McKean County Court stenographer Diane Cheatle has resigned from
her position and is facing a hearing Monday in front of President
Judge John Cleland to answer for unfinished work.

According to court records, a “rule to show cause” hearing is
scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Monday in courtroom 2 at the McKean County
Courthouse in Smethport.

The order, dated Wednesday, reads, “it appearing that
transcripts and court orders have not been completed in accordance
with previous assurances made by Diane Cheatle to the court; and it
further appearing she has not returned phone calls or responded to
e-mails requesting information regarding the status of the
outstanding work; therefore a rule is issued (directing) Diane
Cheatle to appear and show cause why she should not be held in
civil contempt of court and appropriate conditions imposed to
assure that her duties and responsibilities to the court are
satisfied.”

Cheatle will be represented at the hearing by Smethport attorney
Dan Wertz.

Cheatle resigned from her position as of Oct. 20, according to
Court Administrator Joanne Bly, who added Cheatle had relocated to
Alabama.

Bly did not immediately have Cheatle’s starting date but said
she believed she had been with the county since 1998 or 1999.

Cheatle’s salary for 2006 was set at $39,330.

Looking at various court dockets available on the Internet
through the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, there are
several examples of criminal cases which are awaiting the
preparation of transcripts.

For example, post conviction hearings were held in February and
in March in the case of James McMahon, who was convicted of
murdering another man in a bar fight in 2001. On March 10, Cleland
ordered transcripts from those hearings to be prepared before the
filing of a third amended petition by McMahon’s attorney.

That order is the last entry in the docket, apparently
signifying nothing else has been entered since March 10.

Multiple cases on appeal to Superior Court are awaiting
transcripts before they can be sent for the appeal. In several
instances, there are notices reading that a letter has been sent to
the trial judge regarding delinquent records.

Meanwhile, Bly explained that Cheatle’s position will not be
filled.

“We’re going to use our digital recording system we have in both
courtrooms,” Bly said. She explained Terri Dodge has already been
hired to monitor the recording equipment and has been taping court
proceedings since Cheatle’s departure.

Apparently, this is a method used by several other counties as
well, including Venango, Pike and Bradford, Bly said.

“Court reporters are hard to come by in this area,” she
said.

With the digital recording equipment, the court proceedings are
recorded onto a computer hard drive. If something needs to be
transcribed, it can be saved onto a computer disk and hired out for
transcription if necessary, Bly said.

“Venango County, they’ve been doing this for years,” she said.
“We’ll see how it works.”