Judges swap dockets in Westmoreland court shuffle

Christopher Feliciani will return to criminal court, while Scott Mears will move to civil court.

By RICH CHOLODOFSKY
TribLive

Two Westmoreland County judges will swap dockets in January as part of a shakeup of the county’s court system.

President Judge Christopher Feliciani will return to criminal court after a year presiding over civil cases. He will take over the criminal caseload handled by Judge Scott Mears, while Mears will move to the civil court division.

“I feel I am better suited in criminal court. I’ve done 11 years and, when I was a lawyer, my practice was on the criminal side,” Feliciani said, confirming the change.

Over the past decade, Feliciani has presided over some of the highest-profile criminal cases in the county, including: • The attempted murder case of teen Alex Hribal for the April 2014 mass stabbing at Franklin Regional High School, which injured 21 students and staff.

• The prosecutions of six young defendants and juveniles for a fatal shooting in New Kensington.

• The overturned conviction of John Kunco for the brutal rape of a New Kensington woman.

• The overturned conviction of James Young, who had been convicted of setting a fire that killed his wife and two children in Jeannette in the mid-1990s.

Kunco’s case was not further prosecuted. Young is awaiting a retrial that is scheduled before Judge Michael Stewart II next year.

Mears, who will begin his 11th year on the bench in January, spent the past six years hearing cases in the criminal court division. He has presided over major cases, including a trial for former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Felipe Vazquez, who was convicted in 2021 of the sexual assault of a teen.

Before he was elected judge, Mears’ law practice focused on civil cases. The swap with Mears comes one year after Feliciani shifted to civil court after the retirement of Judge Rita Hathaway. Both judges are expected to retain oversight of several cases from their current dockets.

Westmoreland’s court system operates with 11 common pleas judges: four assigned to criminal court, four to family and juvenile court, and three who preside in civil court.

The county’s criminal court judges in 2015 presided over 45 jury trials and 64 nonjury trials, said Court Administrator Amy DeMatt. To date in 2025, 3,936 new criminal cases were processed, while more than 4,000 cases were disposed.