Lower Merion magisterial district court judge Henry J. Schireson, shown here being congratulated after a victory on election night, announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for one of two Montgomery County judgeships up for grabs in this year’s elections. ( Carl Hessler Jr/Mainlinemedianews.com)
By Jake Rader
It’s midafternoon, and Judge Henry “Chip” Schireson strolls into his court room for his usual midafternoon hearing. Awaiting him is a woman no more than 21, accused of driving under the influence.
She is extremely nervous, and her parents are in the back of the Montgomery County court room sobbing. Immediately when Judge Schireson starts speaking, the mood of the room changes, as Schireson contains a calming presence that is palpable throughout the room.
“It seems to me that this event took place just shy of your 21st birthday, correct?” Schireson asks the defendant.
“Yes, your honor, replies the defendant.
“Well then I see no reason to keep some of the charges pertaining to underage drinking, and possession of alcohol,” Schireson adds.
The defendant and her family look relieved. “I see no reason to take this case further, and I am recommending the Dui program for you. “As long as you do not get another DUI this incident will go on your record, and you won’t face jail time .”
A big sigh of relief is heard in the back of the courtroom from the defendant’s family, as they are escorted out of the courtroom.
Schireson is no ordinary judge as his career path is interesting to say the least.
As Schireson roams throughout his courthouse, it is apparent just how well liked the judge is. Schireson is truly present for every conversation, as attorneys’ and police officers try to get a word in with the judge.
Schireson continues to walk and talk with people about various situations, and as he offers his advice in most cases. Schireson finally makes it into his office, where he discusses in depth with Robin, his secretary, every case he saw this afternoon.
To Robin, these cases were clear cut, and should require no more than a brief conversation. But Schireson goes in depth, explaining how important his decisions were and how he drew his conclusions for various reasons.
“If you can pick one or two cases that define your career in public service, what would be they be?” Robin asks.
“Oh, that’s easy,” replies Schireson.
Suddenly Schireson gets up out of his chair and shows Robin towards the back of his office. Here there is a court room sketch drawing hanging on the wall that depicts Schireson overseeing a case.
“That is from the Bathtub murder case in 1996,” Schireson says. “It was the most publicized case of my career.”
In addition to this, Schireson pulls out binder’s title “Warlock Case” and “Bathtub Case.” In these folders are newspaper clipping information that relate to the cases themselves, and Schireson’s involvement as both lead prosecutor [Warlock Case] and Judge [Bathtub Case
“These two cases are the defining moments of my career in public service,” Schireson says.
Schireson grew up modestly in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, nd was a graduate of Lower Merion High School. After a rough start to college at Penn State, Schireson’s GPA sat at 1.2 after his first year.
Miraculously, by the end of his time at Psu, Schireson’s Gpa was a 4.0. After college, Schireson initially aspired to become a journalist. However, he eventually chose to study law at Temple University.
After studying at Temple, Schireson became a prosecutor with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office. He eventually worked his way up the ladder of eager prosecutors and became head of the sex crimes division.
Schireson says his strategy as a prosecutor was very spur of the moment, as he often would adlib in court, and rarely used a legal pad. Schireson adds that he would often come off as authentic, as his superiors told him his greatest strength was his ability to get a jury to believe him.
It was in 1980 that Schireson made a name for himself, as he was selected to prosecute one of the women from the Warlock Murder case. This was an incident that happened in 1974, as three women, Debbie Detrich, Vickie Schmidt, and Sandra Basile, who belonged to the Warlock biker gang, robbed, and murdered a bar owner and bar maid.
This was a cold case for six years until Detrich came forward and confessed to being apart of it due to a guilty conscience. She struck a plea deal and served eight years in jail and testified against two other women.
Schireson admits that he was selected for the case against Basile because he was probably viewed as expendable. The offices lead trail prosecutor was taken off the case because he failed to convict the mastermind [Schmidt] of murder in the 1st degree.
This was Schireson’s chance to make a name for himself. Prosecuting this case left Schireson incredibly stressed, as the Warlock biker gang was actively trying to kill the star witness [Basile], and anybody involved in the case.
Schireson states that he was not even allowed to go over questions with the star witness [Dietrich] until one night before her testimony. Schireson was escorted there by police, only to find that the Warlocks were following them as they knew they were going to see the star witness.
After an hour-long car chase, Schireson recalls that he and the police lost the Warlocks and were able to see the witness. Eventually, Schireson was able to garner a conviction in the second degree. He adds that this was viewed as satisfactory to his superiors.
Interestingly enough, Basile, [who Schireson convicted] escaped prison and was not found by police until 1990 due to her being on America’s Most Wanted. In his end of year review, Schireson says he was rated by his superiors as the top trial prosecutor.
However, Schireson left life as a prosecutor to enter the private sector as he needed to make more money to support his family. He became a founding partner of Bedford and Schireson law firm in Bala Cynwd and accepted a job on the general counsel of Aramark.
When it was all said and done, Schireson says he only lost one case as a prosecutor, and that he never prosecuted anybody who he did not know was guilty.
Schireson returned to public service as he left Aramark in 1984 to become a District Judge in Montgomery County. After serving for 12 years, Schiresson was thrust into the public spotlight as he was overseeing the first hearing of The Bathtub murder case.
This case involved a Lower Merion man named Craig Rabinowitz, who claimed to have found his wife lying dead in the Bathtub. However, the police believed that he murdered her due to there being no signs of a possible break in, as only he was in the house when she died.
Schrieson said that he had never seen so many people in his court room, as the media ranged from your local news to People Magazine. After days of hearing arguments, Schireson concluded that the police were right, and pushed the case forward to the higher courts.
In the year 1999, Schireson was selected to a panel of people that planned to reform Pennsylvania court system. This was called the Pennsylvania Judiciary Supreme Court. Schireson was selected to represent his judiciary level which contains 540 judges across the state of Pennsylvania.
Schireson calls this the highest honor that he has received in his career on the bench. However, in 2003, Schireson faced a tough reelection campaign against Donna Haas, as she had the endorsement of then Governor Ed Rendell.
She claimed that Schireson was a part time judge and cared more about the Supreme Court more than the people of Montgomery County. Schireson, who believes wholeheartedly that politics should be kept out of the court room, ran a positive campaign, and let his experience and ethics do the talking.
In the end, Schireson came away with the victory, and still serves on the bench the bench in Montgomery County to this day.
As Schireson closes his scrapbook, a smile creeps unto his face. “This is my life in pictures, Robin,” Schireson says. “I’m so glad I kept these books; I remember so many things in my life just from looking at them .”
While Schireson and Robin walk to their cars after a long day at the courthouse, Robin ponders a question.
“So, what’s next for you, Chip?” she says.
“Hopefully, I’ll be above ground for a little while longer,” he joked. “In all seriousness, I’m looking forward to spending time with my grandchilderen, and travelling with my family .”
Jake's Takes 