District Magistrate Under Fire For Not Signing Warrant For Suspected Killer Of Christi Spicuzza
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A district magistrate is under fire for not signing the warrant for the suspected killer of Uber driver Christi Spicuzza.
Magistrate Mik Pappas has run afoul of police officers who say he ignores or fails to sign their arrest warrants, including the one for Spicuzza's suspected killer.
Last week, county detectives positioned themselves outside the house of homicide suspect Calvin Crew, who is accused of killing Spicuzza. For hours, police say the arrest warrant sat for hours waiting on Pappas' approval, but sources say Pappas never ruled one way or the other, leaving the bench and the warrant for the next magistrate.
On Thursday, Pappas presided over arraignments at the Municipal Courts Building in downtown Pittsburgh. As arraignment judge, he's assigned to review all requests for warrants. According to sources, county police electronically sent him the arrest warrant for Crew at 3:10 p.m.
Pappas' shift was scheduled to end at 5 p.m., and sources say he left the bench at 5:30 p.m. without reviewing the paperwork. Another judge who came on at 6 p.m. signed off on the warrant at 7:14 p.m., and detectives immediately moved in to arrest Crew.
County police and the DA's office aren't commenting, but Magistrate Rick King, president of the Magistrates Association, is. He said judges are required to rule on warrant requests with immediacy and before the end of their shift.
"I can tell you that as a magisterial district judge, what we're required to do is review it and either grant it or not grant it," King said.
KDKA's Andy Sheehan: But apparently, neither happened in this case.
King: Again, I don't know that. I know that there's an allegation that may have happened. I personally don't know. I have not spoken to the judge.
KDKA's Andy Sheehan spoke with Pappas at his Highland Park courtroom. He declined to comment on the Crew warrant and any other warrants, saying he does not comment on any of his judicial opinions.
But police sources say had Pappas reviewed the warrant in the Crew case, he would have found overwhelming probable cause to sign it, including an affidavit describing a dashboard video of the suspect holding a gun to Spicuzza's head while she pleaded for her life.
Sheehan: If he didn't review it, didn't sign it, didn't deny it, that would be a dereliction of duty?
King: I don't know if it's a dereliction of duty, but if you're not doing your job then, yes, the president judge would deal with that.
Sources say this incident and another warrant that Pappas did not rule on last week are under review by Allegheny County President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala released a statement on Wednesday, saying:
"The decision, behavior and attitude of this magistrate with respect to this warrant is extremely concerning and troubling. It is completely unacceptable that three sets of detectives at three different locations were kept waiting for hours because this magistrate failed to carry out his duty as a member of the bench with respect to the apprehension of a very dangerous suspect."