Our Opinion: Hey, WBA School Board, please make your meetings more audience-friendly

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Lawton to propose Luzerne County create assistant manager post, give 170 non-union workers raises

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A Luzerne County judge will not allow former Coughlin dean Stephen Stahl to file a late appeal.</p><p>Judge Michael T. Vough at a hearing Wednesday told Stahl he provided clear instructions at his sentencing on how to proceed with the appeals process and found no evidence to support Stahl&#8217;s claims that circumstances outside his control prevented him from filing appeal documents on time.</p><p>Stahl, 48, of Hunlock Creek, began serving a 6-to-23-month county prison sentence in March on a corruption of minors conviction.</p><p>His then-defense attorney, Peter Paul Olszewski Jr., withdrew from the case after sentencing.</p><p>Stahl since has argued, both in testimony Wednesday and in a petition filed in July, that he made multiple attempts to contact the county Office of the Public Defender to no avail, preventing him from filing appeal papers in a timely manner.</p><p>Under direct examination from his attorney, Jena Piazza Braunsberg, Stahl testified he made his first phone call seeking counsel six days after arriving at Luzerne County Correctional Facility and no one answered.</p><p>Stahl said he further made multiple attempts to contact a prison official to seek a lawyer, to request early parole and to see a doctor for a medical problem.</p><p>Each request met no response, he said.</p><p>Stahl also said he made written attempts to contact the county public defender&#8217;s office, but alleged the letters went missing, or were somehow kept from reaching their destination.</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Jim McMonagle took aim at the allegation in cross examination.</p><p>&#8220;So you&#8217;re saying the prison prevented you from filing something with the clerk&#8217;s office?&#8221; he said.</p><p>&#8220;As far as I can tell,&#8221; Stahl responded.</p><p>McMonagle asked if Stahl enlisted the help of his family, who he said he had 10 minutes to talk to via phone each day, in acquiring representation. Stahl said he did not.</p><p>He also asked if Stahl was aware he could file court paperwork on his own, and Stahl said he was.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;re an educated man, aren&#8217;t you?&#8221; McMonagle said.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not a lawyer,&#8221; Stahl said.</p><p>&#8220;But you&#8217;re an educated man. You can read and write?&#8221; McMonagle asked.</p><p>However the apparent sticking point for Vough was one specific post-sentencing instruction, in which the judge told Stahl to contact him personally if he was having trouble acquiring legal representation.</p><p>Vough said he had not received any correspondence from Stahl, and Stahl admitted in testimony he had not written to the judge.</p><p>A jury in January found Stahl guilty of a single count of corruption of minors, siding with a woman, now 27, who alleged she and Stahl had an 18-month sexual relationship beginning when she was a 16-year-old student at Coughlin High School.</p><p>The Wilkes-Barre Area School District fired him two days after he was sentenced.</p><p>The state Department of Education revoked Stahl&#8217;s teaching license last month.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Stahl_TTL081315Stahl_jom_1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Former Coughlin High School dean of students Stephen Stahl arrives Wednesday at the Luzerne County Courthouse for a hearing. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_Stahl_TTL081315Stahl_jom_1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Former Coughlin High School dean of students Stephen Stahl arrives Wednesday at the Luzerne County Courthouse for a hearing. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By James O&#8217;Malley</p><p>jomalley@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach James O&#8217;Malley at 570-991-6390 or on Twitter @TL_omalley.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Judge denies former Coughlin High dean’s petition for allowance of late appeal