Prosecutor faces own hearing over texting, Facebook account

The lead prosecutor handling the case against Penn State fraternity members charged after a pledge died faces a hearing of her own in front of the state board that deals with complaints about lawyers.

The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court this week scheduled the Nov. 29 hearing to consider whether Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller committed professional misconduct in texts with judges that discussed pending cases and by using a fake Facebook account to obtain information on defendants.

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel’s petition for discipline filed in February said Parks Miller contacted judges about cases without informing defense lawyers. It said she misled the disciplinary counsel’s investigators.

Parks Miller said Friday she is willing to answer for her conduct and looks forward to presenting the facts at the hearing.

“The true operations in Centre County are very disturbing and always have been as long as I have been privy to behind the scenes,” Parks Miller said. “I am more than willing to ... be truthful and have my behavior be measured.”

The petition claims a February 2013 email about bail included the defendant’s lawyer and several other people but after Judge Bradley Lunsford responded directly to Parks Miller alone she then replied only to him that he should rescind his bail order.