Attorney Al Flora Jr. stood outside a federal courthouse in Scranton 10 years ago and declared victory on behalf of former Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. after a jury acquitted him of 27 of 39 charges.
The veteran lawyer insisted the jury validated the defenseâs claims the case was never about âcash for kids.â
But, a decade later, Flora concedes the kids-for-cash label damaged Ciavarella in the court of public opinion and proved to be a major obstacle to overcome at trial.
Truly, he said the defense knew anything but a total acquittal would be a major blow to Ciavarella and assure a lengthy federal prison sentence for the former judge. Flora said his victory declaration â despite Ciavarellaâs conviction on 12 charges, including racketeering â was done mainly to appease the former judge, who adamantly wanted to take his case to trial to fight the kids-for-cash theory, which he vehemently denies to this day.