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Hazleton council approves Act 47 recovery plan

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Watchdog: Comey ‘insubordinate,’ not biased in Clinton probe

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; An attorney for the city said it will comply with a judge&#8217;s order and release a copy of the report on the Wilkes-Barre City Police Department for use in a pending civil case in Luzerne County Court.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re turning over the report,&#8221; attorney John Dean, of the Elliott Greenleaf law firm, said Thursday.</p><p>The order Monday by Commonwealth Court Senior Judge J. Wesley Oler Jr. put back into motion the case that had been stayed for more than a month for appellate review of the April 27 order that the report be turned over within 48 hours.</p><p>&#8220;The Commonwealth Court has denied Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s petition for review so we&#8217;re back in the trial court. Wilkes-Barre has to produce the full report,&#8221; said Kingston attorney Neil O&#8217;Donnell.</p><p>The report released March 30 and prepared by the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association was critical of former chief Marcella Lendacky&#8217;s management. The city cited an exemption under the state&#8217;s Right to Know law as a reason not to make it public and maintained it was not relevant to the civil case filed by a woman severely injured in a 2014 crash caused by a police pursuit.</p><p>Even though the local newspapers obtained copies of the report paid for with taxpayer funds and published it online, O&#8217;Donnell sought an authenticated copy from the city in the course of representing Donna Jackson in the civil case.</p><p>Luzerne County Judge Lesa Gelb had previously ordered the city to produce the report for discovery.</p><p>O&#8217;Donnell had said the report contains information regarding police training and a statement from Lendacky that problems with police policies date to previous administrations. Lendacky, who retired June 3, was not the chief when Jackson&#8217;s crash occurred in 2014. The city is in the process of finding a replacement for Lendacky.</p><p>Jackson&#8217;s case against Wilkes-Barre, Hanover Township and their police departments had a May 29 trial date that will now have to be rescheduled, O&#8217;Donnell said.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Judge’s order to release WB police report stands; city to comply