DA supports changes to state domestic violence laws
Even before a University of Pittsburgh student was killed at her apartment early this week, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office was working on proposed legislation to strengthen laws for domestic violence victims.
District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said Friday that several proposals are being circulated in Pittsburgh and across the state that would strengthen existing laws and change the way protection-fromabuse orders are handled.
None of the proposals has been introduced yet in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
In the first, Mr. Zappala’s office is proposing a change in the law that would allow police officers to make onview arrests of defendants who have violated conditions on an existing bond.
Under current law, if a defendant is released on bond and violates a condition of release, the DA’s office can file a petition with pretrial services asking for a revocation hearing before a Common Pleas Court judge, something that can take several days to schedule. Alternatively, the DA can ask a judge to issue an arrest warrant, but that also takes additional time.
“I believe that these current practices do not sufficiently provide for the safety of victims of crimes,” wrote Deputy District AttorneyJennifer DiGiovanni in a memorandum to Mr. Zappala in the spring.
Under the proposed change, for example, if a defendant is prohibited by his bond of having contact with a victim, and that condition is broken, a responding officer could arrest him on sight.
Other legislative proposals supported by Mr. Zappala include increasing the grading — and therefore punishment — for crimes in which the victim has an existing protection-fromabuse order against the offender, as well as allowing judges to require defendants in PFA orders to wear electronic monitoring devices if they present a substantial risk of violating the PFA.
Jennifer R. Storm, who has led the state Office of the Victim Advocate since 2013, said she believes that with better coordination between Allegheny and Indiana counties, the death of Pitt student Alina Sheykhet, 20, of Oakland, early Sunday could have been prevented.
The man charged with killing her, Matthew Darby, 21, of Greensburg, was free on bond in a rape case in Indiana County from February when he was charged in September with criminal trespass for attempting to enter Ms. Sheykhet’s apartment.
Indiana County did not move to revoke his bond after Mr. Darby was arrested in Allegheny County but said its probation officers were aware of the new charges.
“If that knowledge doesn’t catapult people to be willing to make systematic changes in their counties, I don’t know what will,” she said.
She recommended better information sharing, more consistent software-aided evaluation of the risk of pretrial release, development of policies for handling violations of the terms of release, and prompt arrest of violators.
“You can’t completely and totally prevent and predict extreme violent tendencies,” she said. But you can “flag cases earlier to potentially prevent these acts.”