgate Honorable Mary AnnUllman Jon S. Malsnee Valerie West Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Martell Michael G. Wolfe Miller Law Group, PLLC John J. Miravich
Associate Jana R. Barnett Dick and Donna Brooks Tyler Benjamin Christ Laura E. Cooper Emkey Law Firm Lynn Feldman Patricia H. Frankel (in memory of Samuel R. Frankel) Michael J. Gombar, Jr. Alisa & Charles Hobart
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Darlington Hoopes Jarzyna Law Office Judith L. Kline Jack A. Linton Joan E. London Masano Architects Group, Inc. Ken and Sandy Matz Mendelsohn & Mendelsohn, P.C. D. Scott Miller J. Randall Miller
Robert L. Moore Ken Myers Mike & Mary Jean Noon Michael J. Restrepo Rush Law Group, LLC Betty Jane Schafer Sharon M. Scullin Michael C. Wieder Gary & Mary Wolfe Honorable George C. Yatron
appeal at the time Miller was decided, and because the issue was preserved in that appeal, the rules regarding retroactivity demanded the application of the new rule to that case. See Commonwealth v. Moss, 871 A.2d 853, 858 (Pa. Super. 2005); Commonwealth v. Whitaker, 878 A.2d 915 fn. 3 (Pa. Super. 2005)(all new rules of law apply to criminal cases pending on direct review at the time the new rule is pronounced, as long as the issue is properly preserved for appellate review). Thus the question remains regarding the applicability of Miller to those juvenile murderers whose direct appeals have already been completed. Fortunately the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is endeavoring to resolve this issue. In Commonwealth v. Ian Cunningham, 38 EAP 2012, the Court granted allocatur on August 6, 2012 to determine the applicability of the decision in Miller on those juvenile inmates who have already exhausted their direct appeal rights and are proceeding under the Post Conviction Relief Act. An expedited briefing schedule was ordered, and oral
The decision on this issue is undoubtedly anticipated by the hundreds of inmates across the states who were originally incarcerated as juvenile murderers, nine of whom are from Berks County.
argument on the issues was heard in this case on September 12, 2012, along with Commonwealth v. Batts, 79 MAP 2009 - a companion case with similar issues. The decision on this issue is undoubtedly anticipated by the hundreds of inmates across the states who were originally incarcerated as juvenile murderers, nine of whom are from Berks County. Notably, because all nine of these Berks County inmates have raised issues regarding the applicability of the Miller decision to their case in appellate proceedings, the resolution of these appeals will likely turn on the outcome of Cunningham. Hopefully, the decision in Cunningham will resolve this issue.
In Memorium... a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Force during WWII, flying with the 406th Night Leaflet Squadron Pard Crew in secret “Carpetbagger” missions. Mr. Woerle practiced law for over 50 years. Mr. Woerle’s law career included both private practice and terms as Assistant District Attorney for D.A. W. Richard Eshelman (1966-67) and D.A. George Yatron (1981-85). Mr. Woerle was a longtime resident and active community and civic volunteer in Mt. Penn. He served as the president of the Mt. Penn Republican League and Civic Association. Mr. Woerle also served as solicitor and Alvin A. Woerle, 89, passed away councilman for Mt. Penn Borough, president on October 16, 2012. Mr. Woerle for the Berks County Junior Bar Association graduated from Mt. Penn High School and as a director for the Berks County in 1941. Mr. Woerle subsequently Council of Girl Scouts. Mr. Woerle is graduated from Dickinson College, survived by his wife, Darlene Woerle, his where he was a member of the men’s five daughters, Alison W. Lutz, Cynthia C. basketball team and Phi Kappa Sigma, Marks, Leslie L. Resetar, Nancy M. Miller and finally from Dickinson School and Kim L. Woerle and his son, Attorney of Law. Mr. Woerle also served as Daral A. Woerle.
Alvin A. Woerle
Fortunately, even if the Court finds Miller to be retroactive, our legislature has provided us with guidelines for resentencing these offenders. This possible resolution gives hope for freedom to those juvenile murderers.
However, a resentencing hearing would force the families of the deceased victims to once again deal with horrific events which they have long put to rest. Considering stakes as high as these, many await the decision in Cunningham with baited breath.
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formerly with Polo Ralph Lauren/10 Years in Short Hills Berks Barrister | 21
Pasta and Date Night Menu Make Going Downtown at Night a Safe Bet! By Susan N. Denaro, Esquire
just well-balanced. Our dining companions opted for slightly lighter fare with one having the spicy crab and clam chowder and another having the white pizza.
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ne of the best reasons to go into downtown Reading at night is for the house-made pasta at Panevino located at 25 North 2nd Street. On a recent wintry night, we discovered this place, which is known for rustic Italian cuisine, offers a special Date Night Menu featuring three appetizers, four entrees and three desserts from which a couple can each choose an item from each category. In addition to a fine meal, the couple receives two tickets for an Imax movie for $50 total. I enjoyed the caprese salad which included fresh mozzarella, plum tomatoes, roasted red peppers and a basil pesto dressing. It was a traditional looking dish that hit a good note to start. My spouse tucked into the wild mushroom risotto that was dotted with sweet sausage. It was a creamy, hearty, comforting dish. Since it was cooked to perfection, the flavors complimented each other and didn’t get muddled on the plate. Others dining with us opted for the traditional menu and shared a plate of the spicy calamari which was floured then fried and served piping hot crunchy with a shallot salsa. The crisp and crunchy dish had just the right hint of spice to sing on the palate. It was a great presentation for what can sometimes be an over-rated (and often chewy) offering at some restaurants.
Our entrée selections were the sautéed veal medallions with Marsala sauce and wild mushrooms and the tortellini with sautéed spinach, grape tomatoes and roasted eggplant. Both were simple presentations of classic dishes that were perfect for a cold winter’s night. The serving of tortellini was so large that the doggie bag I carried home had enough in it for another full meal the next day which was even better left over as the flavors mellowed and blended well together. The dish featured enough vegetables to get some with each bite of pasta and the presentation on a whole was
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Other entrée selections from the date night menu were grilled pork tenderloin with granny smith apples and a grilled rainbow trout with pancetta, roasted tomatoes and spinach. In the past we, along with our guests, have been served over-cooked fish entrees. As a result, we steer clear of the fish entrees at Panevino as a rule. For those who can eat shellfish, the exception to this rule should be the seafood risotto. It is adorned with gorgeous lobster, crab, shrimp and scallops in champagne with a little tomato and basil to round it out. It is a heavy dish that has a beautiful sweetness
from the fresh shellfish that transcends it into a top-notch risotto.
Our desserts from the date night menu were a vanilla bean crème brulee and vanilla gelati topped with bananas foster. The other offering was a New York style cheesecake. Both desserts were tasty but we were just too full from the rest of the meal to actually want anything more by the time they arrived. We also found we were too full to want to sit in a movie theater after such a big meal but the great thing about the date night special is that the movie tickets can be used anytime. Perhaps when we go, we will hit Panevino afterward for a drink or a small bite to eat. The restaurant features a nice bar area where the martinis are a generous size and served icy cold. We have eaten at Panevino’s several times since it opened and have usually found
dishes featuring things other than pasta to be disappointing. Until I tried the tortellini, the potato and ricotta gnocchi and the prime rib papparadelle dishes were my staples when no specials tempted me.
Despite a couple of entrees that have failed to impress, I maintain that Reading is lucky to have the genius of Chef David Brennan. When it comes to making homemade pasta, I think he could rival Mario Batalli and Lidia Bastianich, two of New York’s better known Italian Chefs.
Chef Brennan is blessed to have a great wait staff. He has stolen the best front of house talent from Judy’s on Cherry and from the old Green Hills Inn and they make the atmosphere welcoming and keep the service flowing as smoothly as the wine. His wine list has some great selections at every price point. Although we love his wine list and his pasta, the main reason we keep going back is that we want to see restaurants like Chef Brennan’s succeed in Downtown Reading. Editor’s Note: Susan N. Denaro, Esquire, is a partner at Rabenold Koestel Scheidt and a gourmet cook.
fine with me because with work and school I didn't have time for precinct level politics. Robert F. Kennedy acknowledges the ovation of the Democratic National Convention on August 27, 1964. The applause and cheers went on for twenty-two minutes.
Rubbing Elbows with the Kennedys By Francis M. Mulligan, Esquire
W
ith my Mafia/Cuban conflict novel awaiting a surge of inspiration to finish it, and the dreary news on T.V. about a cliff not even Hilary [the climber] could scale, a happier time in America’s history flooded my consciousness. I rarely spoke about my night, so long ago, on the Convention floor in Atlantic City.
In August 1964 sitting with the Michigan delegation in Atlantic City’s Convention Hall floor on the final night of the Democratic Convention, I saw on the widest screen imaginable the film 1000 Days – JFK'S thousand days. Then, I cheered through Bobby Kennedy's inspirational “My brother” speech. Not to be outdone, Hubert Humphrey gave his “My good friend, Senator Goldwater” speech. Finally, LBJ gave a boring acceptance speech. I had been at a Kennedy reception hours before the speech. The man I saw at the reception, so thin and shy, looked anything but a public speaker. His difficulty in saying “My brother” so many times brought the house down. He felt our pain, and as cynical as I have grown to be, I will say that we felt his pain.
I've been many places including Tibet but I've yet to visit Michigan. How did it happen? It began on Monday late in the afternoon. Mary, the Deputy Director's secretary, asked me if I wanted to escort her and Jan, another Deputy Director's secretary,
to the Democratic Convention. The third Deputy’s secretary was a middle aged woman not interested in politics. You figured it out. We worked for the government- the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority. Mary told me, “I have tickets for the three of us. Jan will drive down. You have to find a place to stay.” I had a summer long invite from my sister's boyfriend, Tom to stay in his B.O.G. [bunch of guys] rental.
Mary wanted to make certain I didn't pack the wrong clothes. “Suit and tie the whole weekend, Francis.” I confronted her: “Sure you have the tickets?” She assured me. “We'll be in Convention Hall on Friday night. I'm picking up the tickets later this week.”
I wanted to get to the next level of government which meant Washington. Graduate school for public administration three nights a week at Temple University wet my appetite. I wanted something more challenging than my glorified clerk's job with the Redevelopment Authority. If things went right, I'd get to the next level. Throughout the balance of the work week Mary updated me on the Convention. She didn't brag about her connections. That wasn't Mary. We were required not to be actively involved in politics by the federal law that funded most of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority’s budget. That was
I left my suitcase with Tom with the understanding I’d be at the address he gave me in the early hours of Saturday morning. There are reasons I’m boring you with these details. Mary, Jan and I left Friday; right before Jersey shore rush hour traffic, at 3 P. M. On the way down to Atlantic City we didn't stop at the Mickey Mouse, the halfway house for the Jersey shore. The girls wanted to be dressed for the Convention. So much of this is a blur. A few events that weekend overshadowed everything. I can't remember where they stayed or how long it took them to dress. I remember the disaster that awaited us.
Convention Hall is on the boardwalk. From Mary and Jan’s hotel we walked the boards, always the coolest place in town, on a hot August night. When we arrived at Convention Hall, Mary handed Jan and me our tickets with seats way up in the rafters. We would be part of the multitude given tickets to fill the place up with enthusiastic supporters. The cameras would scan the bleacher crowd periodically as I had witnessed at previous conventions I watched on T.V. We were stopped at the door. The ticket taker told us: “These tickets are forgeries.”
Mary got in his face and told him that the tickets came from the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee office. She then left us to look for a familiar face in Democratic politics. I saw Senator Joe Clark’s wordsmith, Dick Doran. He told us what he could.
“It's a fight between rival factions over who's going to be seated in the visitors seating. They each printed their own tickets and your tickets lost out. The tickets look alike but the guys manning the doors know the difference between the tickets.”
Doran told us the names of Philadelphia Democratic Party officials with good tickets. He even told us where to find them. “They're at a party in the Haddon HallChalfont.”
We began our long march down the boardwalk for the hotel close to Steele Pier. Philadelphia had more than its share of ticket scams but rivals fighting over bleacher seats in Atlantic City ignited Mary. She was pissed and someone would pay for it. Ahead of us on the boardwalk a crowd gathered. We approached the mass. My political hero, the subject of the Egghead and I wove his way through the crowd of well dressed boardwalk travelers. Too late for
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looked more like the actor, David Brian. I introduced myself to him and told him I liked what he said to a TV reporter the night before. I wasn’t lying. I saw David McDonald, the Steelworkers’ President; make a comment favorable to LBJ to a TV reporter. He told me, “Mr. Mulligan, I got a call from the White House for that comment.” I told him he well deserved it. McDonald didn't ask how I came to be there. Dressed in a summer suit and tie he assumed I belonged there. I was 26 and looked 35.
Francis M. Mulligan, Esquire me to shake Adlai Stevenson's hand and tell him how much I admired him. Ambassador Stevenson and his entourage, freed of the crowd, picked up the pace.
I wasn't the only one disappointed. Like me, a well dressed woman in a wheel chair didn't get there in time. I could see the sadness carved into her face. I couldn't help myself. Instinct or grace took over. I caught up to the Ambassador and said in my most dignified voice, “Ambassador Stevenson, there's a lady who'd like to meet you.” His annoyed aides turned a millisecond slower than the two time candidate for president. He put a radiant smile on his tired face, took two steps back toward the woman being pushed in the wheel chair, and extended his hand. I can still hear his words: “So nice on the boardwalk. So stuffy inside the Convention. A pleasure to meet you.”
The speechless woman in the wheel chair glowed. Ambassador / Governor Stevenson looked over at me and nodded and I returned his nod. My favorite Democrat wasn’t an asshole. The girls and I didn't say much on the way to the Haddon Hall -Chalfont. Lighthearted Mary had been betrayed by some functionary at Democratic City Committee who didn’t know about her connections when she cared to use them. A year later before I resigned from the Redevelopment Authority I saw a far more outraged Mary use those connections.
While walking the boards I didn't comprehend the depth of Mary’s feelings over my disappointment. One way or the other, Mary determined that Francis would be inside Convention Hall on the last night of the Convention. How many drinks I had on Friday night/ Saturday morning I can’t remember. It began in the cocktail lounge at Haddon HallChalfont. I met a president in the hotel bar as good looking as JFK but this President
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Mary who didn't see anyone she knew at Haddon Hall- Chalfont made a decision. “Let's go to the Longport Inn-Senator McGlinchey's place.”
Mary was looking for connections. Jan, ever the good companion, drove to Longport. I wasn't expecting much. We sat at a table and ordered drinks. I didn't pay for the second round. Drinks appeared on our table while we were halfway through the first round. Mary looked behind her but didn't recognize anyone. She called the waiter over. He pointed to the table seating our benefactors. A handsome man in his early thirties approached our table. He introduced himself as a Deputy Attorney General of Michigan. He asked Mary and Jan to meet his friends. She begged off. “We can't go without Francis. He’s our escort.” So old world and so effective. Of course, Francis was invited. We were introduced before we sat down. Candidate for state senate, Stanley Kowalski, looked less than enthusiastic. The two other at the table were the mayor of Hamtramck and a city councilman. Kowalski, a big man in every way possible to describe – height, head, hands, and torso- said little. The Deputy A.G. did most of the talking. He wasn't a bullshitter. He explained the composition of the Michigan delegation. “U.A.W., A.C.L.U, intellectuals and the men in the trenches - the elected officials.”
I didn't say it because I didn't want to disappoint my new friend. Philadelphia was an ethnic scramble. It was really about spreading the wealth among the Irish, Jews, Italians, Slavs and affiliates, Blacks, and the new kids on the block, the Puerto Ricans. That's why we settled on Wasps like Joe Clark and Richardson Dilworth for the top jobs. It cut down on the nasty infighting among the ethnic leaders. My new friend, I can’t remember his name, the Deputy A.G., extended an invitation to meet the Kennedys tomorrow at the Deauville in Atlantic City. “You can meet the Michigan delegates at our motel. We’ll walk to the Deauville.” He said it in such a matter of fact manner that I actually believed him. Enough politics
for the night. The Michigan delegation wanted to see where the young people hang out. We drove to Somers Point and visited Bay Shores and Tony Marts. They held their liquor better than I. Before we broke-up for the night, the Deputy A.G., told me he’d see me at noon tomorrow. I was a good night sleep away from meeting Bobby Kennedy.
I had Tom’s address, my sister’s boyfriend, written down on a small piece of paper. It was close to 3 A.M. when Jan drove me there. We made sure we turned at the right corner. The street sign had the name in easy to read large, capital letters. Halfway down the block, I was impressed with the neat bungalow Tom and his friends rented. I looked at the address plate on the door a second time. The door would be open and there would be an empty cot close to the door. Tom, the accounting student, couldn’t be wrong. It was as he said. The sheets even smelled fresh like they dried on a clothes line. I took off my shoes, suit, shirt and tie. I didn't want to bother Tom for my suitcase. I'd get it in the morning. Didn’t have to use the bathroom which I assumed was down the hall. It was an enclosed porch turned into a guest bedroom-so quaint. I got under the covers and fell asleep in record time like I had taken a fast acting sleeping pill. I slept peacefully until I heard a woman's voice- a middle aged woman’s voice. “I didn’t think you would make it down last night. You came so late.” I didn't move. I could only assume what she thought. Footsteps or a door closing told me she went back from whence she came. I was too exhausted to run. Something went wrong. I lay on the cot thinking and woke up in daylight when I heard her voice again- a more strident voice. “Last night I thought you were my husband. I called the police.” I recited the address. “It's a double house lot. The college kids are in the back.”
She left the room. I dressed quickly and went out the front door precisely when I heard the first police car siren. There's something I haven't mentioned. I was arrested and spent a night in the Margate City jail in July for sleeping in a friend's car. This time I wasn't going to argue with the police about whether I was praying or sleeping. If they were going to take me in again, I'd make it worth their while. My City Planning background, I finally put to good use. I ran down the first alley I saw then I continued going down narrow intersecting alleys until I no longer heard multiple police sirens. I remember going down to the beach and somehow to the motel in Atlantic City before noon. My friend was waiting for me. I told him the girls didn’t want to see the Kennedys. Last night they told me to go without them.
I walked to the Deauville surrounded by familiar faces – senate candidate Stanley, who advertised himself as the Polish Warrior, the mayor and councilman from Hamtramck and the Deputy A.G. It wasn't a food event. Someone said a few words and the receiving lines formed. The closer I got to Bobby Kennedy the more I thought that he sent his double. It was an effort for him to meet and greet. His suit hung on him like a drape. He missed too many meals. His hands were small. As the line moved and the ones in front of me were fewer and fewer I could hear the sing-song voice of the Attorney General of the United States of America. “How are you? Nice to see you again.” I forgot the third greeting that came with the handshake. When my turn came, Bobby Kennedy said, “Nice to see you again.” He looked so uncomfortable pressing the flesh. I felt for him. I couldn't let go of my love of celebrity. I went into the Avril Harriman line. Tall and imposing, he didn't say “Nice to see you again.” The wartime Ambassador to Russia and Governor of New York was an aristocrat. He knew a peasant when he saw one. He said nothing. His portrait like facial expression never changed.
I stayed at the motel with the Deputy and Stanley. Someone gave me a bathing suit. Kowalski, a liquor importer, handed me a small glass of Goldvasser. I made a Goldwater joke which he didn’t think was funny. We agreed on the late JFK for different reasons. I’ll never forget Stanley’s comment. “The broads went ga-ga over him.” The Deputy A.G. explained the feelings of the Michigan party insiders regarding the Kennedys. They didn’t like Bobby Kennedy because he took on Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters. He wasn’t a hero to the professional politicians. They wanted Bobby Kennedy as far away from Washington as possible. I was so naïve. The Democrats were as divided as the Republicans.
Sitting around the pool, the Deputy introduced me to his boss, Frank Kelly. If asked to describe him today, I couldn't. Trim, serious, and well-spoken comes to mind. His wife and children were with him. His brain impressed me. I formed part of the group crowded around his beach chair, listening to Kelly expound on whatever his listeners threw at him. He asked whether Jackie Kennedy at the Deauville dressed in a white or black outfit. He made no nasty comment but wanted me to know that she wasn’t just a pretty widow tanning herself on the beach. He didn’t elaborate further, but he started me thinking about her show horse qualities and her use in Bobby’s Senate campaign in New York.
I don’t remember who asked Kelly about Barry Goldwater's chances. Frank Kelly asked
me what I thought. I felt it would be a close election because Goldwater spoke to the plain man and Johnson reminded me of Ike. Not much of a public speaker. I told Kelly it would be close but Johnson would win. Goldwater’s negative was Nelson Rockefeller’s Convention speech which didn’t help Republican Party unity. I should have been more cautious. Kelly had sheets of paper in his hand. He had been working on the outcome. He came right out and said it: “Goldwater’s getting 4 states.”
A few hours later, I was given a Michigan delegate badge and warned not to mix it up with the Michigan delegates if I wanted to stay the whole night. I was told by the Deputy A.G., “Some of the women are real bitches.” I walked onto the Convention Hall floor alone. No one questioned my credentials. On the floor I decided to make myself scarce until the show started. I overheard Pennsylvania’s best known and most literate, Supreme Court Justice, Michael Musmanno, a thespian of the first order; act as if he didn’t mind being pushed aside for the U.S. Senate nomination by a hard faced woman from Pittsburgh. When the show started I took a seat on the end of an aisle with the Michigan delegation. No one spoke to me. I listened and watched. I didn’t see the Deputy A.G., Stanley Kowalski, Frank Kelly or the two politicians from Hamtramck.
the offensive and defensive line for the Eagles championship teams under Greasy Neal in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s.
It’s refreshing to see young men at the peak of their fame strutting their stuff for a few hours and, without pointing fingers in public, living with the final score. It’s mind numbing and disgusting watching the elect and their surrogate armies parading their nonsense about fixing America’s economic problems, disarming terrorists and straightening out the undocumented millions with strategies, cooked up by their financial backers, to be played out over the next four years. In this political season, there’s no Steve Van Buren butting heads with the elect, before he brought that first championship home by banging through snow and ice into the end zone. If the dead communicated with the living and, Frank Kelly had the final word, he’d tell America to brace itself for the dreary winter ahead.
Editor’s note: Mr. Mulligan is a past president of the Berks County Bar Association and is a solo practitioner. His novel, Pepe Ramos’s Twice Told Tales is forthcoming.
Frank Kelly wasn’t infallible. Goldwater won 5 states. Kelly missed it by one. If he were still alive I’d ask him how the post election crises would turn out. This time I’d listen politely.
I’m back to watching football until we go over the cliff, land on shaky ground, and begin the next round of name calling. It’s comic relief with the Eagles- a team that dominated pro football in my childhood. I still remember Philadelphia’s glory days when Mary’s brother, six time All –Pro, Frank Bucko Kilroy, in addition to all his other accomplishments [N.E. Patriots G.M.], played on
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Berks Barrister | 25
that this sense of competition morphed into a new direction—athletic contests between two future jurists, Keller and Yatron. It began with golf, then bowling and finally tennis. “Each sport was a new battle,” explains Judge Keller. The competition was the best of three, and, “I would win the first match only to have Paul win the final two. It was the most horrible experience of my life but hilarious.” Laughing at the memory, Steve recalls the “tennis showdown” as attracting more than 30 spectators to watch what he describes as “the most pathetic display of athleticism” on both sides of the net. Judge Keller remembers having “Paul on the ropes for the first time in a final match” but not being able to finish him off. “I am sorry that this long suppressed memory has been revived,” he exclaimed while laughing.
The New PJ...More at Home in the Courtroom than the Tennis Court. By Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire
“At times I have a strong urge to leap over the bench and close for one side or the other!” So deep does the passion for trial work run in the veins of our new President Judge, Paul M. Yatron.
But the black robe keeps the passion in check and him on the bench. While practicing as a trial attorney, Yatron did not like a judge “who could not keep his hands off trying the case.”
Once, while representing a defendant at a criminal trial, Yatron and the assistant district attorney were at sidebar with the late Judge W. Richard Eshelman, and the young prosecutor, “who was clearly in over his head,” asked for help from the bench. Attorney Yatron objected: “Your Honor, this is a court of common pleas trial and not a school for assistant district attorneys.” The objection was overruled. “I have made a vow, as judge, not to do those things and have remained true to that pledge.”
When Paul M. Yatron ascended to the bench in January 2006, he brought with him a wealth of courtroom experience. A graduate of Governor Mifflin High School and Dickinson College, Yatron received his legal education at Creighton University School of Law. “It was a good school that provided good preparation for the practice of law; the profs were really lawyers.”
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Returning to Berks County after graduation, the young attorney was admitted to the bar in October 1976 and set up a solo practice in the Baer Building. “Five or six months later the practice was better than breaking even, making a couple bucks.” He attended the retirement dinner for Judge James W. Bertolet and then found himself, post-dinner, with 30 other lawyers at the Golden Lion Pub. The future judge became engaged in a “philosophical discussion” with Anthony Rearden which was overheard by then-District Attorney Michael Morrissey. The DA approached and asked if Yatron actually believed what he had been spouting. Once affirmed, the DA offered him a job, starting the next day. For the next seventeen months, Yatron tried over 50 jury trials as a part-time assistant district attorney. “It was a small office, but we could really try cases. It was not uncommon to have three trials in one week.” The office featured such other future luminaries as Scott D. Keller, A. Joseph Antanavage, Stephen G. Welz and Gordon Zubrod (now a United States prosecutor). Steve recalls the staff going months without losing a case and a “healthy competition” developed among them, with each not wanting to be the one to break the winning streak. With a chuckle, Steve further remembers
Leaving the fun of the DA’s office behind, Yatron continued in private practice with his colleague, Steve Welz, making up the firm of Welz & Yatron, which later merged with Fry & Golden, a predecessor to today’s Masano Bradley.
Within a couple years Yatron was “looking for a change of scenery,” and he joined the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General LeRoy S. Zimmerman in 1982 to work in criminal tax prosecution. He was quickly named chief for criminal prosecution for taxation. Other promotions were soon to follow—head of the Medicaid Fraud Control Section supervising 50 employees; chief of Prosecution Section; Deputy Attorney General of Criminal Division; Executive Deputy Attorney General of the entire Criminal Division; and finally First Deputy Attorney General, in charge of the day-to-day operations of the entire office.
“Once the trial begins, you are on your own—your preparation and your wits.” While running the Medicaid section, Yatron returned to Berks to prosecute, by special assignment, the three defendants charged in the 1982 murder of Richard Good, depicted in extensive media coverage as a “Gang Land Slaying.” Convictions were secured for each. When Attorney General Zimmerman’s second term came to an end, Yatron looked to take some time off, but newly elected Auditor General Barbara Hafer offered him the position of Chief Counsel, and he accepted. After more than seven years in the position, “I was not getting into court at all, and I longed to get back.”
Any advice for the newer attorney wanting to do trial work? “Show up on time! Know the rules and follow them; I am shocked at how many lawyers are unfamiliar with the rules of procedure. Be prepared and conduct yourself as a professional.”
are doing a good job.” He looks forward to continuing and building upon the “good relationship we have in Berks between bench and bar.”
The new PJ convenes court earlier than most judges and is in chambers much earlier than that. He also serves on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Criminal Rules Committee, “a very rewarding experience.” Nevertheless, there is time for other pursuits. He enjoys shooting and hunting, and he is a voracious reader, devouring 50 to 100 books in a year. “I have stayed away from legal thrillers but enjoy espionage, mysteries and biographies.” He has a particular interest in American military history, which includes having watched the Patton movie at least twenty times.
He no longer builds a case with a prosecutor’s zeal or destroys the credibility of a star witness with detailed crossexamination or leaves the jury spellbound with an invigorating closing. Nevertheless, while he sticks to his vow not to be an active combatant, there is little doubt who is General of the “fight” in Courtroom 4E.
He is troubled at times by a lack of collegiality in his courtroom. “Counsel showing an attitude of belligerency only makes things difficult, even ugly. Shouting matches are not an effective technique here.” The fight should be as professionals.
At the time, Mogel, Speidel, Bobb & Kershner was looking for an experienced trial attorney, and, so in 1996, he joined the firm as a partner, handling civil and criminal matters.
Why so passionate about trial work? “It is the combative nature; I enjoy the fight. Once the trial begins, you are on your own—your preparation and your wits. There is nothing as invigorating as a closing argument!”
Looking ahead, the President Judge envisions no major administrative changes to the Berks County Court of Common Pleas. “Things are going well. The division heads
Our interview was ending when Judge Yatron happened to mention that, for now, he was not moving his chambers since he likes being close to his courtroom—the legal battlefield which, one suggests, attracts him like a magnet. Increased administrative duties are not likely to diminish that magnetic pull.
To follow the example of trial lawyer Paul M. Yatron will stand today’s advocate in good stead. For the trial or hearing should be a professional fight, based upon thorough preparation, adherence to the rules of procedure and trusting your wits. As General George S. Patton once said: “Better to fight for something, than live for nothing.”
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Berks Barrister | 27
L.A. Being“
”
As Phillies broadcaster Larry Andersen’s pants ascended to the podium as the featured speaker at the Holiday Benefit Luncheon sponsored by the Law Foundation of Berks County and the PICPA Reading Chapter, the two foot long strip of toilet paper dangling from the back of his pants should have sent a message to the in attendance that for the next hour or so the man known throughout his career as “L.A.” indeed intended to let it all hang out. By Brian C. Engelhardt
A
ndersen shared a number of his experiences as a player, coach and broadcaster which should have imparted to those attending, not only his passion for the game and appreciation of Phillies fans, but also his apparent innate ability to “know where the party is,” and that he takes to heart the quote attributed to him that, “You are only young once, but can be immature forever.”
For those unfamiliar with L.A. (who are for some mysterious reason still reading this article), over the course of a twenty-five year career, Larry Eugene Anderson pitched for six different major league teams (including two tours of duty with the Philadelphia Phillies, each of which involved a trip to the World Series) and twelve different minor league teams (the last of which was the Reading Phillies). For those keeping score at home, Andersen had a lifetime major league record of 40-39, 49 saves and a 3.15 Earned Run Average in 699 games over 17 big league seasons. After serving as a player-coach for the 1995 R-Phils he returned in 1996 as a full time coach, then the next season moved up to the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, at that time the Phillies top farm club. Unhappy with a number of aspects of his lot in Scranton, Andersen requested to return to Reading, which Phillies president Dave Montgomery wouldn’t allow, not wanting pitching coaches, “dictating where they are going.” Instead, Montgomery offered him a position as a member of the Phillies broadcast team. (The offer was not out of the blue. With Richie Ashburn’s death
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and the ugly (his various antics, including wearing a catcher’s mask out of the ballpark). Domino spoke warmly of Andersen’s contributions to the team as a coach and his affect on the young pitchers on the staff of the team that won the 1995 Eastern League Championship. In his presentation, Andersen responded in kind to Domino’s warm welcome, declaring that the R-Phils organization sets a “gold standard, that “everything they do here in Reading is a home run,” with no other organization being “better with the fans.” He added that “Chuck Domino, Scott Hunsicker, and Todd Parnell (each of whom were in the R-Phillies front office during Andersen’s tenure- Hunsicker and Parnell now being General Managers of Reading and Richmond respectively) were great guys…coming out of the same mold,” concluding that “they do things right.” the season before, the Phillies needing an analyst, and Andersen talking with the Houston Astros about a possible position in their booth at the time – the offer was very appropriate.) In 1998 Andersen began his career in the Phillies booth, first working as an analyst on television broadcasts, then, starting in 2007 as the analyst on radio broadcasts with partner Scott Franzke.
Andersen’s presentation was preceded by a brief introduction delivered by former R-Phils President (and current president of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs) Chuck Domino in which Domino coined LA’s time in Reading as being a combination of the good (his coaching), the bad (his partying),
An experience with the R-Phils that Andersen related with particular fondness was a prank he played on then R-Phils (and future big league) pitcher Wayne Gomes, who had invoked the wrath of L.A. by regularly breaking pencils used to chart pitches, despite being warned to desist. Retaliation was in the form of an ornate scheme that required cooperation from G.M. Domino, Reading manger Bill Dancy, involvement by ESPN, and participation of an actor of Asian descent who played a reporter from something like the “Japan Sports Bureau.” Andersen and Dancy told Gomes he had been traded to the Yakult Swallows. Gomes bit, and was captured on video forlornly telling his mother about the trade, with Andersen noting, “that for
some reason he told her it was ‘Nomo’s old team.” Andersen eventually came clean with Gomes, telling him, “Don’t mess with me.”
Larry Andersen (l) being interviewed by the Barrister’s Brian Engelhardt (r) and Reading Eagle’s Brian Smith (center)
In an interview prior to his presentation, Andersen talked about playing in Reading prior to the time with the R-Phils, when in 1976 he pitched on a couple of occasions here as a member of the Williamsport Tomahawks, the AA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians at the time. The Tomahawks would finish in last place that season, winning only 48 games, however Andersen, at that time a starting pitcher, would post a record of 9-6 with 12 complete games. Andersen noted that the Tomahawks were an “ugly team” and a “bunch of misfits” (of the group only Andersen and catcher Ron Hassey would have big league careers of any consequence). Andersen described himself as being “banished (to Williamsport) from AAA Toledo” where he had posted an ERA of close to 13 runs a game. Sent down to Toledo at the end of spring training after making his major league debut with the Indians, and in his view, pitching well in his few brief appearances the season before, Andersen described himself as being mad, saying, “I needed an attitude adjustment.”
The demotion to Williamsport was a wake up call, as Andersen responded by becoming the ace of the staff. He remembered a 2-1 loss to the R-Phils where he lost a shutout (and the game) when in the late innings, his third baseman fell over third base trying to get a ball which went past him and into the dugout, allowing two runs to score. Asked why the Indians changed him from a starter to a relief pitcher, he said with a laugh, “The starters were the top guys – I wasn’t good enough to be a starter. I didn’t have enough stuff.” The conversion to relief pitcher changed everything for him as it was then that he developed the slider that he depended on for most of his big league career.
Also in the interview, Andersen talked about his ejection from a game early in the 1995 season for deliberately hitting a batter on the Norwich Navigators. Late in a game, with Andersen pitching in relief, Reading’s Adam Milan hit a home run. In retaliation for the home run, the Norwich pitcher threw at Reading catcher Gary Bennett, the next batter up. Andersen related how, “I was thinking, I’m 42 years old. I don’t want to have to throw at somebody. But I had to.” (At the time Andersen’s comment was, “That kind of stuff is bull, throwing at a guy after a home run.”)
Immediately after taking the mound, Andersen hit the first batter he faced. He described what occurred next (aside from his being immediately ejected): “The guy I hit threw his bat, looks out and said something. Then everybody in the Reading Phillies dugout busted up laughing.” On reaching the dugout following his ejection (he would be fined but not suspended), Andersen asked his colleagues what they were laughing at, adding somewhat indignantly, “I’m out there throwing at batters to protect you and getting tossed from games and you’re sitting here laughing.”
make it personable and fun for the players as a coach.” He added, “My dream job is to be a coach of a rookie league team...in the big leagues with the money they are making, they think, ‘I don’t have to listen to you.’ It’s too late to teach them at that point. They don’t want to spend money on minor league coaches but that’s where teaching can occur.”
Andersen also talked of the importance of teaching young players, “how to act when they get to the big leagues.” Observing that, “If you’re a jerk when you get up there people remember it.” He concluded, “How you treat people on the way up has a lot to do with how you get treated after your career is over.” Expressing how he feels, “I think I could influence that,” Andersen said, “I want to help everyone to get the chance I had. I want to make them believe.” Calling the minor leagues a place, “where you grind it out,” adding, “You don’t make the money, but you learn your life lessons.” Andersen was with the Phillies for parts
His teammates responded by asking him if he hadn’t heard what “the guy he hit said before he went to first base,” to which Andersen replied that he had not heard. Andersen said with a laugh, “So they told me that after he threw the bat down, he looked out at me and said, ‘You’re too old to (fool) with.’ I had to laugh at that too.” Reflecting generally of his coaching experience Andersen said, “I always tried to
of six seasons, more than with any of the other major league team he played for. (He is the only member of the Phillies who played on both the 1983 and the 1993 World Series.) He termed the July 29, 1983 acquisition of his contract by the Phillies from the Seattle Mariners, then upon hard times (early in his presentation, he looked around the room and said, “This is kind of like crowds that I played for with the 82 Mariners,) as being when he went from “cellar to first place.” In walking into the locker room of the 1983 Phillies and seeing, “Lots of Hall of Fame people around the locker room” and Andersen recalls saying to himself, “Where the hell am I?”
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leagues” when he saved game five of the League Championship Series, giving the Phillies a 3 game to 2 game lead against the Braves. (Andersen pitched a perfect 1-23 10th inning of the 4-3 Phillies victory, striking out the last two batters he faced to end the game. The Phillies would win the next game to win the series 4-2.)
The 1993 team was a source of a number of stories. On one hand, Andersen described the offbeat nature of the locker room, such as John Kruk giving Jim Eisenreich the nickname “Dahmer” (after serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer), saying how “he’s waiting for one of us to pass out so he can eat us.” On the team’s strong sense of camaraderie, he fondly recalled, “We congregated in the trainer’s room to drink and smoke.”
In the earlier interview Andersen talked of another important aspect of the 1993 season, which is that he batted 1.000. During an April 18th 11-10 Phillies victory over the Cubs, Andersen singled to right field off of Dan Plesac in his only at bat of the year. He also walked in his only at bat of 1994. Noting that he not only batted 1.000 over his last two years in the major leagues, “I had a 1.000 on base percentage. That’s the way to retire.” He had 4 other hits over the rest of his major league career, a .132 lifetime hitter. Andersen related that, “When Plesac came
Hartman Shurr delegation (l-r): Chuck Shurr, Michelle Mayfield and Ryan Kennedy
Jaime Wertz and Christin Kochel
On the other hand, Andersen described how the 1993 team, “policed itself,” with teammates keeping each other in line. One example was when Andersen confronted Mitch Williams after a Phillies victory where Williams was visibly upset about not being brought in to finish a game and get a save. Andersen related how he told Williams that his conduct created the perception that, “Your save is more important than our win.” Relating how Williams took the advice to heart, Andersen observed that, “(Phillies manager Jim) Fregosi had an easy job to have people policing the team like that.”
over to the Phillies (in 2002) I said, ‘ I can’t believe you’re still pitching you gave a hit up to me.’ Plesac responded that he hit my bat with the ball.
He talked of how bad he felt bad for Williams when Curt Schilling sat with the towel over his head during the World Series, but added that when Williams’ home was hit with eggs after the World Series, “It was actually Mitch trying to hit his neighbor’s house.” The 1993 season with the Phillies provided Anderson with what he described as his “most dramatic moment in the big
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Andersen expressed his hope that Jeff Bagwell (traded by the Red Sox to the Astros for Andersen in 1990) would be elected to the Hall of Fame in the then upcoming vote, so he can say he was traded for a Hall of Famer. (Bagwell didn’t make it.) After the trade, Andersen appeared in fifteen regular season games and three post season games for the Red Sox, with one save. He then signed as a free agent with San Diego after the 1990 season. Bagwell played for the Astros for 15 years, hitting .297 with 449 home runs. As a result, Andersen now appears to hold the distinction in Red Sox Nation as the “Player Obtained in the Worst Trade in Red Sox History” (Move over Danny Cater). After Bagwell signed a multiyear contract Andersen bumped into him in a bar and tried to buy a round of drinks. Bagwell stopped him, saying, “You help to make 127 million dollars. I think I can get
this one.” (Note: the Bambino was sold to the Yankees, not traded).
Andersen spoke extensively about how he enjoys his relationship in the booth with Scott Franzke, including how, “If it’s a close game the game takes care of itself - if it’s a blowout that’s when we do our shtick and I do my goofy stuff.” When asked about the comparisons between himself and Franzke with Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn, Andersen responded by saying, “I swear to God I have goose bumps even thinking people talk about that. To be even mentioned with those two is a real complement. Andersen’s other comments were covered extensively in a story in the Reading Eagle by Brian Smith, can be found at: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=439029
In response to questions about the Phillies prospects next year, Andersen discussed the team’s need for “someone who is not afraid to police themselves...someone who’s not afraid to get up in someone’s face.” He talked about how the team has not had this since Pat Burrell, whom he praised for his work ethic and intangibles. Andersen described how Burrell was usually the first to arrive, and among the last to leave, “never left the dugout” when lifted in late innings, and was, “first on the field after the game to congratulate the team.” Andersen talked of the value of that leadership as being something needed by the current Phillies squad. He described Chase Utley as not a vocal leader, but someone who leads by example. He also emphasized the need for the current team to get “someone they can rely on to pitch the eighth inning,” and saw former R-Phils’ Phillippe Aumont and Jacob Diekman as potentially having “the stuff ” to fill that role. On the subject of former R-Phils (Note: there are not yet any former Reading Fightins’ ) Andersen also said he would, “love to see Darin Ruf play this year.”
On the relationship between the Phillies and the fans, he said, “I love the fans and I love the organization. Philly’s a greatest place to play and a great place to work.” Talking of the need for players to show effort, and to “let the fans see the effort.” Describing the fans as having, “passion and knowledge” Andersen stated how, “I want to see another parade down Broad Street. Sports has a lot to do with our attitudes throughout any week.”
After his presentation and answering a number of questions, at two o’clock, Andersen looked at his watch and concluded, saying, “As Mason said to Dixon, you have to draw the line somewhere.” Pitchers and catchers are right around the corner.
Berks Bar Hosts
LATINO CHAMBER BOARD On January 24, the Board of Directors of the Berks County Bar Association hosted a special reception with the guests being members of the Board of Directors of the Latino Chamber of Commerce. The evening was marked with lively conversation, concluding with promises of further collaboration in the future for the benefit of the community.
Liz Magovern, BCBA Treasurer Eden Bucher, Marilu Rodriguez and Michael Rivera
Jill G. Koestel and Carolina Martinez
YLS President Justin Bodor and Jim Buerger
The "one and only" Dr. Ivan Torres with Karen Cook
Hispanic Center's Michael Toledo, BCBA President Gene Orlando, and BCBA Vice President Jesse Pleet
BCBA President-Elect Tom Bell and Lenin Agudo Berks Barrister | 31
Berks County Bar Association’s
HOLIDAY RECEPTION The traditional beginning of the holiday season is the Berks County Bar Association’s Holiday Reception. It is truly the highlight of the Association’s social calendar. The fellowship, food and beverage are unparalleled. As the following photos will show...a great time was had by all at the 2013 Holiday Reception held on December 12th!
The caribou kept an eye on the “skiers” from above the Lodge fireplace
One of the bars at the Lodge before the rush Karen is looking to welcome weary “skiers” to Oheb Shalom’s Social Hall which was transformed into Holiday Acres Bar Lodge
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Jim Greene and Alex Elliker
Jason Waterloo and Dave Golberg
Mike Wolfe, Al Crump, Dan Snyder and RKS’s intern, Sara Haines
Ellen West, Ellie Sarno, Amy Rothermel and Colin Boyer WHAT A LINEUP (l-r): Joe Bradica, Greg Shantz, Jason Ulrich, Jacob Gurwitz, Joe Blackburn, Sarah McCahon and Rebecca Smith Chris Mandraccia and Matt Kopecki
Mike Dautrich and Steve Welz QUITE A ROUNDTABLE (clockwise, from left): Tim Bitting, Barrie Gehrlein, Ron Cirba (standing), Frank Mulligan, Ed Houseman, Bernie Gerber, Dick Bausher and Darlington Hoopes
THE JOHNS (l-r): John Goldstan, John Adams and John Speicher
Pam VanFossen, Dan Nevins and Lori Sandman
Miguel Debon, Greg Henry, Judge Stallone, Judge Keller and Judge Lieberman
THE WINGS WERE WORTH THE WAIT (L-R): Fred Nice, Mahlon Boyer and Val West
Stacey Scrivani and Todd Cook
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Ed Kershner and Herb Karasin
Cheryl Allerton and Joe Speece
Standing at the ready in case the Executive Director has need of the defribulator are Kate Shantz and Chuck Phillips
Osmer Deming and YLS President Justin Bodor
Jesse Leisawitz, Ben Leisawitz, John Stott and Kurt Geishauser
Andy George has the bar to himself
Jacob Thielen and Amy Miller
PDs PAST AND PRESENT (L-R): Eric Taylor, Craig Snyder, Sara Black, Keith McConnell, Kathryn Hinner, Melissa Bleecher and Rebecca Smith
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Judge Jeffrey Schmehl, Kurt Althouse, Eric Fabrizio, Ken Millman and Harry McMunigal Randy Rabenold, ALJ George Yatron, Ralli Holden Sirak and Daniel Rabenold
Brett Huckabee and Tony Rearden
Scott Jacobs and Konrad Jarzyna
Madelyn Fudeman, Judge Ludgate, Rick Grimes and Mike Boland
Julie Marburger, Lauren Marks and Jim Polyak Heidi Masano and Alan Miller
Keith Mooney is not nearly as good looking as Sarah McCahon
Techies Ben Nevius and Jeff Franklin
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