Bill allowing monitoring in PFA cases advances

HARRISBURG — A bill that would allow for electronic monitoring of defendants in protection-from-abuse orders has passed the state Senate and advances now to the House.

If it passes there and is signed by Gov. Tom Wolf, the law will be named “Alina’s Law,” after Alina Sheykhet, the University of Pittsburgh student who was killed insideher Oakland home in October.

Ms. Sheykhet’s ex-boyfriend, Matthew Darby, 21, of Greensburg, is charged in her death. At the time, she had a temporary protection-from-abuse order against him stemming from a break-in at herapartment in September.

“In many aspects of this particular case, our justice system failed this young woman. ... What happened to Alina should not happen to anyone ever again,” Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, said on the Senate floor this week as he urged his colleagues to support the bill.

“I believe that we need to allow

our judges to have more tools to protect our victims of domestic violence.”

The bill, sponsored by fellow Democratic Sen. Vincent Hughes of Philadelphia, would allow judges to require defendants in final PFAs to be placed on electronic monitoring if they “present a substantial risk of violating the final protection from abuse order or committing a crime against the victim punishableby imprisonment.”

Mr. Costa noted that judges are not required to place people on electronic monitoring but this bill would give them theoption to do that.

Local police departments or the Pennsylvania State Police would receive, record and indefinitely retain location data, according to the bill. The monitoring would happen for the duration of the protectionfrom-abuse order, unless a judge finds “good cause” to removeit.

Judges would decide how close a defendant could get to a plaintiff and to specific locations. “Monitors would be alerted if a defendant violates the terms of a PFA,” Mr. Costa said. He said defendants would pay the cost of the monitoring.

Under Pennsylvania law, victims can obtain temporary protection-from-abuse orders, which can forbid contact, ask defendants to leave a home, order them to surrender their weapons and establish other conditions in an effort to protect plaintiffs. A judge typically sets a hearing date within 10 days to determine whether a final protectionfrom-abuse order should be issued. Final orders can last up to three years. Ms. Sheykhet was killed before the hearing to decide whether a final PFA shouldbe issued.

Mr. Costa said he intends to work with House leaders to try to ensure that the bill advances through their chamber.It passed the Senate unanimously. Mr. Wolf, a Democrat, also has expressed support for the bill.

The bill is one of several initiatives to help domestic violence victims that is supported by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., whose office is prosecuting Mr. Darby.

“The district attorney has already stated publicly that he is in favor of GPS monitoring of PFA violators and child abusers,” spokesman Mike Manko said Wednesday.