Dates

• Existence: 1973 - 1974

biographical statement

On February 6, 1973, the Committee to Investigate the Administration of Justice was authorized by House Resolution No. 21. This Resolution created a five-man committee to study the efficiency and effectiveness of Pennsylvania Law Enforcement. The committee was formed in response to recent suspicions of criminal acts carried out by the Pennsylvania State Police in a wiretapping incident. Speaker of the House, Kenneth B. Lee appointed H. Joseph Hepford (chairman), Eugene R. Geesey, Russell J. LaMarca, Joseph Rhodes Jr. and David M. Turner to the committee. The committee also had three professional investigators, James R. Malley (Chief Investigator), Dale S. Thompson (Investigator), and Downey Rice (Counsel). The committee was created as a fact-finding group whose purpose was to create legislation. Public and executive hearings were held in order to expose the weaknesses of the criminal justice system not to prosecute authorities.

The first case investigated by the committee was the King of Prussia Wiretapping Case. In late 1972 in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, the PA Crime Commission was investigating the PA State Police and Commissioner Rocco Urella for solicitation. The Crime Commission agents were staying at the George Washington Motor Lodge during the investigation. State Police officers under the direction of Urella allegedly wiretapped the rooms occupied by the commission agents. The wiretaps surfaced and internal fighting began in the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice System. The committee was first created to deal with this case. There were eight public and executive hearings on the wiretapping incident. The information revealed in the King of Prussia Case allowed for additional cases by the committee. Additional cases are the Kapleau Wiretapping Case, State Police Civic Association Case, FOP Solicitation Case, the Angelo Carcaci Case, and various Governor’s Justice Commission Cases.

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