Pa. lawmakers push for impeachment and investigation into Allegheny County Judge Xander Orenstein

Ny Ford Turner / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette /

HARRISBURG — Two branches of state government are fielding requests for an investigation of Magisterial District Judge Xander Orenstein, who released on no-cash bail a defendant who subsequently was charged with homicide in the death of an off-duty police officer.

Five Republican lawmakers in the state House on Monday announced their plan for a resolution seeking an impeachment proceeding for Judge Orenstein, while at least two other representatives — one a Democrat, the other a Republican — want a Judicial Conduct Board investigation.

On Tuesday, it was far from clear what might become of either effort.

Every member of the state House is up for election next Tuesday — although many are unopposed — and afterward the House has only two voting days scheduled in the final month of its two-year session. After those two days, the House will be largely inactive in Harrisburg until early January.

The Judicial Conduct Board, a 12-member panel that looks into confidential requests for investigations of judges, conducts its business in private. Its chief counsel, Melissa Norton, said she could not confirm or deny the receipt of any complaints.

A person who answered the phone at Mr. Orenstein’s Pittsburgh office on Tuesday said he would have no comment.

Anthony Quesen, who is 25 and homeless, was charged with criminal homicide following the fatal stabbing on Oct. 21 of Benjamin Brallier, 44. Mr. Brallier, an off-duty state police Liquor Enforcement Officer, was jogging on the Montour Trail when he was attacked.

Sixteen months earlier, Mr. Quesen had been arrested after he allegedly assaulted a man in Point State Park and took his watch. Mr. Quesen was charged under the name “Antonia Kaseim” with robbery, simple assault, reckless endangerment and evading arrest — and on the same day he was arrested, he was arraigned and released on nonmonetary bond by Judge Orenstein.

Separately, Judge Orenstein earlier this year was barred from hearing all arraignments.

A group of five state representatives on Monday said in a memo they planned to introduce a resolution seeking the impeachment of Judge Orenstein for his “repeated and deliberate failure to impose reasonable bail and safety conditions on severe violent offenders.”

Democrats control the state House by a 102-101 margin, so passage would require support from at least one Democrat. Asked for comment, a spokesperson for House Democrats, Beth Rementer, referred to a statement issued by Rep. Anita Kulik, D-Allegheny. Ms. Kulik last week called for Judge Orenstein to resign and for the state Supreme Court and the Judicial Conduct Board to “open an investigation and leave no stone unturned to get the facts the people deserve.”

One of the five Republicans, Rep. Rob Mercuri of Allegheny County, said Tuesday he has “yet to see any support from across the aisle” for impeachment. Another, Rep. Marci Mustello of Butler County, said “it would be nice for some of the Democrat member to stand up and be outspoken about this.”

But another Republican who is not one of the five, Rep. Valerie Gaydos of Allegheny County, said seeking a Judicial Conduct Board investigation “is a faster way to impart action” than seeking impeachment. She pointed out how few House session days remain, and she called impeachment “a costly and lengthy process.”

Ms. Gaydos sent a letter to the board seeking an “immediate investigation” into whether Judge Orenstein had violated the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Ms. Norton, the board chief counsel, said the board gets about 800 to 900 complaints a year from the public.

Occasionally, she said, its investigations lead to the filing in the Court of Judicial Discipline of a complaint against the judge in question. Other times, “private discipline” is issued, and Ms. Norton said examples of that include a “letter of caution” to the judge, or a “letter of counsel” that indicates the judge violated rules.