Alleging a pattern of vindictiveness against him going back
nearly two decades, Potter County District Attorney Jeff Leber said
Thursday that his efforts to disqualify District Judge Annette
Easton from hearing most criminal cases are about justice rather
than anyone’s malice.

Leber wrote a response in the case Thursday in which he refers
to a history of judicial misconduct in Potter County, as well as a
pattern to discredit him as an attorney.

He pointed out that the state Supreme Court removed
then-President Judge Harold B. Fink from the Potter County bench in
1987 – a case in which Leber initiated the first report for
removal.

Easton’s attorney, Samuel Stretton of West Chester, represented
Fink at that time.

“Since 1987, Mr. Stretton has represented every attorney and
judge who has tried to bring this district attorney down …,” Leber
said.

Stretton has asked for Leber’s case against Easton to be
dismissed, saying that Leber “constantly makes complaints against
district judges in Potter County … creates a tense environment …
encourages police not to respect their offices.”

He also claims Leber and some of the police have continued to
harass Easton and other district judges.

Leber is asking for Easton to be disqualified from hearing most
criminal matters, alleging she has a “S-t List” of police officers
who have reported her for alleged judicial misconduct. The officers
allegedly named on the list are Coudersport-based state troopers
David Burd, Jacob Rothermel and Daniel Hines, as well as
Coudersport Police Department Sgt. James Collins, who is also a
deputy sheriff, and Coudersport Borough Police Officer William
Wenzel.

Leber also alleges that Easton calls Leber himself “The Evil
One.”

He is asking Judge John Leete to disqualify Easton from hearing
cases involving the five officers named on the list or from hearing
misdemeanor or felony cases involving the district attorney’s
office.

Stretton claims Leete does not have the jurisdiction to act in
the matter, saying Easton herself should decide whether to recuse
herself – or step down – from the cases.

Calling Stretton’s defenses “meritless,” Leber said in
Thursday’s response that the real issue at hand “will not vanish
behind a cloud of legalese.”

“The issue is quite simple: should a judge who maintains a ‘S-t
List’ of police officers and labels all state police officers as
‘f– liars’ be permitted to hear any cases involving those
officers?” Leber wrote.

He added that Easton, to his knowledge, has never reported
discourteous treatment from any police officer to any authority.
“Such problems should be easily remedied by a judge,” he wrote.

And as far as Leber’s reporting of Easton to the Judicial
Conduct Board, Leber claims he is mandated to do so when a judge’s
conduct “raises a substantial question as to the judge’s fitness
for office.”

“It should be an obvious question of what context could possibly
allow a judge to declare a whole class of professionals who
frequently appear before her to be ‘f– liars’ or to put them on a
‘S-t List’ and assign derogatory names to them. No context can even
be imagined that would permit such statements by a judge,” Leber
said in his response.

“The judge further accuses the district attorney’s office of
creating an atmosphere of disrespect and fear of judges. Surely
judges have the ability to deal with disrespectful police officers
or district attorneys,” Leber wrote. “If judges don’t know how to
do so, their competence is questionable, especially after six years
in office.”

Leber alleges that Easton refers to him as “The Evil One,” and
says that the gist of Stretton’s argument for dismissal “seems to
be ‘the devil made me do it!’ Blaming her conduct on the district
attorney is silly.

“While it is true that the district attorney’s office and the
police have frequently complained of the conduct of several
district judges, the present circumstances are the clearest proof
available that the allegations against Judge Easton are in fact
true,” Leber said.

“Neither the devil nor the district attorney made Judge Easton
utter those statements,” Leber said. “They were made solely because
the judge harbors an extreme bias against law enforcement officials
who dare criticize her.

“Regardless of what legal red herrings Mr. Stretton may throw
out, the bottom line is clear: the judge is not fair and impartial.
She has not maintained the dignity and standards required of a
judge and the President Judge should disqualify her from any
hearings involving law enforcement officers.”

Leber asserts that Leete, as president judge of Potter County,
has supervision and administrative authority over all district
judges in the county and therefore, under state law, has authority
in the matter.

The matter is set for a hearing at 1:15 Thursday in front of
Leete.

Outgoing Potter County District Attorney Jeff Leber, in
challenging District Judge Annette Easton’s impartiality, has
referred to another time in Potter County’s history when the
conduct of a judge was in question.

“… this county of less than 20,000 citizens has dealt with
judicial misconduct before,” Leber said. The Supreme Court removed
Judge Harold B. Fink from the bench for 17 counts of alleged
misconduct in 1987.

Leber had filed the initial report with the Judicial Inquiry and
Review Board seeking the removal of Fink. Easton’s attorney, Samuel
Stretton, represented Fink.

In the Fink case, the state Supreme Court issued a statement
that judges ” … do not legislate their own rules and statutes.
Rather they are impartial arbiters under the precedents, rules of
court, and statutes of this Commonwealth to insure that those who
appear before them receive justice. The power of a judge is
enormous, and concomitantly, no position in our society demands
higher standards.”

Some of the allegations involving Fink’s conduct dealt with
Leber. One section of the Court’s opinion on Fink dealt with a time
when Fink and three attorneys tried to discredit Leber, who was
district attorney at that time also. The men, according to the
Supreme Court’s opinion at the time, tried to have a convicted
criminal testify that Leber was involved with drugs.

Fink had Leber investigated by the attorney general’s office in
1984 for drugs; Leber was cleared of any wrongdoing.

While the Supreme Court did not directly rule on the issues
involving Leber because the previous incidents were sufficient
grounds for removal, the Court did say that “… this conduct
affected the administration of justice in Potter County …”

“The Supreme Court pointed out that Judge Fink’s conduct was ‘a
vindictive attempt to ruin the district attorney’s career,” Leber
said in his response filed Thursday in the Easton case.

Leber alleges that Stretton has “continued the pattern that
began more than 20 years ago” of attempting to discredit him.

Meanwhile, Leber has been defeated for the position of Potter
County district attorney. In January, Harold Fink’s daughter, Dawn
Fink of Coudersport, will take office as district attorney.