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Judge in Orie Melvin case grants three prosecution requests
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The judge presiding over the trial of suspended state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin granted a number of prosecution requests Friday for the case, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday with jury selection.
Prosecutors filed a motion Thursday seeking to bar the justice from presenting evidence that she refused a pay raise; that her sister, Jane Orie, was found not guilty on charges related to Justice Orie Melvin's campaign; and that the justice contends that the charges against her are politically motivated.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Lester Nauhaus did not rule Friday on the prosecution's fourth request: that Justice Orie Melvin may not raise at trial information about an unidentified woman contracting a sexually transmitted disease from a man the woman had been seeing.
Justice Orie Melvin is charged with seven criminal counts related to using judicial staff and resources to run for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
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Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the following correction:
A news brief Saturday about the case of suspended Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin incorrectly reported that the presiding judge ruled on a prosecution request to prohibit the defense from addressing at trial the identity of a woman who filed a federal lawsuit against a man she claims gave her a sexually transmitted disease. Allegheny Common Pleas Judge Lester Nauhaus has not yet decided the matter.
First Published January 19, 2013 12:00 am
