As a result of the district attorney’s new lawsuit against multiple county officials, Centre County Common Pleas Judge Pamela Ruest is no longer hearing criminal cases.
Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller is suing Ruest and 11 other defendants for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to defame her and ruin her professional reputation. Shortly after the lawsuit was announced on Friday, Ruest recused herself from all criminal cases to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
“What’s happened is that Judge Ruest has said she thinks it creates the appearance of impropriety for her to be involved in cases where the commonwealth, represented by the district attorney, is involved,” says Centre County President Judge Tom Kistler.
Kistler says Ruest will instead handle other kinds of cases, such as family law and civil litigation. She may also be able to preside over criminal arraignments, which involves informing accused criminals of their rights and would not pose any potential conflict with the distinct attorney.
Court Administrator Kendra Miknis says court officials are currently working to redistribute cases and rearrange judges’ schedules to accommodate this new situation, but adds that the process is ongoing. Miknis adds that Ruest did not give a timeframe for how long her voluntarily recusal might last.
The two remaining judges who can hear criminal cases – Judge Kistler and Judge Jonathan Grine – will take on the criminal cases originally scheduled to heard by Judge Ruest. Kistler adds that the county will also use more senior judges and out-of-county judges to help lighten the load, but will try to not rely too heavily on outside judges.
“This does put us in a difficult situation,” Kistler acknowledged. “Having a lot of lead time to make these kinds of institutional changes is one thing, but to be in position where we had to have this done by Monday is another.”
Judge Ruest is now the second common pleas judge who will not hear criminal cases, leaving half of the county’s judges limited in their abilities.
Judge Bradley Lunsford was barred from hearing criminal cases by an order from Kistler last December, although the reasoning behind that order was not made public. Kistler says Lunsford, who is seeking retention by the voters, now predominately handles custody cases.
Kistler says its common for larger counties to divide their judges into certain specialties, but that such divisions are unusual for a county with only four judges.
Judge Ruest did not immediately return requests for comment.
