Judge orders Selenski transfered back
BY JAMES CONMY
STAFF WRITER, CITIZENS VOICE
12/16/2006

Hugo Selenski is on his way back to Luzerne County Correctional Facility — the scene of his daring fifth-floor escape from his maximum security cell more than three years ago.

Luzerne County Judge Chester Muroski signed an order Friday to transfer Selenski to the Water Street jail in Wilkes-Barre from the State Correctional Institute at Frackville. Selenski, who is charged with the 2002 murders of Michael Jason Kerkowski and Tammy Lynn Fassett, will be moved Wednesday.

Muroski's order was in response to a motion from Selenski's defense team asking for the move and claiming visitation policies at the state prison violate Selenski's rights to a fair trial.

In the motion, defense attorney John Pike referenced an attempted visit Dec. 14 when he, co-counsel Stephen Menn and an investigator, were not permitted to have contact without a glass barrier separating them from Selenski. Prison personnel also would have made Selenski return documents to his attorneys when the visit concluded, the motion said. The attorneys decided not to meet with Selenski as a result.

The biggest concerns were the visit was being monitored by surveillance cameras and prison personnel would not disclose whether the conversations over a telephone through Plexiglas would be recorded, Pike said Friday morning.

"We couldn't review documents, exhibits or other trial materials with him. This type of case requires unimpeded access to Hugo in order to review the trial materials in order to prepare his defense," Pike said. "(Selenski) also needs to be able to communicate with us in a confidential setting. We would not have been able to do that (at Frackville)."

State prison officials declined to comment on a pending case, instead referring to state Department of Corrections' policies.

Guards are supposed to be stationed so they do not hear normal conversations during visits, according to visiting policies on the department's Web site. The confidentiality of attorney-client privilege also will be honored, according to policy.

Policies also state inmates' visiting privileges can be "limited, suspended or restricted" if the inmate poses a threat to prison security or safety. Selenski is designated as a class 5 inmate, the highest security classification.

Selenski will be detained in Luzerne County Correctional Facility's restrictive housing unit upon his arrival, Major Jim Larson said Friday. Selenski will have no contact with other inmates, Larson said.

"Each and every time Selenski is here, we put him in our RHU unit because of co-defendants and possible witnesses," Larson said. "We kind of fear his safety and the safety of other people involved in the case. We don't want them mixed in with one another."

Isolating Selenski has nothing to do with his October 2003 escape, where he used a makeshift rope of bed sheets to lower himself 70 feet from his maximum-security cell, Larson said.

Selenski was at the State Correctional Institute at Frackville serving a two- to four-year prison sentence handed down by Luzerne County Judge Peter Paul Olszewski in May. Selenski was cleared of the 2003 murders of Frank James and Adeiye Keiler earlier this year, but a jury convicted him of burning their bodies.

Selenski is eligible to be released from prison June 9, 2007, on the abuse of corpse charges and a driving under the influence conviction. But the murder charges make him ineligible for bail until his trial, which is supposed to begin sometime in 2007.

jconmy@citizensvoice.com

I can't believe the Standard Speaker had a little blurb about this in the second section of the paper today. If we even get any news, it's usually a day or two late. Wow. I heard Frackville was pretty bad but when you mess with attorney-client meetings and privacy, you're gonna be in for a lot of trouble. Not worth it. But then again, I also heard the guards think they're "high and mighty". I don't know. Just read this, http://www.prisoners.com/fracks.html.

This article is from the Citizens Voice. I don't think the Times Leader has any right to reveal the donor's names. What are they now, scapegoaters? It certainly wouldn't do any good. It may just serve the donors to cause them to be targets of harassment or worse, and then the Times Leader should be sued back in return. Give it up, Times Leader, you're just a big, bad wolf in lawyer's clothing.

TL sues to learn names of Hazleton donors
BY WADE MALCOLM
STAFF WRITER

The Times Leader is suing to learn the identities of donors supporting the defense of Hazleton's ordinances targeting illegal immigrants.

Hundreds of benefactors from throughout the country have contributed more than $50,000 to help the city in a federal lawsuit challenging the ordinances forbidding renting to or employing illegal immigrants.

Hazleton has refused to disclose the identities of those donors, which constitutes a "willful and wanton disregard of the Pennsylvania Right To Know Act," the paper argues in documents filed in Luzerne County Court.

The Times Leader made a written request Oct. 24, according to court documents, to review financial records of contributions made to the city to help defend the ordinances targeting illegal immigrants. But the city denied the request.

Two months earlier, on Aug. 23, The Citizens' Voice made a similar open records request asking for the identity of the contributors and the amounts donated by each.

The city also denied that request, saying it would jeopardize the safety of the donors and violate their privacy rights by disclosing the information. The Citizens' Voice filed exceptions to the city's claims, arguing the city had no grounds to believe the donor's security would be at risk and that the benefactors willfully made the contributions with no expectation of privacy.

Hazleton agreed to disclose the hometowns of each donor and the amount each gave. It also agreed to disclose any advocacy groups, elected officials or public figures contributing to the fund.

The Citizens' Voice, however, has not taken any legal action to date.

Attorneys for the city said no officials or public figures have given to the city.

The Times Leader is arguing all names should be public to make their possible motivations for contributing more transparent. No individual's privacy is superior to "the right of the public to know the government of Hazleton is operating in the interests of the public," rather than in the interests of the donors, court documents stated.

wmalcolm@citizensvoice.com

I think Hazleton's IIRA is a good idea. Go to www.smalltowndefenders.com if you agree with me. I haven't be able to donate myself because of all my student loans that I owe, but I would've if I could! So this isn't a personal fear, but I just wanted to say, TIMES LEADER KISS MY ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have off saturday, woooooooooooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooo
it's my Dad's b-day and i can go see my grandparents and it's my friend Mindy's b-day so I can go see her too!!
and i can go visit KT and Dennis at work too!!

now let's just hope my car gets fixed soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i just might get outta having to work far away twice this week!! let's hope these chances work out--- the one is tomorrow, short notice but it's for a coworker who's young daughter is sick and i am a 2nd pharmacist at the other store i'd be going to, so hopefully i can cover for her so she can take care of her daughter. the second one is for thursday/friday so that probably will work out. wow.

so amused...

why should i have to explain myself? why do i need to justify my motives for supporting someone? it's not like they'd listen to me anyway...

if they're not like-minded, or a friend or a family member, i doubt they'd listen anyway. it's just like that total stranger that sent me a message like two months ago who ASSumed i was all about looks and was crazy, yadda yadda yadda. he didn't know me, didn't know the reasons why, and certainly has no right saying ANYTHING about me or anyone else he doesn't know for that matter.

there's this person on myspace that has this profile that says they are following the Hugo case closely and wants to get people's opinions or whatever (whether they're for or against), but "groupies need not apply". no problems there, i thought. (stupid me!)

so i sent a request (i think, with 200+ friends i can't be sure and it isn't like it was that important, one of many that day) and apparently i was denied. i guess in that person's eyes i must be a groupie. ha ha. if i am, then i'd like to know what some of the people on their friends list are supposed to be called, especially one in particular...

well, whatever. i wonder what he'd say to this, ha ha...