Trial for Orie sisters scheduled for February
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Jury selection in the trial of state Sen. Jane Orie and her sister, Janine Orie, will begin Feb. 7.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning set the trial date Friday for the McCandless Republican.
Both are accused of using the senator's staff on state time to work on the 2009 campaign of another sister, Joan Orie Melvin, in her successful bid for a seat on the state Supreme Court.
Judge Manning noted in the scheduling order that neither of the defendants' attorneys had filed a motion asking for a change of venue or to have a jury brought in from outside the county.
Jane Orie's attorney, William C. Costopoulos, said her team would not make such a request.
"If this case goes to trial, we're going to want her to be tried in her home district," he said. "The court of public opinion will be decided on Nov. 2," when she faces a re-election challenge from Democratic nominee Dan DeMarco, a Ross commissioner.
"It is a very important election to the senator and to the Republican Party."
Jane Orie is charged with 10 counts, including theft of services, tampering with evidence, conspiracy and violating the state ethics act. Janine Orie faces charges of conspiracy and theft of services.
Janine Orie worked on Justice Melvin's court staff and is currently on leave.
Also on Friday, Common Pleas Judge John A. Zottola, who supervised the Orie grand jury investigation that lead to the charges, agreed to unseal all of the filings contained in a miscellaneous docket related to the grand jury.
In March, the Post-Gazette requested access to the documents but was denied. The newspaper appealed the decision, and Judge Zottola, at an April 8 hearing, retroactively sealed all of the entries in the court file -- even those that were originally filed publicly.
First Published September 18, 2010 12:00 am
