Barletta headed for stand (Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice)

BY WADE MALCOLM
Staff Writer

Unlike a criminal trial, pleading the Fifth Amendment doesn’t apply in a lawsuit.

Even if it did, Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, who is expected to testify today in the William J. Nealon Federal Building, likely would not take it.

He’s eager to defend the city’s right to punish businesses employing and landlords renting to illegal immigrants.

“I’m chomping at the bit,” he said during a recess Tuesday in the case of Lozano v. City of Hazleton.

Mr. Barletta, who proposed the original ordinance, will be the second witness to take the stand today when court resumes at 9 a.m., said the attorneys challenging the ordinance on the grounds it violates the constitution and civil rights laws.

In a likely preview of what lies ahead for Mr. Barletta, an attorney opposing the city questioned Hazleton City Council President Joseph Yanuzzi for about three hours Tuesday.

The plaintiffs’ attorneys expect Mr. Barletta’s testimony to begin before noon and last the rest of the day.

“Mayor Barletta will be on the stand quite some time,” said plaintiff attorney Thomas Wilkinson, after peppering Mr. Yanuzzi with questions the entire afternoon. “We have a lot of questions to ask, and he has a lot of issues to address.”

Mr. Barletta’s opposition will call him as a “hostile witness.” The testimony will be treated as a cross-examination, meaning he can be asked leading questions.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Witold J. Walczak referred to Mr. Barletta unfavorably several times during his opening argument, calling him “opportunistic.”

Prior to the trial, Mr. Walczak, who successfully argued the 2005 Dover intelligent design case, questioned Mr. Barletta for more than eight hours over two days.

After the close of Tuesday’s arguments, Mr. Barletta spent about an hour reviewing trial briefs with his attorneys before making the 40-mile drive south on Interstate 81 to Hazleton — the city he said he has only wished to protect ever since he proposed the ordinance in June.

“I don’t really need any more preparation,” Mr. Barletta said outside the courtroom Tuesday. “I’ve done this for months. I could talk about it in my sleep. I’ve been through all of this before.”

Mr. Barletta has indeed always been the central figure in the debate. Dozens of newspapers have quoted Mr. Barletta, and he has been a guest on numerous cable and national television news programs. He has spread his message as a keynote speaker at banquets and fundraisers around the state.

Today could be decidedly different.

Mr. Barletta will not control the discourse, as he would at a dinner function, nor can he as easily dodge questions.

Instead, he will be confined to a witness box and cross-examined by an opposing attorney, forced to answer the questions as asked. In fact, he said today would be the first time he has ever testified in court.

“I’m expecting them to twist words and change meanings as they have throughout,” he said of the opposing attorneys. “But their own plaintiffs dispelled the accusations (against him). I’ll be happy to talk about everything again.”