web1_gavel.jpeg

Larksville man waives fatal DUI hearing

web1_web1_web1_David-Nealy-2-2.jpg

Jury selection to continue Tuesday in DJ Mo homicide trial

<p>Luzerne County may settle litigation stemming from the 2016 deaths of a correctional officer and inmate in an elevator shaft at the county prison on Water Street in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>But instead of paying, the county would receive a settlement payment from Schindler Elevator Corp. as compensation for repairs the county had to make to the elevator, county Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo said Monday.</p><p>The matter is listed on Tuesday&#8217;s county council work session for discussion, although the settlement dollar amount won&#8217;t be released until a future voting meeting, Crocamo said. The county solicitor&#8217;s office has argued settlement amounts don&#8217;t have to be disclosed until council is assembled to vote.</p><p>The county&#8217;s receipt would be part of a &#8220;global settlement&#8221; ending all remaining litigation over the 2016 deaths, Crocamo said.</p><p>Correctional officer Kristopher Moules, 25, and inmate Timothy Darnell Gilliam Jr., 27, were killed on July 18, 2016, during an altercation outside a prison elevator, officials have said.</p><p>Gilliam allegedly struggled with Moules when they fell into the elevator door, which swung open at the base, allowing them to fall more than 59 feet from the fifth floor to the top of the elevator car, which was on the ground floor. Both died of multiple traumatic injuries.</p><p>According to Crocamo:</p><p>Schindler added the county as a defendant in litigation Gilliam&#8217;s estate had filed against the elevator company.</p><p>The county subsequently filed its own suit against Schindler and three other elevator companies, claiming bad work from the companies cost taxpayers more than $180,000.</p><p>Litigation previously filed by Moules&#8217; estate against elevator companies has been settled, Crocamo said.</p><p>A second proposed settlement also was added to Tuesday&#8217;s work session &#8212; this one requiring an unspecified county payment that falls within its general liability insurance deductible.</p><p>Sharon Dacey, of New Jersey, filed the litigation against the county over injuries allegedly sustained when she fell in a Water Street parking area across from the prison and former Veteran Affairs Office in November 2013, according to the agenda and Crocamo.</p><p>Dacey&#8217;s complaint maintained the fall resulted from the county&#8217;s failure to maintain the parking lot, the agenda said. The plaintiff cited continued hand and finger numbness and the anticipated need for finger surgery, it said.</p><p>Litigation will continue in both cases if council rejects the settlements, the agenda said.</p><p><strong>Poll book controversy</strong></p><p>In an unrelated issue, Crocamo said Monday she has reached out to the Pennsylvania Auditor General&#8217;s Office about its plans to perform an audit of county Election Director Marisa Crispell&#8217;s participation in two advisory board trips funded by the company that later sold $325,000 in electronic poll books to the county.</p><p>Crispell has said she stopped being an advisory board member for Election Systems &amp; Software (ES&amp;S) in fall 2017 before the county sought proposals from companies interested in supplying the poll books in January 2018. She said she cleared her participation with a county assistant solicitor and the administrative services division head.</p><p>Several council members have said Crispell should have informed them of her advisory board role before council voted on the poll books. Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck said council pursued the purchase of poll books at Crispell&#8217;s recommendation.</p><p>Council is set to discuss the poll book contract during Tuesday&#8217;s work session, which follows a 6 p.m. voting meeting at the courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_luzcocourthouse01-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_luzcocourthouse01-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County government litigation settlements proposed