Calls for judge to be removed after killing of PA State Trooper

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Calls for Lawrenceville District Judge Xander Orenstein to resign or be removed from office are mounting after an off-duty Pennsylvania State Police trooper stabbed a liquor control officer Monday.

The reason: Orenstein last year released Anthony Quesen, the suspect in the June 2023 murder of Benjamin Brallier, on non-monetary bail after he was charged with robbery and assault. Brallier, 44, was fatally stabbed while jogging on the Montour Trail in Moon.

After Orenstein allowed Quesen to walk free, he did not appear at a court hearing.

Orenstein was barred by county court officials in April from presiding over arraignments, a procedural step in the legal process that sets bail conditions, after he allowed several suspects in high-profile cases or incidents to be released on non-monetary bail.

Sam DeMarco, an Allegheny County councilman and chairman of the county's GOP committee, released a statement calling for Orenstein's removal following Brallier's killing.

“This is not a random error. “It’s a pattern,” DeMarco said. “Orenstein has released other dangerous suspects without bail in the past.” This time it cost a police officer his life.

“Orenstein must either be pressured to resign or the state legislature must remove Orenstein through impeachment.”

State Rep. Anita Kulik, D-Coraopolis, called for Orenstein's resignation and a full investigation by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

“We owe it to Brallier to get to the bottom of the chain of events that led to the killing of the officer and a violent offender on the street,” Kulik said in a statement. “Orenstein had already been fired from handling criminal charges by the Allegheny District Courts over the reluctance to require cash bail in violent crime cases, but this tragedy requires more oversight and accountability.”

The Pennsylvania Constitution provides for impeachment proceedings against elected officials. The state House of Representatives must first begin impeachment proceedings, followed by a trial of the elected official in the state Senate.

Republican Sen. Devlin Robinson, whose 37th District includes Moon and other western Pittsburgh suburbs, said Wednesday he would ask the House to begin impeachment proceedings against Orenstein.