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Child porn convict faces assault charges

As promised, Stefanie Salavantis may file legal action this week over Luzerne County Council&rsquo;s March 9 decision to vacate her seat.
				By all accounts, Salavantis still plans to resign on March 25, when she is officially on the May 18 primary election ballot as a county judge candidate because both the nomination petition challenge and withdrawal deadlines have passed.
				Instead of waiting for her to act, a council majority had voted to declare the seat vacant, saying that action is required under the home rule charter because Salavantis filed a petition to run. Others say council has no authority to remove an office holder from an elected seat without a court order, no matter what the charter says.
				According to a Monday night email to council about the planned litigation, it will include requests for a court to declare council&rsquo;s March 9 vacancy resolution unlawful and without legal effect.
				Salavantis&rsquo; action also would seek a court declaration that the county Court of Common Pleas (not council) shall fill any district attorney vacancies under state law, said the email to council from county Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo.
				The home rule charter says a county council majority fills district attorney vacancies, but county Court of Common Pleas President Judge Michael T. Vough has said that appointment authority clearly rests with the county court under state law and case law.
				However, Vough also has stressed a proposed new state law that could soon become law would require the appointment of the first assistant district attorney if he/she is a county resident and the same political party as the outgoing DA. The current first assistant, Sam Sanguedolce, is a Republican like Salavantis and meets the residency requirement.
				Already unanimously passed by the state Senate, the proposed legislation is expected to receive required state House approval by the end of this week or early the following week, state Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, recently said.
				The change would only apply to vacancies that occur after the law is passed, and it&rsquo;s unclear if Gov. Tom Wolf would sign it into law before Salavantis resigns. Even if he does, Salavantis would have to prevail in court to throw out council&rsquo;s March 9 vacancy date.
				Some close to the situation argue the law would still have an impact, even if it passes immediately after the vacancy, because judges may be inclined to honor it in spirit by appointing Sanguedolce.
				Without the proposed new state law, the court would be free to choose an attorney from any political party, and at least two Democrats have reportedly expressed interest behind the scenes.
				In the less likely scenario that the home rule charter takes precedence, a council majority would have to pick another Republican.
				Crocamo&rsquo;s email to council about Salavantis&rsquo; potential litigation said Attorney Larry Moran had been asked to prepare and file the litigation on Salavantis&rsquo; behalf. She said Moran told Salavantis his firm would first need to obtain a conflict waiver from the county because it still represents the county in other cases.
				Crocamo said council would have to decide whether to grant a waiver. The matter may be discussed in a closed-door council executive session this week.
				Regardless of council&rsquo;s decision, insiders say multiple attorneys are involved in the filing, which means council&rsquo;s failure to grant a waiver would not prevent the action from being filed this week.
				Council isn&rsquo;t scheduled to convene to vote again until Tuesday&rsquo;s regularly scheduled session.
				It&rsquo;s still unclear which legal costs will be covered by county insurance.
				Salavantis has declined comment on the status of the pending litigation. She said after council&rsquo;s late-night March 9 vacancy vote that she would be voluntarily stepping down, even though she is confident she is not required to do so under superseding state law, because she was attempting to &ldquo;avoid uncertainty in criminal cases and costly litigation.&rdquo; She said council&rsquo;s vote forced her to litigate the matter and questioned the legality of council&rsquo;s &ldquo;attempt at controlling the seat mere weeks before I agreed to relinquish the position.&rdquo;
				Some council members said they were forced to act because the charter says the office &ldquo;shall be declared vacant if the officeholder files a petition for nomination or election or becomes a candidate for any elective public office other than the one he/she holds at that time.&rdquo;
				With the identity of the district attorney uncertain after council&rsquo;s vote, the DA&rsquo;s office issued a middle-of-the-night temporary hold on criminal informations, search warrants, wiretaps and approval of criminal charges after council&rsquo;s vote.
				Sanguedolce said Tuesday that action was necessary because he and Salavantis had no advance warning of council&rsquo;s action so they could research and address ramifications, including the potential for astronomical liability claims asserting actions violated civil rights because they were brought under the name of someone who is not officially district attorney.
				All office activities have been reactivated, with some modifications requiring the names of both Sanguedolce and Salavantis to appear on documents, he said.

Legal action looms over DA vacancy