Federal prosecutors can obtain information on tax and criminal law classes taken by former Lackawanna County guardian ad litem Danielle Ross, but other documents related to extracurricular activities and disciplinary reports are off-limits, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo agreed with prosecutors that some information they sought is relevant to the prosecution of Mrs. Ross on tax-evasion charges. But he limited the information they can obtain, agreeing with Mrs. Ross that a subpoena issued to Widener University School of Law was too broad.
The decision is among several pretrial rulings Judge Caputo issued Tuesday. He also granted Mrs. Ross' request that prosecutors disclose any information they have that might impeach the credibility of their witnesses, but denied her request to learn the identity of the witnesses.
Ms. Ross, 36, served as a court-appointed advocate to represent children in parent custody disputes. A grand jury indicted her in February on charges she failed to disclose about $200,000 in parents' payments from 2009 to 2010.
The U.S. attorney's office sought her law school records, arguing they were pertinent because she has claimed any errors on her tax returns were caused by her husband's inadequate tax preparation skills. The government said the records would show she was well-versed in tax and criminal law. Judge Caputo agreed some of the information is relevant but limited the disclosure to records that show when Mrs. Ross graduated from law school or completed courses in criminal or tax law.
Contact the writer: tbesecker@timesshamrock.com