Judge from outside Washington County will be assigned to Scandale case
Once paperwork in the case of former clerk of courts Frank Scandale proceeds to the Washington County Courthouse, it will trigger what is known as a “full-bench recusal.”
That means his case will not be heard by any of the Washington County judges to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.
Scandale, 52, of Canonsburg, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Robert Redlinger on seven counts of theft plus failure to make required disposition of funds received and misapplication of entrusted government property.
The charges were filed in November, four months after an audit of the clerk of courts office revealed just over $96,000 was missing from the courthouse row office.
“When the paperwork comes from the magistrate’s office to the Court of Common Pleas level, then it has a Common Pleas docket number and we can go to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts and ask for that,” President Judge Katherine B. Emery said Thursday of the recusal.
“It’s a specific judge that gets appointed.”
Scandale lost a reelection bid to a second, four-year term a few weeks before the state police Organized Crime Task Force filed charges. He remains free on $100,000 unsecured bond. His formal arraignment is scheduled for late February.