Monday, April 13, 2009

Jurors Express Gratitude & Restored Faith in Luzerne County’s Judicial System.

Judge PPO

The following is a portion of an opinion written in today's Times Leader by reporter Edward Lewis:

Signs of restored confidence

It surprised me to hear Olszewski even mention the embarrassment considering the public’s outrage.

But that’s Olszewski -- not afraid to take risks.

Olszewski called an audible and it worked.

After Cuadra’s three-week trial ended, two jurors who listened to testimony wrote letters to Muroski expressing their gratitude and restored faith in our county’s judicial system.

“As a taxpayer of Luzerne County, I was ashamed and disappointed with the scandal that fell upon the county courthouse,” wrote Juror No. 1 Ellen Matulis. “On Feb. 17, 2009, I reported for jury duty with fear and dread in my heart. … Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. started the trial …with great authority and intelligence of the law. He was fair and impartial yet showed respect and compassion for all parties involved in the case including the jurors.”

Alternate Juror No. 1 Shannon M. Gurski wrote “… I was very unsure of what to expect when I was selected to be a juror in this case, particularly given all that has happened over the course of the last several months. I am very pleased to say that Judge Olszewski Jr. has restored my faith in the Luzerne County judicial system. His integrity and obvious devotion to the law were inspiring to witness over the three weeks that I was in his courtroom.”

It appears faith has already begun to be restored – just one audible at a time.

2 comments:

  1. Very nice of those two jurors. I understand there has been qquite a bit of fuss and embarresmeent in the locallity recently concerning the courts and this helps heal it.

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  2. Cheers pc and thanks for the invite!

    ReplyDelete