Shaner arraigned on perjury, obstruction
Retired Fayette County Magisterial District Judge Dwight Shaner was arraigned Friday before Dauphin County Magisterial District Judge William Wenner on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
Wenner set Shaner’s bond at $25,000, unsecured, with a preliminary hearing date of Sept. 22. The charges against Shaner were filed by the state Attorney General’s office following a statewide grand jury investigation.
According to the grand jury presentment that led to the charges, the 71-year-old Shaner allegedly fixed a drunken driving case for the nephew of Fayette County Common Pleas Judge Linda Cordaro in 2011. Cordaro at that time served as the assistant district attorney assigned to Shaner’s office. Cordaro recused herself from hearing the case, but not until the morning of the hearing.
The state trooper who filed the DUI charge testified before the grand jury that he asked for a continuance of the hearing, but that Shaner denied it. Shaner told the grand jury that the trooper never asked for a delay, but that statement was contradicted by the testimony not only of the trooper, but by the defense attorney and the mother of the suspect. Shaner’s long-time secretary testified the she could not recall a similar incident in the 17 years she worked with him that Shaner did not grant a continuance when asked.
Fayette County District Attorney Jack Heneks declined to refile the charges in the DUI case. The DUI charges against Cordaro’s nephew, Robert Rudnik, was eventually prosecuted by the state Attorney General’s office following a complaint that the case had been fixed. Rudnik entered a guilty plea in 2013.
When asked if any additional individuals were expected to be charged in the case, Attorney General’s office spokesman J.J. Abbott said his office could neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation.
Shaner had served as a magisterial district judge for 26 years at the time of the incident.