Judge clears protection order against commander

An Allegheny County judge on Thursday dismissed a protectionfrom-abuse order filed by a North Side business owner against a Pittsburgh police commander, saying the owner “abused the PFA system” in his fight to operate an after-hours club that has drawn scrutiny from police and community members.

Andrew M. Lee, the owner of Executive Cigars LLC, claimed in a May 8 petition that Cmdr. Rashall Brackney threatened to shut down his business after he ended their relationship last August. The commander vehemently denies having any relationship with Mr. Lee.

Cmdr. Brackney’s supporters, including city Councilwoman Darlene Harris, accused Mr. Lee of using the PFA order as a ploy to silence the commander, who was due to testify about the club’s problems before the zoning board two days later.

After hearing more than an hour of testimony Thursday morning, Judge Kelly Bigley determined there was “not one scintilla of evidence” that the two were ever romantically involved, which is required to obtain a PFA order. Such orders are intended to protect victims of domestic violence.

“Your testimony is belied by the evidence,” Judge Bigley said. She admonished Mr. Lee, calling his effort to get the order “almost offensive.”

Cmdr. Brackney hugged her supporters and wiped tears from her eyes as she left the courtroom, later expressing enormous relief at the judge’s decision in a news conference.

“This was an absolute abuse of the system for no other reason [than] to gain advantage in a litigious situation” with an after-

hours establishment, she said.

Mr. Lee is engaged in an ongoing dispute with police and community leaders, who say his after-hours club is a rowdy nuisance and a magnet for drugs and violence. He lost his zoning approval and occupancy permit in February of this year but was later reinstated.

Because of the order, she declined to testify at a hearing before the zoning board May 10, which is weighing whether to allow him to extend his business hours.

At Thursday’s hearing, Mr. Lee testified that he met the commander at a birthday party at the club in February 2011, went on lunch dates and kissed her “on a regular basis” in the privacy of their vehicles. He offered records of late-night phone conversations, including one at 4 a.m. last August, which he labeled a “booty call.”

The commander disputed the testimony, saying she denied him when he asked her on a date when they met and that their phone calls were business in nature. The commander said Mr. Lee called her at 4 a.m. asking for help because he had been pulled over by police, bolstering her claim with a record to show that Mr. Lee’s plates were being checked by police at the same time.

Cmdr. Brackney’s attorney, Tina O. Miller, said she may file a motion seeking to have a judge find Mr. Lee’s petition for the PFA filed “in bad faith,” which would put Mr. Lee on the hook for the commander’s attorney fees.

In a statement, police Chief Nate Harper said he would meet with District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. to determine if charges should be levied against Mr. Lee, calling his filing of a PFA petition “an abuse of the judicial system.”

Mr. Lee could not be reached for comment. Lisa Lee, his niece who was acting as his spokeswoman, said the judge might have ruled in Mr. Lee’s favor if he had not attempted to represent himself.

“He did himself a lot of harm by not having an attorney present,” she said. “The issue would have been resolved probably in a different manner.”