Sep 18, 2014 4 min read

After missing Monday’s deadline to file arguments in the case against former Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky with the county’s clerk of courts, the state attorney general’s office submitted its brief late Thursday.

Much like the defense, the brief from Deputy Attorney General Michael Ahwesh contains assertions previously made during the suppression hearings. Ahwesh argues the administrative order, which allowed state police to remove evidence from Pozonsky’s chambers May 9, 2012, was a “valid” order.

“The defendant’s argument does not rest on the fact that the President Judge (Debbie O’Dell Seneca) lacks the authority to issue such an administrative order, but rather that the president judge should have, instead, issued a search warrant for the office of the defendant,” Ahwesh said in his brief.

According to Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, the state requires “when drugs are offered into evidence at a trial dealing with the allegations of illegal or possession of such drug, that the district attorney shall confiscate the drugs.” Ahwesh argued Pozonsky’s May 1, 2012, order to destroy evidence in 16 cases “was in contravention to this statue.”

“The president judge is obligated to ensure compliance with the statutes of the commonwealth by the court,” Ahwesh said. “The May 9, 2102, administrative order of O’Dell Seneca forestalled further violations of this statute and was in accord with (her) supervisory responsibilities.”

Because O’Dell Seneca has the responsibility to supervise judicial business of the court and to ensure lawful operation of the court, she is obligated to maintain integrity of the courts, Ahwesh said. To fulfill this obligation, “the president judge is given general supervisory powers which would include the authority to regulate the possession, control and procedures for the care and custody of evidence,” Ahwesh said.

Ahwesh further argued it was “improper” to ask O’Dell Seneca to testify on her administrative order because she used her own judgment to utilize the administrative order to take the items into custody.

“For the same reason it is improper to require a judge to testify regarding the deliberation process, it would be improper for either side to inquire into or speculate about the thought and decision making process of the president judge on the present matter,” Ahwesh said. “The president judge was well within her power to choose to issue the order rather than utilizing alternative means.”

As to the defense’s claims Pozonsky had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his workplace, Ahwesh claims “no search occurred on May 9, 2012, contrary to the defendant’s claims.”

“Based on the evidence presented, an administrative order was carried out in the defendant’s office May 9, 2012, requiring the removal of certain items to be placed under the control of the president judge in the custody of the state police.”

Further, Ahwesh claims Pozonsky did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in his office or for the file cabinet from which evidence was seized.

Pozonsky, 58, who is now living near Anchorage, Alaska, and rarely returns for court proceedings, was charged with conflict of interest, theft, obstruction of justice, possession of a controlled substance and misapplying entrusted government property. He is accused of stealing cocaine evidence while presiding over several criminal cases. Investigators claim he kept the drugs in a locked cabinet in a vault in his office, and replaced drugs with other substances, including baking soda.

Pozonsky resigned from his seat in June 2012 after he was removed from hearing criminal cases by O’Dell Seneca when reports surfaced he was being investigated by a state grand jury. He spent nearly 15 years on the bench as a Washington County judge and previously served 13 years as a district magistrate in Cecil Township and McDonald.

Both parties must now meet a Sept. 25 deadline for rebuttals. Senior Bedford County Judge Daniel Lee Howsare, who is presiding over the case, will then issue his decision on whether the evidence taken from Pozonsky’s office should be suppressed.

Ahwesh did not return calls for comment.