00:27 - Pennsylvania is home to some of

00:29 - the most beautiful courthouses

00:30 - in America.

00:32 - It's rare when politics, art,

00:34 - and law meet at the front door,

00:36 - but it happens in the Keystone

00:38 - State.

00:39 - For more than 125 years the

00:41 - County Commissioners Association

00:43 - of Pennsylvania has carried the

00:45 - legacy. Pennsylvania's historic

00:47 - courthouses.

00:58 - Welcome to Lawrence County.

01:00 - I'm County Commissioner Dan

01:01 - Vogler. With me today are my

01:03 - colleagues Commissioner Robert

01:04 - Del Signer and Commissioner

01:06 - Steve Craig.

01:07 - We're so glad to have you here

01:09 - in New Castle, Pennsylvania.

01:11 - We're standing in front of our

01:12 - original courthouse that was

01:14 - constructed in 1852.

01:17 - And later in the program today

01:18 - you'll have our president Judge

01:20 - Dominic Mahto show you some of

01:21 - our historic courtrooms.

01:24 - Lawrence County was formed in

01:26 - 1849. It was formed with parts

01:30 - of Mercer County and Beaver

01:31 - County and we'll actually talk a

01:32 - little bit more about that later

01:33 - in the program as well.

01:35 - But we're glad to have you with

01:36 - us and we think you'll learn a

01:38 - lot about our beautiful

01:39 - courthouse and we invite you to

01:41 - visit Lawrence County at any

01:42 - time.

01:44 - Hello my name is Robert Del

01:45 - Signor, I'm and county

01:47 - commissioner of Lawrence County

01:49 - Pennsylvania.

01:50 - We're located in the city of

01:51 - Newcastle right on the outskirts

01:54 - of our downtown.

01:56 - We welcome you folks being here

01:58 - and going over this facility and

02:02 - I might add at this point the

02:04 - facility is going to get a major

02:05 - makeover.

02:07 - We just had a contract for a

02:10 - complete restoration of the

02:11 - outside of the facility.

02:13 - So what you see today I think

02:16 - it's going to be even greater.

02:17 - So we would absolutely ask you

02:20 - if you're traveling through this

02:22 - area stop by and visit.

02:25 - Thank you.

02:28 - Thank you it's my great pleasure

02:29 - to be with you today here in

02:30 - Lawrence County at our

02:31 - courthouse.

02:32 - But I've got to say as important

02:34 - as this campus is it is this

02:35 - building is it's really the

02:37 - people of this organization that

02:39 - make it work.

02:40 - I've had the great pleasure to

02:42 - be affiliated with Lawrence

02:44 - County now for over 31 years.

02:47 - I started here as a janitor

02:48 - working for Mr. Frank McCary who

02:50 - is still our director of

02:51 - maintenance.

02:52 - It's been 31 years of working

02:55 - for the county.

02:56 - I've enjoyed every minute of it.

02:58 - It's a great place to work.

02:59 - It's a great place to live here

03:01 - in Lawrence County.

03:02 - And we hope you all come back.

03:08 - We're standing right now on

03:09 - County Line street.

03:11 - The courthouse is over here to

03:12 - my left. The reason this street

03:15 - is named County Line Street as

03:17 - we mentioned at the beginning

03:19 - Lawrence County was formed in

03:20 - 1849 taking the northern part of

03:24 - Beaver County and the southern

03:26 - part of Mercer County combining

03:28 - the two to create a new county.

03:30 - County Line Street is actually

03:32 - the old County Line that divided

03:35 - Beaver County and Mercer County.

03:36 - So right now I'm standing where

03:38 - Mercer County used to be.

03:40 - And right over there is where

03:41 - Beaver County used to be.

03:43 - So it's interesting that when

03:44 - they built the original

03:45 - courthouse they built it very

03:46 - close to the old County Line

03:48 - Road.

03:52 - Right now we're standing at the

03:53 - rear of the original courthouse

03:57 - and you'll notice over my

03:58 - shoulder is the beautiful clock

04:01 - tower.

04:02 - And actually that is the second

04:03 - clock tower that's been there

04:06 - when the courthouse was

04:07 - originally built in the 1950s.

04:09 - There was a clock tower and it

04:11 - lasted almost 100 years.

04:14 - In the 1950s the county's

04:16 - engineer determined that the

04:18 - weight of the clock tower was

04:19 - putting stress on the roof and

04:21 - creating a potentially dangerous

04:23 - situation.

04:24 - So the commissioners in the

04:25 - 1950s removed the clock tower in

04:30 - the 1990s.

04:31 - One of my former fellow

04:34 - commissioners took it upon

04:35 - himself to initiate a

04:38 - replacement of the clocktower

04:39 - and they build it as you see it

04:41 - today.

04:41 - It's an exact replica of what

04:43 - had been there before and we're

04:45 - glad to have it back at it.

04:46 - It completes the courthouse and

04:48 - it makes it look like a

04:49 - courthouse should look like some

04:55 - very interesting history about

04:56 - our original courthouse as we've

04:58 - noted it was built in the early

04:59 - 1850s. By the 1930s.

05:03 - The courthouse was full of

05:05 - employees and they didn't have a

05:07 - whole lot of room in which to

05:08 - work.

05:09 - The Board of Commissioners at

05:10 - that time looked at a number of

05:12 - options.

05:12 - They thought about adding them

05:13 - onto the original building.

05:15 - They even gave consideration to

05:17 - tearing down the original

05:19 - courthouse and constructing a

05:20 - new one.

05:21 - And they went so far as to put

05:23 - together some architectural

05:24 - drawings of what the new

05:27 - building might look like.

05:29 - Fortunately in hindsight they

05:31 - didn't do that.

05:32 - And we were able to keep the

05:33 - building that's still standing

05:35 - there welcome to the Lawrence

05:39 - County Government Center.

05:40 - My name is Dominic Mahto and I

05:42 - am the president judge of the

05:43 - Lawrence County Court of Common

05:45 - Pleas.

05:46 - The 53 judicial district I'm

05:48 - very excited today to have this

05:50 - opportunity to share with you

05:52 - some history of what I know and

05:54 - have learned about the Lawrence

05:56 - County court system in Lawrence

05:58 - County. Lawrence County was

06:00 - created by an act of the General

06:02 - Assembly in March of 1849 and

06:06 - immediately upon the creation of

06:07 - the county a contract was let

06:09 - out for the construction of what

06:11 - we refer to as the old

06:13 - courthouse which is to my left

06:15 - here.

06:16 - It's interesting that the

06:17 - original contract for

06:19 - construction of this building

06:21 - was for twelve thousand dollars

06:23 - but when construction was funny

06:24 - completed in 1852 the actual

06:27 - cost was thirty two thousand

06:29 - dollars.

06:30 - Because of additions that

06:31 - included these fluted pillars

06:34 - sandstone pillars and the clock

06:36 - tower which is on top of the

06:38 - courthouse.

06:40 - Although Lawrence County was

06:41 - created in 1849 we were not our

06:45 - own judicial district.

06:46 - Initially we were joined into

06:49 - the 17th Judicial District which

06:51 - consisted of Butler County,

06:54 - Mercer County, Beaver County,

06:55 - and then Lawrence County.

06:58 - The first session of court was

07:00 - held the first Monday of January

07:02 - 1850.

07:03 - But this courthouse was at that

07:05 - time under construction.

07:07 - So the first court session was

07:10 - held in the Methodist Church

07:12 - located on Schaeffer's street

07:14 - Jefferson Street in downtown

07:15 - Newcastle and the presiding

07:17 - judge was John Brayden and a

07:19 - judge from Butler County since

07:21 - at that time we had no Lawrence

07:22 - County judges.

07:24 - What's interesting about this

07:26 - courthouse is that prior to the

07:28 - Civil War it was a stopover

07:31 - place for the Underground

07:32 - Railroad the Lawrence County

07:34 - Historical Society reports that

07:38 - there was a room under the

07:40 - Pathom Terry's office of the old

07:41 - courthouse that was called the

07:43 - dungeon in the cellar and that

07:46 - was where runaway slaves or

07:47 - slaves that were being helped to

07:49 - escape to Canada or other free

07:51 - states were held along the route

07:53 - of the Underground Railroad.

07:55 - Also this courthouse was made

07:56 - available to abolitionists and

07:59 - one of the associate judges at

08:00 - that time Judge whip who was an

08:03 - abolitionist would hold meetings

08:04 - of the Free Soil Party which was

08:07 - an antislavery group.

08:09 - Lawrence County did not become

08:11 - its own separate judicial

08:12 - district until 1893 and that

08:15 - year Lawrence County was

08:16 - designated as the 50 First

08:18 - Judicial District.

08:20 - However there was an error in

08:21 - the numbering as both Lawrence

08:22 - and Lebanon counties were both

08:24 - designated as fifty first

08:25 - district.

08:26 - Since we could not have since

08:28 - both counties cannot have the

08:29 - same number.

08:30 - Then after that Lawrence County

08:31 - was renumbered numbered to be

08:32 - the fifty third Judicial

08:34 - District.

08:35 - As we are today. Judge Aaron

08:37 - Hazen was by appointment the

08:39 - first presiding judge of the of

08:41 - that district and then in the

08:43 - election of 1895 William D

08:45 - Wallace was the first elected

08:47 - Lawrence County judge.

08:49 - And since we were one judge

08:50 - county at that time he was the

08:52 - president judge.

08:53 - Now I should note that when the

08:55 - original courthouse was built it

08:57 - only extended to the end of

08:59 - those pillars that we see here

09:00 - to my left.

09:02 - With the addition of a second

09:04 - judgeship in 1927 this building

09:08 - was subject to an addition in

09:11 - order to add an additional

09:12 - courtroom for the second judge

09:14 - so that ignition is the area

09:16 - that extends beyond that last

09:18 - fluted pillar.

09:20 - Lawrence County remained a two

09:22 - judge county until 1985 when a

09:26 - third judgeship was added

09:29 - referred to as the new

09:30 - courthouse which is the newer

09:32 - modern building behind this old

09:34 - courthouse.

09:34 - That building was constructed

09:36 - with construction completed in

09:38 - 1978.

09:40 - Now at that time we were

09:42 - stewards to judge county.

09:44 - So when that building was

09:45 - constructed two courtrooms were

09:48 - constructed courtroom one

09:49 - courtroom.

09:50 - Two of the new courthouse but

09:52 - space was left for a third

09:53 - judgeship that was anticipated

09:55 - to be coming at some future

09:57 - point in time.

09:59 - But it wasn't outfitted as a

10:00 - courtroom was just a space left

10:03 - for what would eventually be

10:05 - courtroom 3.

10:07 - Now with the new judge added in

10:09 - 1985 what was done.

10:12 - The interior of the courtroom of

10:14 - the original courtroom one was

10:17 - taken out and reinstalled in

10:20 - what then became courtroom three

10:22 - with the third judgeship.

10:24 - Lawrence County then acquired a

10:26 - fourth judgeship in the year

10:29 - 2001 and the fourth judge was

10:32 - located in what used to be

10:33 - courtroom.

10:34 - Two of the original courthouse

10:37 - with some modifications that

10:38 - we'll talk about later.

10:41 - So now we are presently a four

10:43 - judge County and I'm pleased to

10:45 - serve with my associate judges

10:48 - Judge J. Craig Cox, Judge John

10:51 - W. Hodge and Judge David H.

10:55 - Acker. Which brings us to the

10:56 - present day when the new

10:58 - courthouse was being

10:59 - constructed.

11:00 - As I said we were still a two

11:02 - judge County and a sitting

11:03 - judges at that time were Judge

11:05 - John Henderson and Judge Howard

11:08 - Lyons.

11:09 - What's interesting is that those

11:11 - two judges never had the

11:12 - opportunity to sit and hear any

11:14 - case in the new courtroom.

11:16 - Unfortunately both judges had

11:18 - heart attacks within months of

11:21 - each other while the

11:21 - construction was going on.

11:23 - Judge Lyons unfortunately died

11:25 - from his heart attack and Judge

11:27 - Henderson because of his health

11:30 - retired at that time.

11:31 - So we went through a period

11:33 - during that construction period

11:35 - and right after until the

11:37 - election of 1980.

11:40 - 1979 where Lawrence County was

11:43 - served by visiting judges who

11:44 - had come here from other

11:45 - counties because of the fact

11:47 - that both sitting judges were

11:48 - unable to serve.

11:50 - So I've given you an overview of

11:52 - the history of the development

11:54 - of Lawrence County courts and

11:55 - what we're going to do now is go

11:57 - inside these buildings so we can

11:59 - take a look at some of the

12:00 - courtrooms we are presently

12:03 - standing in courtroom for

12:06 - although this used to be

12:08 - courtroom two of the original

12:10 - courthouse before the

12:11 - construction of the new

12:13 - courthouse when the original old

12:15 - courthouse was built in

12:17 - completed in 1852.

12:19 - There was one courtroom and

12:21 - again the building had not

12:23 - extended into this audition

12:24 - area.

12:25 - That original courtroom one

12:27 - occupied the entire second floor

12:30 - of the original courthouse.

12:32 - Then with the advent of a second

12:34 - judge as I said in 1927 this

12:37 - edition was created to allow for

12:39 - another courtroom.

12:40 - Now the original courtroom too.

12:42 - Now courtroom for when the

12:44 - addition was created did not

12:46 - look like it did.

12:47 - Now the original courtrooms did

12:49 - not have chambers that were

12:51 - connected to the courtroom the

12:53 - original chambers were located

12:55 - on a mezzanine level.

12:56 - And the judge had the walk from

12:59 - the changer chambers which were

13:00 - both right next to each other

13:02 - down a flight of steps and down

13:04 - the hallway to get to our

13:05 - courtrooms.

13:06 - So when the new courthouse was

13:08 - constructed this courtroom was

13:11 - was preserved.

13:13 - But with some changes.

13:15 - This used to be a very, very

13:16 - large courtroom and about half

13:19 - of that was taken in order to

13:20 - construct a chambers and a

13:23 - secretarial area and a jury room

13:25 - that would be adjacent to the

13:27 - courthouse to this courtroom and

13:29 - those offices then located right

13:31 - behind the judge's bench in that

13:33 - direction.

13:35 - Now one very interesting aspect

13:37 - of this courtroom when it was

13:38 - originally conducted American

13:41 - courtrooms have the jury blocks

13:43 - to the side and you can see here

13:45 - of the jury box just for him.

13:46 - To my left.

13:47 - But when this courtroom was

13:49 - originally constructed it was

13:50 - constructed in what is known as

13:53 - the English style in that the

13:54 - jury box was located in the

13:57 - center of the courtroom and

13:59 - faced the judge's bench.

14:01 - And the idea behind that system

14:03 - was that it was a better

14:05 - location for the jurors to be

14:07 - sitting directly opposite the

14:09 - witnesses they could look

14:10 - directly into the faces of the

14:13 - witnesses as opposed to getting

14:14 - a side view of them.

14:16 - But when this room was

14:18 - reconstructed into again a

14:19 - smaller courtroom because of the

14:21 - need for Chambers in a jury area

14:24 - the jury box was relocated to be

14:25 - more in line with what is known

14:27 - as the American system of

14:29 - courtrooms although this

14:31 - courtroom was constructed in

14:32 - connection with the construction

14:34 - of the new courthouse in 1978.

14:37 - It did not come to be occupied

14:39 - by a sitting judge until the

14:41 - creation of the forced judgeship

14:43 - in the year 2001.

14:46 - And as I indicated this

14:47 - courtroom is presently occupied

14:48 - by Judge David H.A. I am

14:53 - presently standing in what used

14:56 - to be courtroom one of the

14:57 - original courthouse when the

15:01 - courthouse was originally built

15:02 - with construction completed in

15:03 - 1852.

15:06 - This room consists of the soul

15:07 - court room of that building and

15:10 - because the addition had not

15:11 - been put on at that time it's

15:13 - described as being bounded on

15:15 - the east and west by Windows

15:17 - Forsters windows on that side

15:18 - but not on this side to my left

15:20 - because of the addition haven't

15:22 - been subs we put on.

15:24 - Now when that program was

15:25 - originally constructed it did

15:27 - not look exactly like it does

15:30 - today.

15:31 - There is one obscure photograph

15:33 - of remaining.

15:35 - They give us an idea of what

15:36 - that courtroom was like.

15:37 - But if you look at that

15:38 - photograph you can see that

15:40 - there was a balcony in this

15:43 - courtroom and if you look at the

15:45 - photograph it kind of reminds

15:46 - you of the courtroom scene in

15:48 - the movie.

15:49 - To Kill a Mockingbird the old

15:51 - southern quarter and with the

15:52 - large courtroom with a balcony

15:55 - Serana gate with pillars holding

15:57 - up the balcony the only remnant

15:59 - that's left to show evidence of

16:01 - that is there's a closet to my

16:03 - right.

16:04 - And if you look in that closet

16:05 - you'll see steps and the steps

16:08 - seemed to lead up to nowhere.

16:11 - And then in an attic area of

16:13 - this building and those steps

16:15 - were originally steps that would

16:17 - take you up to the balcony that

16:18 - used to be here when the edition

16:22 - was built it appears that that

16:24 - balcony was removed and I

16:26 - suspect that perhaps this

16:27 - courtroom was even reduced a

16:29 - little bit in size in order to

16:31 - accommodate the construction of

16:33 - the second courtroom and in the

16:35 - 1920s.

16:37 - Now as you can see now it looks

16:38 - like pretty much an empty room.

16:41 - And what occurred with the

16:42 - construction of the new

16:43 - courthouse in 1978 courtroom 2

16:49 - was reconstructed via fourth

16:51 - court room and as I said cut

16:53 - them.

16:54 - But with this room.

16:56 - Well actually it was left alone

16:58 - until we obtained the third

17:02 - judgeship in 1985 when that

17:05 - occurred.

17:06 - You recall I mention that with

17:07 - the construction of a new

17:08 - courthouse a shell area was left

17:11 - for an eventual courtroom three

17:13 - so that courtroom 3 was created

17:15 - and everything that was inside

17:17 - of this courtroom the bench the

17:20 - witness boxes the jury boxes the

17:23 - rail the pews everything was

17:25 - taken out of this room and

17:27 - transplanted the courtroom

17:28 - through.

17:28 - So when we do look at courtroom

17:30 - 3 although it is in the new

17:32 - courthouse the furniture and

17:33 - interior of it resembles an

17:36 - earlier period because it came

17:37 - from this room when I began

17:40 - practicing law in 1974.

17:42 - I tried cases and both of these

17:44 - courtrooms because a new

17:45 - courthouse had not been built at

17:47 - that time.

17:48 - And I can specifically recall

17:50 - the layout of this courtroom.

17:52 - You'll see those two plaster

17:54 - pillars and the judge's bench

17:57 - was located in front of those

17:58 - two pillars.

18:00 - And of course the witness box

18:03 - was a side of the judge's bench.

18:05 - The jury box was over here on

18:08 - this wall too over here and

18:09 - there was a rail with a lot of

18:11 - pews going back to this area.

18:13 - You could enter from either the

18:14 - door to my left or the door to

18:17 - the rear.

18:18 - When this became an empty room

18:21 - the law library was placed here

18:24 - and in those days law libraries

18:26 - were all books no computer

18:27 - research back then and this room

18:29 - then was full of law books.

18:31 - But then with the advent of

18:33 - computer research the books

18:35 - aren't necessary because anybody

18:37 - who has access to computer

18:39 - research has more at their

18:40 - fingertips than any one room

18:42 - could possibly hold.

18:44 - So since we have moved a law

18:46 - library to a much smaller room

18:48 - on the third floor of this

18:50 - building we now use this room as

18:53 - a hearing room and you can see

18:54 - that we have set up some tables

18:55 - and chairs to use it as a

18:57 - hearing room.

18:58 - But my hope is that we're going

19:01 - to be able to redo this into a

19:04 - courtroom at some time in the

19:05 - near future.

19:08 - All the walls are intact as they

19:10 - were when I used to try cases in

19:12 - this room as a young attorney.

19:14 - The only thing that's missing is

19:15 - the furniture in the pews and

19:18 - the commissioners and I have

19:19 - been talking about a plan to

19:21 - make this a courtroom once

19:22 - again.

19:24 - I would like to talk about two

19:25 - cases that were tried in this

19:27 - courtroom that received national

19:29 - attention.

19:30 - If you were to ask somebody

19:31 - present day what they thought

19:33 - was the trial of the century for

19:34 - the 20th century they would

19:36 - probably tell you it was the OJ

19:37 - Simpson murder trial.

19:39 - But in reality in the early part

19:41 - of the nineteen hundreds there

19:43 - were two homicides that occurred

19:44 - in Lawrence County that received

19:46 - national attention.

19:48 - The first one I'll talk about

19:49 - involve the prosecution of what

19:52 - is referred to as the Black Hand

19:54 - cases the Black Hand was a mafia

19:57 - type organization that existed

20:00 - in the area of this county known

20:02 - as Hillsville which is the

20:05 - western part of this county.

20:07 - That area was settled by mostly

20:09 - by Italian immigrants who had

20:10 - come to this country to work as

20:13 - quarry men in the limestone

20:15 - mines.

20:16 - Unfortunately some of the

20:17 - country men preyed on them by

20:19 - establishing this mafia type

20:20 - organization and require the

20:23 - immigrants to pay dues extorting

20:25 - money from them in exchange for

20:27 - protection and a few did not

20:29 - comply.

20:30 - You could be met, you or your

20:31 - family could be met with an act

20:33 - of violence.

20:34 - What occurred is that the game

20:37 - warden and that area decided to

20:39 - strictly enforce the gaming laws

20:42 - and to prosecute poachers in

20:43 - that area some of whom were

20:45 - these Italian immigrants and in

20:48 - one event the Seelie how the

20:52 - game warden got into an

20:55 - encounter with a poacher and

20:56 - ended up shooting a hunting dog

20:58 - while this dog turned out to be

21:00 - the prized possession of one.

21:02 - Rocco Sacko who was a higher up

21:05 - in the Blackhand organization

21:07 - several days later the body of

21:10 - silly was found floating in the

21:11 - Mahoning River.

21:13 - And of course Rocco Socko was

21:15 - suspected of committing this

21:17 - murder.

21:18 - The district attorney at that

21:19 - time Charles Young who is the

21:22 - grandfather of an attorney

21:24 - presently practicing in Lawrence

21:25 - County Attorney Charles Mathis

21:27 - Charles Mansel decided to

21:29 - prosecute the Blackhand and

21:32 - enlisted the aid of the

21:34 - Pinkerton detectives a private

21:36 - detective agency and they were

21:38 - able to infiltrate the ranks of

21:40 - the Blackhand organization.

21:43 - Rocco Sacco was charged with the

21:45 - murder of Seelie Houck.

21:47 - He was tried in this courtroom.

21:48 - He was found guilty and he was

21:51 - hanged in the jail that was

21:53 - located in the back of this of

21:55 - the old courthouse the area

21:57 - where the present day court yard

21:58 - is located.

22:00 - The second case that occurred in

22:01 - Lawrence County involved the

22:02 - murder of Corporal Grady Paul.

22:05 - Irene Schroeder and Glenn there

22:07 - were a Bonnie and Clyde like

22:08 - couple. Schroeder was a 20 year

22:12 - old young lady very attractive.

22:15 - And Glenn Dagg was a 33 year old

22:17 - man who had left his family for

22:19 - Irene and they made their living

22:22 - driving around the country

22:23 - stealing cars and committing

22:26 - robberies of various diners and

22:27 - grocery stores and on December

22:29 - 27, 1929.

22:32 - They committed the robbery of a

22:34 - grocery store in the city of

22:36 - Butler.

22:37 - Word came to Lawrence County

22:38 - that they were headed to New

22:40 - Castle.

22:41 - So Corporal Brady Paul was a

22:43 - highway patrolman and he and his

22:46 - partner set up a roadblock on

22:48 - the Butler Newcastle Road.

22:50 - Sure enough they stopped the car

22:52 - driven by this couple.

22:54 - And when he ordered them out of

22:56 - the car the two of them began

22:58 - shooting and Corporal Brady was

23:01 - mortally wounded and his partner

23:02 - was wounded but recovered from

23:04 - his wounds.

23:06 - The two were charged with

23:07 - homicide.

23:08 - Both of their trials took place

23:10 - separately in this courtroom.

23:12 - Both were found guilty and both

23:14 - were executed on the same day.

23:16 - Irene Schroeder was the first

23:18 - woman to be executed in the

23:20 - Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

23:23 - What's interesting about that

23:24 - episode is that the homicide as

23:27 - I said occurred on December 27,

23:29 - 1929. The executions occurred in

23:32 - February of 1931.

23:35 - So it's interesting to think

23:36 - that the time that allows from

23:38 - the time of the commission of

23:40 - the murder to the time of

23:41 - execution was less than 14

23:43 - months.

23:45 - Now that case did receive as I

23:46 - indicated national attention.

23:49 - And one of the reporters who

23:51 - covered the case was a

23:53 - syndicated columnist for The New

23:55 - York Daily News.

23:57 - None other than Ed Sullivan who

23:59 - went on to become a of course a

24:01 - national TV personality.

24:08 - We are not standing in a

24:09 - courtroom.

24:10 - Three of the new courthouse.

24:13 - You'll recall that when I

24:15 - mentioned that when the

24:16 - courthouse was constructed in

24:17 - 1978 we were still a two judge

24:20 - county so courtrooms one and two

24:24 - which are modern looking

24:25 - courtrooms were constructed.

24:27 - And that this area was left as

24:29 - an empty shell for the

24:30 - anticipation that someday there

24:32 - would be a third judgeship and

24:34 - that they came again in 1985.

24:37 - So when it came time to

24:38 - construct this as a courtroom

24:41 - all of the furniture from the

24:42 - old courtroom one in the old

24:44 - courthouse was used to construct

24:46 - this courtroom.

24:47 - So the bench, the furniture from

24:53 - the bench, the witness box, the

24:56 - bar, the jury box, and all these

24:59 - pews everything that you see

25:01 - here in this courtroom as

25:02 - furniture was originally in the

25:05 - original courtroom one and

25:06 - transplanted here.

25:09 - This courtroom does have some

25:10 - sentimental value for me because

25:12 - when I was initially appointed

25:15 - as a judge first taking office

25:16 - in 1995 I was the third judge

25:19 - and a three judge County.

25:21 - And this was the courtroom that

25:23 - I first occupied I occupied

25:25 - discordant for about five years

25:27 - until one of our more senior

25:30 - judges retired and then I moved

25:33 - over to courtroom 2.

25:34 - At that time this courtroom 3 is

25:38 - presently the courtroom of Judge

25:41 - John W. Hodge and wonder.

25:43 - Interesting fact note about

25:45 - Judge Hodge and myself is that

25:47 - we were roommates in law school.

25:52 - We are presently in the

25:53 - attorney's lounge located in the

25:56 - new courthouse and this wall of

25:59 - pictures are photographs of all

26:02 - of the judges that have served.

26:03 - Lawrence County and are not

26:05 - currently sitting on the bench

26:07 - since the creation of the

26:08 - county.

26:09 - So the first picture would be to

26:11 - photograph of Judge Daniel

26:13 - Agnew.

26:14 - And it stated that he served

26:15 - from 1852 to 1863.

26:20 - Now he would not have been the

26:21 - first judge to reside in

26:22 - Lawrence County. John Bridge of

26:23 - Butler County would have been

26:25 - because we were not our own

26:27 - judicial district.

26:27 - But Judge Agnew would have been

26:29 - the first Lawrence County

26:30 - resident to become a judge and

26:33 - serve Lawrence County.

26:34 - Now as I have indicated we

26:36 - became our own separate judicial

26:37 - district in 1893 and the first

26:41 - Lawrence County judge to be

26:42 - elected after we became our own

26:44 - Judicial District Judge William

26:46 - D was elected in 1895 serving

26:49 - until 1994.

26:51 - That's his photograph there.

26:54 - So in order to get your picture

26:57 - on this wall you have to be

26:58 - retired.

26:59 - That's why my picture is not

27:00 - there this time.

27:01 - I will note that the two judges

27:04 - who are on the bench when I

27:05 - first began practicing are Judge

27:08 - Henderson and Judge Lyons and

27:09 - you'll recall I mentioned that

27:11 - they were serving when the new

27:13 - courthouse was being constructed

27:14 - but never had the opportunity to

27:16 - sit as a judge in a new

27:18 - courthouse because they had

27:19 - their medical issues and one

27:22 - passed away and one retired as a

27:24 - result of that during the

27:25 - construction phase.

27:31 - We are now standing in courtroom

27:33 - one and we are in the new

27:35 - courthouse.

27:36 - I've been referring to the new

27:38 - construction as a new courthouse

27:39 - built in 1978.

27:41 - And this is my courtroom.

27:42 - This is a courtroom that I

27:44 - occupy when the new courthouse

27:48 - was built in 1978.

27:49 - There were two sitting judges

27:50 - and two courtrooms were

27:52 - constructed courtroom to the

27:56 - other courtroom and that is

27:57 - presently occupied by Judge J.

27:59 - Craig Cox.

28:01 - And what you would note first of

28:02 - all these courtrooms have a very

28:05 - modern look.

28:05 - We've been in some of the others

28:07 - and with the older furniture it

28:09 - has more of it and take.

28:10 - Look this has more of the look

28:12 - and feel of a modern courtroom.

28:14 - If he would go over and see

28:16 - courtroom 2 you would know that

28:19 - courtroom 2 looks almost

28:20 - identical to this courtroom.

28:22 - Maybe just a shade smaller and

28:26 - the only other difference

28:26 - between courtroom 1 and 2 is the

28:28 - location of the jury box in this

28:31 - courtroom the jury box to the

28:32 - left of the judge in a courtroom

28:34 - to the jury boxes to the right

28:36 - of the judge.

28:36 - Otherwise the setup is almost

28:39 - identical.

28:41 - Having served in three of the

28:44 - courtrooms and having tried

28:45 - cases at one time or another and

28:47 - all the courtrooms.

28:49 - What I really like about this

28:50 - courtroom and courtroom too

28:51 - occupied by Judge Cox is that

28:54 - they are very very comparable

28:55 - places to try cases particularly

28:57 - with a jury.

28:59 - There's lots of room there's

29:01 - room for the attorneys to

29:02 - maneuver today with technology.

29:06 - When we try complicated cases

29:08 - such as medical malpractice

29:09 - cases oftentimes technology is

29:12 - brought into the courtroom and

29:14 - there's plenty of room to put up

29:15 - screens and projectors and that

29:17 - type of thing so that

29:19 - illustrations of evidence can be

29:21 - made to the jury.

29:22 - I can truly say that I have

29:24 - thoroughly enjoyed serving in

29:25 - this courtroom on behalf of my

29:32 - fellow commissioners Bob and

29:34 - Steve.

29:34 - I want to thank all of you for

29:36 - joining us for today's tour.

29:38 - We welcome you to Lawrence

29:39 - County at any time and we'd be

29:41 - glad to personally show you

29:43 - around our courthouse and our

29:45 - community.

29:46 - Thank you very much.