The six sitting justices on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have denied a petition from their suspended colleague, Justice Joan Orie Melvin, to have the entire Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas bench recuse itself from the criminal case against her.
Orie Melvin, who was suspended in May from her duties on the state’s high court following nine criminal charges against her for allegedly using her Superior Court judicial staff and the state Senate staff of her sister to help Orie Melvin run for Supreme Court, sought redress from her colleagues when Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning denied her motion to have an out-of-county judge hear her preliminary hearing and, if need be, preside over her trial.
