Judge who sparred with Pennsylvania AG is removed, 'clouded' objectivity cited
A Pennsylvania judge who sparred with Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has been removed from a senior judgeship because of concerns about his objectivity.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court informed Judge Barry Feudale of his removal in a Nov. 12 letter, report the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Daily Item and Pennlive.com. The Inquirer obtained a copy of an Oct. 12 letter informing Feudale of the allegations and giving him two weeks to respond.
The earlier letter said the court believed Feudale’s judicial objectivity had been “clouded” by his relationship with a former prosecutor in Kane’s office, Frank Fina. Kane is facing criminal charges for allegedly leaking confidential grand jury information to damage Fina’s reputation, and then lying about it to a grand jury.
Kane had petitioned for Feudale’s removal in 2013 because of his relationship with Fina, an alleged lack of objectivity and an alleged incident in which he brandished a knife in front of one of Kane’s secretaries. Feudale had been a supervising judge of grand juries, but he was demoted as a result of Kane’s petition and given no new assignments
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court cited emails Feudale sent to the Philadelphia Inquirer after his demotion in which he discussed his feud with Kane. Kane found the emails on her office computer system and released them this fall. Kane’s law license has been suspended pending her trial.
Feudale told the Daily Item that he didn’t respond to the initial letter, and he could be reinstated as a judge when there is a new chief justice.
Hat tip to How Appealing.
