Kathryn Lehman - Running for Judge

from real estate affects the market as a whole , which then sometimes will affect the right . You know the real life we all learn in different ways . If you think about it , wayne dyer might not attract everybody and everything in between . The mission was really to help people just to reach their full potential the brad weisman and now your host , Brad Wiseman .

How are you doing , Catherine ? I'm doing well . How are you ?

I'm doing great . My daughter's name is Catherine too , spelled a little different .

Okay .

That's right , but I love the name .

K-A-T-H-R-Y-N is the best way , that's the best way .

Well , my daughter might have some thoughts about that . It All right , so let's get right from the beginning here . So you graduated from Shippensburg University ? Yes , okay , you have a master's degree from Boston College for social work .

Correct .

And you went to Waterloo University in Harrisburg to be an attorney . Correct , yes , and how long ago was that ?

Well , I graduated from Exeter and then I went right to Shippensburg . So I graduated from Shippensburg University in 2005 .

Awesome .

Immediately went for my master's and I took about six months . I was working with delinquent teenagers and we would go to court , and that's what kind of motivated me to go to law school , because I didn't know what we were doing in court .

Because at least she admits it At that point you had no clue what was going on in court . And that's awesome . So you didn't know . You wanted to be an attorney right away .

That's correct .

You thought that the social work was going to be it .

Yes , absolutely . I had suffered a family tragedy when I was in high school and Exeter connected me with a social worker . When I was 18 and going to college , I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life . And so I thought why not social work ?

Yeah , and that's like that's a big decision . It's not like you just go , oh , I'm going to law school . I mean that's right , I mean that's a serious thing .

I always think of doctors , a full-time job , working with the

So , um , and I ended up still graduating in three years because I went full-time while I was there . Yeah , exactly she's smart . Yeah , she's definitely smart .

Well , thank you .

Do you ever get called smarty pants at me ?

No , not really .

Especially not by my husband , your husband's , here . His name's .

Guy right , yes , how you doing Guy , I'm great .

Thank you , Good , good , good . That's nice and very supportive that your husband's here , I am Very blessed .

That's awesome , yes .

You are blessed . That's great .

And he served the city and the public for a long time .

He still is I police officer . He has accomplished so much while he was there , and now he is in the sheriff's office . He's the captain of the warrants in the canine division .

Yeah , awesome , very cool We've had . You know it's funny , we've had the canines actually in the studio . I'm not kidding , they actually were in the studio from the sheriff's department were in the studio . It was crazy .

It was really cool .

That was different trying to calm down a dog . Those dogs are a little hyper .

Yes , yeah , and they were all over the place . It was pretty funny . He was a canine handler for the sheriffs before he was promoted , so we do have a retired canine , oh that's really cool , very cool , very cool .

That's awesome . I'm glad you didn't bring him . I love dogs , but it would have been a little crazy .

He's a little older now , so he's a little bit calmed down .

That's good . That's good . So from out of law school , where did you go from there ?

So I started in the public defender's office in Bronx County .

I moved and that's not easy either .

No , it's not an easy job .

Because you're a public defender means that those people have no money , correct , and you're defending them , correct . So , whether you like them or not , oh yes , absolutely . That's the part .

Well , right , everyone is afforded due process . Yes , which is great , that's great .

It's a great thing . I'm not downing , I'm just saying she's like everybody's , I know that . I wasn't saying we should put people to jail for no reason . I'm just saying that basically what defenders one .

They get a bad rap , which is really unnecessary . They're dealing with cases every single day in court , every different type of crime and every type of personality that comes through , and then they have a much higher caseload than a lot of private attorneys . And no knock on private attorneys I mean their job is equally as difficult .

It's your client is your client and thank God we have that . Yeah , absolutely Thank God we have that , because there's no reason that you should have to have money to be able to defend yourself .

Right , or to have a good attorney . Yeah , right , exactly .

That's cool . So you go into that and now you are in the DA's office . That's where you are now , right , that's correct .

So I spent five years in the public defender's office and now I'm entering my ninth year in the district attorney's office . Do you have to work with John Adams ? I do .

I'm sorry about that . So sorry about that . No , he's a good guy . I like John John's awesome .

He's a great boss .

Yeah , he's a good guy and I've sold homes to one of his daughters . I sold a house to Okay , yeah , yeah absolutely , they're good people . Funny story too , his wife . When COVID happened I walk into Governor Mifflin , to the gym of Governor Mifflin , and it was my first shot for COVID . I walk up and all of a sudden I see Betsy .

Yeah .

And she's like I'm going to love doing this shot . I'm like , oh , she was the first shot I got from COVID .

Yeah , Betsy's wonderful .

Oh yeah , she is , she's great , so okay , so also one of the things you do you're Berks County Field Hockey Officials Association , so you officiate for Berks County for field hockey .

Yes , so middle school .

In your free time ? Obviously , In my free time , yes .

So middle school and high school , and then I also do some collegiate field hockey Unbelievable .

Did you do that in college ? Were you playing or ?

anything . No , I played at Exeter and then , once I graduated , I didn't play and then I started officiating , probably maybe 15 years ago , I'm not exactly sure I've been the president of the officials for probably eight years .

That's awesome and you know what they need . That People you know it's funny . They're having a tough time now with officials for basketball , all the different things .

For all the sports . Yeah , nobody wants to do it anymore . This is a huge plug . If you're listening , we need you ?

Yes , plug , plug , plug . You can plug , go for it we need you . Yeah .

We can't sports If we don't have officials that show up . It's great way to be involved . It's a great way , it's great extra money , um , but it's also really wonderful to like give those kids a little bit of encouragement and just like keep them on the field .

Cool . I'm glad you do that , that's cool . Cause our kids , our kids , uh , benefit from , like my son's in basketball and Catherine plays a field hockey and and you know , and the coaches too , we always say that . You know it's tough because nobody wants to be coach anymore these days , so and it's a kind of a thankless job .

That's right .

For the choice of judge . Yes , that's amazing . Yes , because you got you know , those guys do get along too . They both get along very well , but it's just two different things . And they're coming together and saying look , yeah , we support you .

Yeah , it's really so .

Barry Chlauk supports you . Yes , yeah , ari Chlauk supports you .

Yes .

Yeah , I saw him on there . He's another one .

Yes .

But that's awesome .

Yeah , it's incredible .

Yeah , it is . So when did you make the decision to do ?

this , so I can tell you the exact day .

Okay , go for it May 23rd of 2024 . Okay .

Guy and I made the decision to run .

That's cool . You involved him in the decision . Oh , the spouse always has to be involved in that , because it's a lot of work .

It's a lot of work . It's a lot of sleepless nights and it's a lot of anxiety and stress and not everybody's nice . Not everyone is nice Not everybody's nice .

No , I've noticed that I was involved with a campaign for my friend to try and get on school board and it was amazing Some of the things that I even got told or said on to me , and I wasn't the one running , I was just supporting my buddy and it's incredible you get some hateful things said to you .

I'm very fortunate . We've been very , we've received really great positive feedback so far . I mean knock on wood , of course , but it's been , it's been a good experience so far . I have to not going not going to what , of course , but um , it's been , it's been a good experience so far .

Yeah , yeah . Plus , he carries guns . That's always a good thing . I had to say it . I mean , come on , he's a policeman for how many years . He's like your own bodyguard .

You're pretty lucky that way . He's been called that several times on the campaign trail .

Yeah see , I know .

I know .

When Eric used to come in here he'd be packing . I know Now he's a state rep . I'm not sure he might be just packing a sandwich , kind of a granola bar or something , but yeah , so , yeah , that's awesome . Now tell me , what does it take to do the common police judge , like what ?

Well , I think , first a common police judge is a trial judge , so if you would get called in for jury duty . I'd be the judge that presides . I have been Okay that judge that presides over that jury is the position that I'm running for .

Also maybe have some compassion .

Right , absolutely .

Right , I mean , you know , I always think of judges . I was just like mean . You know , I think they're mean , it's just . The first thing comes to my mind is they're mean , grumpy , and they're not going to be fun , and no , that's what I think .

I'm not mean .

I know you're not mean . I mean there's times where there has to be some sort of compassion involved , but obviously the law comes into play .

So the law is the law . It doesn't matter if we like it or we don't like it . That's not the judge's position to determine that If you don't like the law then you need to write your legislator .

That's right .

But while I'm not mean , I am tough . It's important to be able to make tough decisions , and I do that whether it's in the courtroom or on the field hockey field or in life in general . Like I said , I grew up here . I care about Berks County Good , and that's where you know . My husband and I have dedicated our careers to that's awesome .

Yeah , yeah , we do appreciate you doing that , so let's go into . There's people that are also running against you .

That's correct .

Okay , we're not going to say anything mean about them or anything like that . No , of course not .

No , but there's people running against you , and is there one position ? Out of the three people that are running ?

Yes , there's only one position , so Judge .

Sprecher retired in July of 2023 . So his position is the only position that's open right now .

So what other judges have that position that we would know their names .

So there's Teresa Johnson she is our first um female president . Judge in Berks .

County . She was after Schmal or no .

Uh , she was after judge Parisi and then before judge Parisi . I believe it was judge Yatrin and yeah , cause Jeffrey Schmal .

I think wasn't he in there somewhere .

Yes , but now he's a federal judge , federal judge .

Yeah , we don't , don't mess with him man . When he went to federal I actually started being nice to him Because he's a good guy , he's a good guy too , I like him . But yeah , I started being real nice to him at that point Because that's a real , that's really getting up there .

How often do judges run ? Sorry , I've just no go ahead . How often do you have to run to be ?

So the common pleas judge is a 10-year long position .

Oh wow , big commitment .

And then you run for retention .

So then it's a yes or a no .

So the voters would vote yes to retain you or no .

I've seen that when I go in to vote . Yeah , I know what you mean . So the first time when you're on the ballot it's going to look different .

Yes , so in May , may 20th .

This is good to bring up , so .

May 20th is the primary and I'll be running as a Republican and a Democrat because it's a bipartisan position .

You can cross file . It's bipartisan . You don't want a judge who's politically motivated . Nobody ever does that . Well , it's our job In the common plea . Supreme Court , Superior Court , Sure that's a little bit different Commonwealth Court , because they're nominated Right .

But this is a trial judge and you just want a trial judge that's bipartisan , not politically motivated . So I'll be running as a Republican and a Democrat and May 25th is primary , so when they go in you'll see my name and the other two candidates .

And that's countywide .

That's countywide , all of Berks County , so we're going to look at the Catherine Lehman is the one that we're going to want to click on or touch or when you're mail in ballot .

Yes , they're becoming very popular . Yes , did that answer ?

your question yes .

Yes , that's a good question , very good question . So 10 years , basically , and then after that it's like a yes or no . So you'd really , as long as you're doing a good job , at that point nobody's going to hopefully bail you , bail on you , or something like that . Okay , good , give me an example of a case that might come up in the comment , please .

So the position that I'm running for the president judge decides where each judge is assigned . So I could be in criminal , I could be in civil , I could be in family court .

We don't know that yet .

Correct . In civil I could be in family court okay , so you could be , it doesn't ?

we don't know that yet , correct , no one knows that , so that wasn't a dumb question .

Then , yeah , there you go .

Very important I thought for sure she was gonna go . Are you kidding me ?

no , no , and so those judges rotate . Um so , almost every judge handles the murder cases , though .

Oh , almost every judge , yes almost every judge handles the murder cases yes , so they're on a rotation right right , right right .

Oh , I see , I see , I see Okay .

And I guess that's probably just to , so that one person's not always doing them .

Correct , yeah , yes .

Because that's not the ones that everybody wants .

Correct , I would think yeah , right .

Oh my gosh , that's so wild . And we know there's people running against you and they all cross-file . So , no matter what , there's no Democrat , no Republican nothing like that . Okay , what made you want to move from the DA's office to being a judge ?

So I'm very fortunate in the position that I have right now and I recognize that , like I said , john is a great boss and I've been given the opportunity to try some of our most dangerous and violent homicide cases .

Yeah , that's cool , kind of a calling . Yeah , yeah , it's a calling , that's cool , and if by some chance you wouldn't get it , would you try again ?

I don't know . We haven't looked that far yet . We're focused . She's going to get it , brad , she's going to get it .

That's right .

Oh , I think she is too . I mean , I'm voting for her . I can tell you that . Thank you , I'm made 20 . Of course I don't get hate mail . I might need your protection . Yeah well , that's cool , that's awesome and it's because it's a big deal . Do you do you worry about ? I mean , we hear about this , you know , in different state , local .

So that's something that we I specifically have had to deal with in the district attorney's office . I've had people threaten to kill me . I've had people threaten to kill my family . It's a tough job .

And .

I don't mean to say that like , oh , poor me , because I don't feel that way . When you are doing the right thing , you can't worry about those things . People aren't going to like doing the right thing sometimes . But when you're strong in your values and your morals

There's a lot of places where we lack that today , so it's good to hear that that's how you feel , um , because it's it's not a popularity contest .

It's exactly right .

Yeah , definitely not , and there's too many places in our lives today , in our country , in different places , that it seems like it is a popularity contest and it's just not . So that's cool . I like to hear that , and I would think people out there would like to hear that too . So we talked about what makes you qualified . Let's go into some other stuff .

He had to go get a bird .

It was part of a divorce . He had to go get the bird out of the house and you might even I know a guy might have been part of that , I don't know . But is there anything weird that ever happened as a , as a assistant , da or something ? You're like you aren't going to believe that this is what happened .

Um , it literally happens every day . Okay , it's every well , give us a for instance , you don't have to give us names .

Like you went home to guy and said you are not gonna believe this . Oh , boy .

so we recently had someone , um that we agreed to go to treatment , um that they could get out of jail if they went to treatment , and instead of going to treatment , they decided that they were just going to break out of treatment and go run around a couple of days with their boyfriend and then go back to treatment , as if oh , so like a little break , a

Yeah , I'm pretty sure that's not part of the deal , oh yeah .

I have a question , Kate . So what is the silliest thing that people do or don't do ? That might get them unnecessarily into trouble just because not doing or not knowing .

Really basic things , sometimes Wearing appropriate attire to court . You know things that don't say like F off oh my gosh .

But you know , technically they're allowed to wear it , but it's just not a smart thing Normally when you see it , like the big cases , like yeah , the guy looked like an absolute bum right when they caught him and the next thing , you know , he comes in clean shaven three piece suit , you know , and you're like wait a minute , that's not the guy that you know

That's right . Yeah , that's amazing . Yeah , four kilos of fentanyl .

That's a lot . That could kill a lot of people . How bad is that ? How bad is that ? As far as I know , that's pretty bad it's really bad .

So you can overdose on 0.02 to 0.03 grams of fentanyl , so um four kilos is enough to wipe out burke's county and wow , yes , why , why ?

it's just unbelievable . So do we have a problem with that here ?

oh yeah , absolutely it's pretty bad . Yes , it's . Fentanyl is everywhere , it's everywhere yes , and it's .

And is it as ? Is it as lethal as they say ? In that I've heard that the policemen have to really be careful because you could ingest it so right and it or it could be on your hands or whatever ,

When , um the police were executing the search warrant at this home um the individual was using fentanyl and spraying it on synthetic cannabinoids , and that- .

Synthetic what .

Cannabinoids , so a lot of people call it synthetic marijuana or K2 .

See , I obviously don't use this stuff . You can tell If I would have went . Oh my God , you guys wait a minute . He knows way too much . Was this a ploy ? Yeah , yeah , yeah , I have some under here , but no , but synthetic , like a synthetic marijuana . So they sprayed on that .

Yeah , so it was Damiana leaves , and he was using like a garden pressurized hose and spraying it on the leaf , and so that was when they opened the tarp the chemical , so we had several officers who had to be transported to the hospital for potential overdose .

You're kidding me . It's that bad .

It's that bad .

You know you hear this stuff but you don't realize that that's the way it is . That's crazy .

Yeah , we actually have an investigation . We're past investigation stage but investigation really never ends . But in one weekend we had 14 individuals who overdosed and died . Those individuals were selling it as crack cocaine , but really it was laced with fentanyl . So an individual who's ?

Oh yeah , cause it's , it's pretty fast right 14 individuals in one weekend . That's horrible . Yeah , yeah , it's some bad stuff , Some really bad stuff . Well , thank you for being a part of getting it off the streets , because you know he has children .

And the and the way they're manufacturing it . Now it's in pills that look like they do , pill presses right . Yeah , like prescription pills that you would go to CVS or wherever , and by Wow . Yeah , it's really crazy it is crazy .

It is crazy , so thank you for doing that work . Now , as a judge , you're going to be getting those cases hopefully , yeah , yeah , amazing yeah unbelievable . Well , is there anything fun you want to talk about ? Not that this wasn't fun , I'm just saying I have a question , I have a question before we finish .

So what are the different types of courts that we have , at least in our area here , and how do they work ? Good ?

question . So are you asking about ? It's kind of a compound question ?

Yeah , a compound question Well , we have a federal court here , right ?

Yeah , we have a federal court and then we have the Common Police Court , which is at the courthouse in the city of Reading . And then we have local magisterial district judges . So those are for each little .

I don't mean little , but each community Small claim stuff , right yeah ?

Tenants , evictions , things like that . So those are anybody who is 18 years old and a resident of that area can be a magisterial district judge . And then there's the Common Police judge , which is the next level above it , those you have to be an attorney and in good standing .

Is that an appellate court ? Yes , see .

You sound smart . That is the word . Appellate , which means appeals there you go , I did some study before she came in but , and then there's a superior court which is also an appellate court , and then there's supreme court , pennsylvania supreme court that's amazing .

All the steps and then it goes federally the same . The federal has the same thing too , right ?

yes , wow , it's incredible .

That's why it takes so long to get the supreme court of united states , because you have to go through all that Right , and they often won't hear .

No , they're not hearing , you and I about you know , tripton Feller or something like that or whatever .

Yeah right , exactly Unbelievable , so no . So what do you do for fun , besides officiate ?

This is fun .

This is fun Good .

Good , I'm very fortunate . I do love my job . You know I've been fortunate that I've been given the opportunity to try some of our most dangerous cases , and that's really important because we all like to go into the . Santander and watch the Royals or watch a concert , and we have to be able to do that , like we have to be able to be safe .

Yeah , you're protecting our freedom . You're trying to get the bad people off the streets and put them where they need to be .

Yeah . And that's not limited to the city , that's everywhere , yeah absolutely Everywhere we are , crime happens .

Everywhere there's no .

And some of my best moments , I think , have been the connections that I've made with some of the victims' families . We just ran into one the other day for a homicide case and it was probably the biggest hug I've received

That's cool , that is cool .

Probably four years ago that I prosecuted that case , that means something . And you know she sprinted across that room when she smalled me . So that is fun , that's cool .

That's cool , she sprinted across that room when she smiled at me . So that is fun , that's cool . That's cool . It's kind of like I mean when I sell a house , you know it's a little bit like that I get a hug . You know I'm selling the American dream . I mean , come on , it's a good thing , that's right .

Yeah , but we want've been able to seize two houses in the city of Reading , which is something that we don't do on a regular basis , because those two houses were solely used for drugs Kids getting off the school bus . We have surveillance of these guys handing out drugs as kids are getting off the school bus . Those kids deserve to live in a nice neighborhood .

Yeah .

And so we've seized those properties . I took them in civil court , and now they belong to the district attorney's office .

And eventually you can sell them .

Well , our goal is to donate them to Habitat for Humanity . Yeah , that's perfect , yeah .

Those guys will be in here in a couple of weeks . They , yeah , that's perfect . Yeah , yeah , they're going to . Those guys will be in here in a couple of weeks . They're coming in . Uh , Tim Daly and and NHS Steven Geringer is going to be coming in .

Yes , yeah , they're great individuals .

Great people , great people doing great things . So , uh , we're going to have to wrap it up , but I really appreciate you coming in . This is awesome and if , if , ballot , if you win , it's may . What is the voting day again ?

may 20th may 20th .

That's the primary , that's right , and then after . So , if you get on then , is that it then or no ?

then there's the in november would be the big election so if I win on both tickets , then it's , that's it , yeah that's , that's it okay .

Cool , awesome , very cool , all right , all right , that was awesome . Thanks a lot . Thanks so much for coming in , and I wish you the best with uh becoming our next judge . Thank you , all right , awesome , all right . There you go , boy , I almost got myself in trouble . I swear . If you find me in jail , you know why ?