Criminal Law Year in Review (Criminal Law Symposium 2026 session)

Judge Marsico was sworn in as a judge of the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas in January 2018. Previously, he was the longest serving District Attorney in Dauphin County history as he held that position from 2000-2018. He first joined the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office in 1988. As the District Attorney for Dauphin County, Judge Marsico implemented a Drug and Veterans Court, created the Dauphin County Crimewatch website, started the Child Abduction Response Team, and oversaw 30 attorneys, 12 detectives, and 22 support staff. Previously an Assistant District Attorney, he handled many homicide and drug prosecutions. Judge Marsico’s trial experience includes approximately 100 jury trials and countless appearances in non-jury proceedings. Judge Marsico served as President of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association and received the Pa. District Attorneys Institute’s Distinguished Faculty Award. He also received the Linda K.M. Ludgate CJAB Excellence in Leadership Award as well as the Children’s Resource Center’s Children’s Hero Award. He is an adjunct professor at Widener University School of Law and Harrisburg Area Community College. Judge Marsico received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame, and his J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law. Judge Marsico is a member and past president of the Notre Dame Club of Harrisburg and is a member of the Dauphin County Bar Association and past president of that association’s Young Lawyers Division.

Bruce Antkowiak currently serves at St. Vincent College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania in a variety of capacities. He is Senior Counsel to the Archabbey and College, Professor of Law, Past Chair of the Criminology Department, and Pre-Law Advisor. He also teaches in the School’s Master of Science in Criminology Program. Along with his colleagues in the Criminology Department, he has helped launch a new Certificate in Legal Practice Program. He has presented numerous Legal Education Programs to attorneys across the Commonwealth. In May, 2011, St. Vincent awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree and honored him as Commencement speaker for the 2011 graduation ceremony. For nine years prior to coming to St. Vincent, Professor Antkowiak was a full-time faculty member at Duquesne Law School where he also advised the Law School’s Criminal Law Clinic and coached the Law School’s National Trial Moot Court Teams. In 2007 and 2011, he received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the graduating class of the Law School. In October, 2007, he was named the Association of American Law Schools Teacher of the Year at Duquesne Law School. Professor Antkowiak is the author of a major treatise on Pennsylvania Criminal Procedure, served for 11 years as the Editor and principal author of the Pennsylvania Suggested Standard Jury Instructions – Criminal. He has published eleven law review articles in various journals across the country. Professor Antkowiak graduated with High Honors from Harvard Law School in 1977. In 1974, he graduated first in his class from St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which honored him with the Alumnus of Distinction Award in 2002. Over his more than three decades as a practicing lawyer, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and as a private practitioner concentrating his practice in the area of criminal defense in state and federal courts. He has tried a multitude of cases including homicides, white collar crime and narcotics related offenses. His appellate work includes numerous appearances before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Pennsylvania Supreme and Superior Courts.