Pennsylvania: Crime and Corruption and Influence

DA's request for outside jury in Orie case odd

By Bobby Kerlik
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

A request for a jury from outside Allegheny County to hear state Sen. Jane Orie's corruption case may be a first for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.'s office, court watchers and experts said Thursday.

"Usually this request is made by the defense. To see this request made by the (prosecution) is striking," said University of Pittsburgh law professor John Burkoff.

"But this case is unusual. Here you have a defendant who has the means and the will to attack the prosecution offensively and defensively."

Zappala's office said it made the request this week because the McCandless Republican "fabricated" allegations against the Democratic prosecutor and his family that likened the charges to a "mafia hit."

Orie is charged with theft, conflict of interest and tampering with evidence. Janine Orie, an aide to their sister, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, faces similar charges. Zappala's office said they forced employees to conduct political work on public time.

The Ories and their lawyers have said the charges are politically motivated because Zappala's family has contacts with gambling interests and Jane Orie is a vocal critic of the state's casino industry.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning will hear arguments on the request Monday. Orie attorney William Costopoulos said he will oppose the move, and he asked why prosecutors don't "trust the same jurors they pick from every day."

Zappala spokesman Mike Manko said the office would respond in court.

Requests for a jury selected from outside the county typically come from the defense, experts said. Manning granted a defense request this year to pick an outside jury in the case against Richard Poplawski, who is charged with fatally shooting three Pittsburgh police officers in 2009. Zappala's office opposed that request.

Jerry Shuster, a political communications professor at Pitt, said an outside jury takes politics and personalities out of the case.

"It's a wise move, frankly, I think," Shuster said. "I think (Zappala) is trying to avoid what happened in the Wecht case and not make the same mistake Mary Beth Buchanan did. Wecht allowed her to be the defendant in the case."

Buchanan, a Republican former U.S. Attorney, failed to win a political corruption case against the former county coroner, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, a powerful Democrat who had his own battles with Zappala.

Zappala's request mentions Orie's recent campaign ads, speeches on the Senate floor, and remarks by her and previous attorneys that characterized the charges as a personal "vendetta." Orie won re-election to the Senate last month.

Orie brought her fight against Zappala into the election, while the prosecutor has remained largely quiet, Shuster said.

"If she's as innocent as her attorney makes her out to be, that should be even more evident to people from outside the county," Shuster said.

Former District Attorney Robert Colville, now a Superior Court judge, said there were times during his tenure from 1976-98 that his office did not object to an out-of-county jury, but he said he doesn't recall filing one.