Prosecutor says Eagen dishonored office;
Defense attorney alleges 'big lie' by DA

That view was countered with a charge by attorney William Costopoulos, Mr. Eagen's attorney, that Lackawanna County District Attorney Michael Barrasse used "the big lie to take Eagen down" so he could run for his judgeship.

The opposing spins were presented by the attorneys in their opening statements at the trial of Mr. Eagen, who is also charged with interfering with the investigation that resulted in his arrest.

Both attorneys presented unflattering portrayals of Scranton.

"You can't do anything in that town that doesn't show up in the newspaper," Mr. Blessington said in an effort to deflect the expected defense emphasis on leaks from a grand jury investigation.

Mr. Costopoulos said politics in the city are so important the district attorney did not think twice about "bringing down" a sitting judge for his own advancement.

Senior Judge Barry Feudale of Northumberland County is presiding at the trial, which was moved from Lackawanna County due to heavy pre-trial publicity.

After satisfying himself that none of the prospective jurors knew about the case, the judge on Tuesday did private questioning of individual potential jurors. At 5:20 p.m., court aides announced the panel of 12 jurors and two alternates was complete.

As the trial continues, Mr. Blessington is expected to portray Mr. Eagen as a corrupt judge who profited from his administration of estates by appointing a crony to oversee them.

Mr. Eagen has said he sees the trial as the forum not only to prove his innocence, but also to attack Mr. Barrasse and his office for what he considers the taking of his livelihood and reputation.

Phillip Bosha, the man Mr. Eagen appointed as guardian of 27 estates, has testified previously he made five payments totaling $1,850 to the judge during 1993 and 1994. State charges against Mr. Bosha indicate as much as $196,000 was taken from the estates.

While Mr. Bosha will be the key witness, ex-attorney Ronald Worobey and Gregory Walker -- the other two men snared in the estates scandal -- also may testify. All three pleaded guilty to both federal and state charges.

Mr. Eagen never faced federal charges connected to the probe.

The obstruction charges against Mr. Eagen will be built through the testimony of Mr. Barrasse, several of his assistants and other law-enforcement officers.

They will depict Mr. Eagen as a man searching for information concerning the county grand jury investigating the estates matter and trying to have investigators removed from the case.

It is still not clear how much latitude Judge Feudale will allow Mr. Costopoulos in attacking Mr. Barrasse. Mr. Eagen's defense will partly hinge on whether he can show Mr. Barrasse perjured himself when he testified a preliminary hearing that he had offered not to bring any charges against Mr. Eagen if the former judge would step down from the bench.

Mr. Barrasse, who is virtually assured of election as judge in November, stresses he is not seeking the vacancy left by Mr. Eagen's failure to win retention to a second 10-year term in 1997.

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