The following is part of an interesting email we received from Andrew D. Stine [formerly prisoner number CM 6376]. In it he expresses his personal opinions of, and his personal experiences with Correale F. Stevens. While we are happy to give him a forum, we have no knowledge of the facts of this matter.
Before being elected to the Superior Court (Pennsylvania's lower appellate court) in 1997, Stevens was the District Attorney of Luzerne County (Wilkes-Barre). As often happens the prosecutor was elected a judge of the county court. This typical matriculation of a prosecutor into a judgeship has the frightening effect of predisposing the whole "justice" system toward conviction and punishment. All the judges have oppressor's hearts.
My scan of the published cases reveals nothing noteworthy to Steven's record.
"Judge [Correale F.] Stevens is the most corrupt in the system!
"I was accused of beating up a Pennsylvania State Trooper by the name of Francis Sanfillipo. This judge allowed [Sanfillipo's fellow] troopers to [attend the trial] in numbers of 50+. My lawyer fought vigorously to have them removed, but the Judge said 'NO WAY!' He allowed them to stay. He even allowed Sanfillipo to testify in his State Trooper uniform, even though the altercation occurred while Sanfillipo was off duty and dressed in civilian clothes.
"I'm sure the jury was impressed by all this [official] nonsense and [the cop] brotherhood!
"I was convicted of aggravated assault. [Although] I had no prior record, this lovely judge sentenced me to 3 to 10 years! He went outside the [sentencing] guidelines to sentence a 'first time criminal' (his words).
"Throughout all court proceedings, I maintained my innocence and indicated that Sanfillipo was the aggressor. I was indeed just defending myself. On appeal the Superior Court ruled in my favor and threw the case back into Steven's lap [Commonwealth v Stine, 674 A2d 320, 1995, we looked it up].
"In the meantime, [state cop] Sanfillipo was arrested for aggravated assault against a Scranton cop, aggravated assault against a DEA agent, Catherine Marrone, [and] various other charges including federal and state drug charges. Well, of course, Sanfillipo coped a plea for snitch information and was sentenced to only 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 years. He is now in SCI-Waynemart.
"As for myself, I had all charges "nolle processed" [dropped] and went back to college. I will graduate this May with a degree in Political Science from King's College. Then I'm off to law school. I want to practice criminal law because of my burning desire to protect those accused of criminal activity. Those [who are] accused do not receive fair trails in most instances thanks to judges like Correale Stevens. He is now a Superior Court judge and, quite frankly, I'm scared because of his lack of knowledge in criminal law.
[I believe that] "the vengeance that Stevens showed toward me [was] to increase his political name [because of] the high profile of the case. [It] cost me the woman I was going to wed [and two years with my family]. I lost everything, but today, I'm struggling back to become what I could have been 5 years ago if Correale Stevens would [have] been a just and honest man."
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