Some elected officials are calling for Magistrate Judge Xander Orenstein to resign or to be removed from the bench.
This comes after a man he released on no-cash bond has been arrested for the stabbing death of State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement Agent Benjamin Brallier.
The off-duty liquor control enforcement agent was jogging on the Montour Trail Monday when Anthony Quesen allegedly stabbed him repeatedly.
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That person was released on non-monetary bail in June 2023 after they were charged with attacking a jogger at Point State Park.
Allegheny County Council member Sam DeMarco has released a statement calling for the immediate resignation or removal of Judge Xander Orenstein.
“This is not a random mistake. It’s a pattern. Orenstein has released other dangerous suspects without bail in the past. This time it cost a law enforcement officer his life,” DeMarco said in a statement released by the Republican Committee of Allegheny County. “Orenstein must either be pressed to resign or the sate legislature must remove Orenstein by impeachment.”
Republican State Senator Devlin Robinson has announced that he will ask member of the PA House of Representatives to introduce articles of impeachment to remove Orenstein from the bench.
“This is the third instance of Orenstein letting a dangerous suspect loose. This time, it has ended in murder,” Robinson said in a statement.
House Republican Whip Rep. Tim O’Neal also released a statement:
“This killing could have happened anywhere, including Washington County,” O’Neal said. “The criminals Xander Orenstein has been turning loose without bail have been free to roam the entire region. This magisterial district justice is a danger to citizens across western Pennsylvania, and I intend to see him removed from office before the death of another individual.”
Democratic State Rep. Anita Kulik, who represents the area where Brallier was killed is also calling for Orenstein's resignation and is asking for a full investigation.
“Foremost, we must pause to mourn the tragic and untimely loss of Officer Brallier and keep his loved ones in our prayers,” Kulik said. “We owe it to Brallier to get to the bottom of the chain of events that led to the officer’s murder and a violent criminal on the streets. Orenstein had already been removed from handling criminal arraignments by the Allegheny County courts over reluctance to require cash bail for violent criminal cases, but this tragedy requires more scrutiny and accountability.
The President Judge Susan Evashavik DiLucente stopped Orenstein from hearing arraignments earlier this year because of his decisions to grant no-cash bail to violent suspects.
That decision came after the no cash bail release of Hermas Craddock. He was arrested and charged with several crimes after a high-speed chase on Route 28. Craddock was a no show in court in April.
Orenstein was also heavily criticized after a suspected drug dealer was released on non-monetary bond.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala and County Sheriff Kevin Kraus has expressed their frustrations with Orenstein in the past.