Candidate stays mum for grand jury
Lackawanna County judge candidate Patti Grande Rieder declined again Wednesday to state the reasons the court administrator gave for firing her 19 months ago as a clerk to a county judge.
Ms. Rieder, who testified before the grand jury, said the reasons are the subject of a federal grand jury investigation. She is not a target of the investigation, she said, but promised federal prosecutors she would not talk publicly about her testimony, which included the reasons for her firing.
"I can tell you this, that the circumstances of my dismissal, as was recently reported, are now the subject of an investigation in front of the grand jury into witness tampering and obstruction of justice," Ms. Grande Rieder said during an interview with The Times-Tribune editorial board. "So I've been asked not to comment on those circumstances because that investigation is ongoing."
The Times-Tribune reported in late February sources told the newspaper President Judge Thomas J. Munley testified about the firing of Ms. Rieder and fellow clerk Judith Lettieri on Oct. 18, 2011, by county Court Administrator Ron Mackay. Both women worked for Judge Chester T. Harhut, President Judge Thomas Munley's predecessor as president judge.
Judge Munley reinstated both women less than a month later, saying he never authorized their firing. He said their dismissal was "inappropriate" and apologized, reinstating them with full pay and uninterrupted benefits.
The two clerks also reached a settlement with the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts that paid Ms. Rieder $29,855 and Ms. Lettieri $22,000.
For reasons that remain largely unknown, Mr. Mackay fired both women only days after they were subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.
No law forbids witnesses before grand juries from speaking publicly about their testimony, but Ms. Rieder said she promised prosecutors silence so as not to interfere with the investigation.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@ timesshamrock.com