More Election Fraud Swept Under the Rug -

Sun, Jan. 15, 2006
Tom Ferrick Jr. Political power to restart clocks
By Tom Ferrick Jr.
Inquirer Columnist
What is that foul odor I smell?
Wait, wait, I think I've found it. It's the aroma surrounding the criminal case involving local political bigwig Michael Stack Jr.
Stack, 76, was facing forgery and election-fraud charges in connection with a 2003 race for City Council.
The tense of the verb in the last paragraph is correct... was facing charges. The case was dismissed in a Dec. 22 ruling by visiting Judge R. Barry McAndrews.
McAndrews didn't grace us with a written opinion, but in his order he cited Rule 600, also known as the "speedy-trial rule," which states that a trial must begin within 365 days after a defendant is arrested.
For the record, Stack and two political associates were arrested on Feb. 24, 2004, so obviously more than 365 days have elapsed. Or have they?
Under Rule 600, the clock is stopped if delays are caused by defense actions or motions, lest defenders be tempted to use the rule to engineer dismissals for their clients.
You can see why we have Rule 600: to stop prosecutors from dragging their feet while a defendant sits in jail or walks around in limbo.
In the Stack case, it is clear that the State Attorney General's Office, which brought the charges, never asked for, never wanted, and repeatedly opposed attempts to delay a trial.
The only motion that state prosecutors initiated was two days after Stack was arrested, seeking to have an out-of-town judge assigned to hear the case.
No mental wizardry
It doesn't take a genius to figure out why. Stack is wired politically.
He is a lawyer, son of a congressman, the husband of Judge Felice Stack, father of State Sen. Michael Stack 3d, and longtime Democratic leader of the 58th Ward in Northeast Philadelphia.
His alleged crime: forging several hundred voters' signatures on the nominating petitions for a political protégé, John Farley.
In 2003, Farley quit his job at the U.S. Postal Service to run against Republican incumbent Brian O'Neill for City Council. A judge threw his name off the ballot after GOP lawyers challenged the validity of the signatures.
Feeling betrayed by Stack, Farley complained to District Attorney Lynne Abraham. She recused herself, citing her political ties to Stack as a ward leader, and tossed the hot potato to the state.
The Attorney General's Office took up the cause and convened a grand jury. When Stack and the others were charged, then-Attorney General Jerry Pappert said the case was important "because, in my view, when you corrupt the very beginning of the electoral and political process, you corrupt the entire process."
Not so fast
Stack's lawyers objected to the state's request to have an out-of-town judge oversee the case. Common Pleas Court Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson ruled against the defense on March 29, 2004. Defense lawyers asked her to reconsider her ruling, and she agreed, telling both sides to file briefs on the issue. That process was completed in mid-August 2004. Massiah-Jackson said she would have a ruling after Labor Day.
It came after Labor Day, all right.
Seven months - that is not a misprint - passed before Massiah-Jackson finally ruled in favor of the prosecutors, and she did so only after the Attorney General's Office filed a pleading, urging her to act.
It is clear from the record that all parties agreed the Rule 600 clock would be stopped while Massiah-Jackson handled the defense objections to appointing an out-of-town judge.
McAndrews, a senior judge from Bucks County, was named in June to handle the case. A preliminary hearing was held in August. Before a trial could be held, Stack's lawyers, citing Rule 600, filed a motion for dismissal. McAndrews dismissed the case three days before Christmas.
"To say that we were shocked and dismayed is an understatement," said Kevin Harley, a spokesman for Attorney General Tom Corbett.
As to myself, I am shocked, amazed, dismayed, and just plain sickened by the smell of it.
To his credit, Corbett isn't giving up. He has appealed McAndrews' dismissal to state Superior Court.

Just another example