SUNBURY - Northumberland County Assistant District Attorney John Muncer has been laid off as a result of last week's decision by the county salary board to eliminate an assistant district attorney.
District Attorney Tony Rosini, who announced the layoff late Tuesday afternoon, stated, "It is with deep regret that I have made this decision. There was no good answer to being forced to eliminate one of my longtime employees. John has done a good job in the office and I wish him well. I am hopeful that he will be able to use his skills in private practice."
Rosini said losing an assistant district attorney will cause a 25 percent increase in the caseload for his remaining four assistants.
"We are still examining how we can meet that caseload, cover essential hearings and still have time for research, reviewing cases, meeting with police and witnesses, and preparing for trial," Rosini said. "The court has indicated that it will work with us on scheduling, and I appreciate the court's willingness to accommodate us schedule wise, but it will be impossible to provide the same coverage with four ADAs as we were able to provide with five."
Record numbers
The district attorney said his office has been experiencing record numbers of criminal cases being filed at the county court level. He said all of the cases involve paperwork being reviewed and filed, and interviews with police, witnesses and victims. While he noted many cases result in guilty pleas, Rosini said someone must meet with defense counsel to make a plea offer and present it to the court.
Rosini said defense attorneys frequently file motions that must be researched and require hearings where witnesses must be prepared and presented to prevent cases from being dismissed, all of which requires staff time.
"If it were simply a matter of court appearances, we could meet those obligations," he said. "Unfortunately, there is much out-of-court preparation work that is required before any court appearance. We recently had two major cases that are a perfect example."
Rosini said ADA Michael Toomey had a drug trial out of Coal Township that required literally weeks of preparation, including obtaining evidence, interviewing witnesses and preparing a trial strategy. "He was successful because he had time to do that," he said.
Similarly, Deputy ADA Ann Targonski had a sexual assault case in November that ended with the defendant pleading guilty on the day set for trial. "That would not have happened if she had not done all of the preparation necessary to get to that stage," Rosini said. "She had Child Advocacy Center forensic interviews and pre-trial motions where evidence was presented and briefs prepared for court. It is important for us to maintain the ability to be able to prepare our cases for court. In order to do that, there needs to be time in our schedule to prepare for hearings and trials."
In light of the ever increasing caseload and decreased staff, Rosini said he had no choice but to cut back somewhere to provide appropriate time to prepare for hearings and trials.
"I believe it's important to have assistant district attorneys prosecute felony cases," he said. "Handling misdemeanors is also important, but given the staff cuts we have had, it is impossible to cover all cases."
Rosini said he hopes various courts will accommodate his staff with scheduling so they can spend a half day at the district courts handling felony cases.
"This is not an ideal situation, but we are working to keep the criminal justice system functioning as smoothly as possible," he said. "Obviously, there will be repercussions from the cut of one of my staff. We will not be able to cover all cases and some cases will be lost as a result. At least we will have the time to handle the serious cases in an appropriate manner."