Dems question Corbetts endorsement of Madeira

Mike JosephThe head of the state Democratic Party on Friday attacked Attorney
General Tom Corbett and Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira over
Corbett’s plan to endorse Madeira’s bid for re-election.

The Democratic chairman, T.J. Rooney, said in a news release that Corbett’s plan is
a conflict of interest because “there is a grand jury investigation of an assistant
Centre County district attorney’s misconduct.”

“District Attorney Madeira is still responsible for the conduct of his office and its
officers,” Rooney said. “For state Attorney General Corbett to appear publicly for a
political endorsement smacks directly of a conflict of interest and shows extremely
poor judgment on his part and Madeira’s.”

Madeira, a Republican, said Rooney’s claim is inaccurate.

“The office is not under investigation. Former Assistant District Attorney Lance
Marshall is under investigation. It is factually inaccurate,” Madeira said.

“I am disappointed,” Madeira added, “that the state Democratic Party has decided
to get involved in a local race through character assassination because they don’t
want to discuss the facts about how safe Centre County has become in the last four
years.”

Marshall resigned from the District Attorney’s Office on Dec. 30 after 10 years as an
assistant prosecutor. The state Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation
into Marshall following allegations that surfaced earlier this year that he had sent
sexually explicit text messages to a victim of domestic violence.

Corbett, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, plans to headline a
Madeira fund-raiser — $200 per person or $350 per couple — Sunday at a State
College restaurant, according to a Madeira campaign announcement.

Attorney General’s Office spokesman Kevin Harley said Friday that Corbett will
endorse Madeira, a first-term incumbent being challenged by State College criminal
defense attorney Stacy Parks Miller, a Democrat. Parks Miller could not be reached
for comment.

Harley said Marshall is under investigation for alleged misconduct but the District
Attorney’s Office is not under investigation.

He said the Attorney General’s Office investigates assistant district attorneys “on a
regular basis.” He said county prosecutors have to refer such cases to the Attorney
General’s Office to avoid a conflict of interest. “In this case, the assistant district
attorney was fired,” Harley said.

“You would think that T.J. Rooney would know that, but I’m sure he’s quite ignorant
of the law,” Harley said.

The Democratic Party’s statement also faulted Madeira for “poor political
judgment,” saying “he showed up at a fundraiser for the children of a murdered
father with campaign literature to push his candidacy while he prosecutes the
case.”

The “fundraiser” was a benefit Sunday in Spring Mills for the children of Samuel
Boob, who was shot to death Aug. 23 at his Tusseyville Road home. Boob family
members and Madeira said the campaign materials were not brought to the event
by Madeira, but by Boob’s mother, Eva Boob. They said Madeira did not campaign
at the event.

Ben Cort, Boob’s brother-in-law, agreed. “My mother-in-law brought it — her

support for him (Madeira) goes back way before any of this,” Cort said. “There was
absolutely nothing political, there was no political motivation in Mike being there.”

Eva Boob could not be reached for comment.