MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE PENDING BOARD COMPLAINTS
AMD NOW, this 30th day of September, 2016, comes the Judicial Conduct Board of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Board), by and through the undersigned counsel, and files this Motion to Consolidate Pending Board Complaints pursuant to Rule 701 of the Court of Judicial Discipline Rules of Procedure, and in support thereof, avers the following:
1. On March 11, 2015, the Board filed a Complaint against Judge Joseph J. O'Neill at 4 JD 2015, charging him with violations of Canons 2B, 3A(4), 3B(3) and 3C(1) of the former Code of Judicial Conduct, effective through November 30, 2014, and violations of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Article V, § 17(b), as an automatic derivative violation, and the Disrepute and Administration of Justice Clauses of Article V, § 18(d)(1). A true and correct copy of the Board Complaint is attached hereto as Attachment 1 (March 11, 2015 Board Complaint).
2. On March 11, 2015, the Board filed a Petition for Relief for Interim Suspension With or Without Pay against Judge O'Neill.
3. Trial in the matter was scheduled before this Court on January 29, 2016.
4. On January 26, 2016, Assistant United States Attorney Richard Barrett of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania notified Board counsel that federal charges would be filed against Judge O'Neill in the near future.
5. On January 26, 2016, AUSA Barrett provided notice to the Board that the primary witness for the Board, FBI Special Agent Eric H. Ruona, who was also the lead agent in a federal investigation pertaining to Judge O'Neill, would not be permitted to testify at the planned January 29, 2016 trial in In re O'Neill, 4 JD 2015.
6. Based upon notice from AUSA Barrett, on January 27, 2016, Board counsel and Judge O'Neill's counsel filed a Joint Motion to Defer Trial in In re O'Neill, 4 JD 2015.
7. By Order dated January 27, 2016, this Court continued the trial in this matter.
8. Contemporaneously with the filing of this Motion, Board Counsel is filing a Board Complaint against Judge O'Neill alleging three counts of judicial misconduct. See Attachment 2 (September 30, 2016 Board Complaint).
9. The charges contained within both Board Complaints arise from a common core of facts such that evidence pertaining to each would be admissible in separate trials.
10. The evidence regarding the charges is separable and distinct.
11. Judicial economy will be best served by this Court conducting a joint trial of the separately filed Board Complaints and/or considering stipulations of fact from the parties.
12. Samuel C. Stretton, Esquire, counsel for Judge O'Neill, has informed undersigned counsel that he does not oppose this Motion for Consolidation.
WHEREFORE, it is respectfully requested that this Honorable Court enter an order consolidating the Board's March 11, 2015 Board Complaint and the September 30, 2016 Board Complaint for purposes of trial.
Respectfully submitted,
ROBERT A. GRACI
Chief Counsel DATE: September 30, 2015
By: /s/_________
ELIZABETH A. FLAHERTY
Deputy Counsel
Pa. Supreme Court ID No. 205575
Judicial Conduct Board
601 Commonwealth Avenue, Suite 3500
Harrisburg, PA 17106
(717) 234-7911
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