PFA against judge dismissed, unsealed
A case involving a temporary protection-from-abuse order against a sitting Washington County judge was dismissed and unsealed Friday afternoon.
Senior Judge William Nalitz issued orders opening the records in a case in which James Quisenberry of McMurray had sought a PFA against Judge Valarie Costanzo of Cecil Township, plus an earlier one she’d brought against Quisenberry.
On Friday, Nalitz signed a consent order – which also bears the signatures of the parties, described in court papers as ex-girlfriend and ex-boyfriend, and their attorneys – dismissing the more recent case in response to a motion by Quisenberry.
“I am a proponent of open records, and I have no objection to both PFAs – the one I filed against Mr. Quisenberry and the one he filed against me – being unsealed,” Costanzo said in a brief statement to the Observer-Reporter late in the afternoon.
Nalitz had previously dismissed the older case but ordered that it remain under seal.
Quisenberry sought a PFA against Costanzo on July 12. Court records show Nalitz granted a temporary order. He sealed the case on the same day Quisenberry petitioned the court.
Costanzo had sought a PFA against Quisenberry on Nov. 14 and was granted a temporary one by Senior Judge John Reed. That case was dismissed by Nalitz on Jan. 11 in response to a motion by Costanzo.
Her petition initiating that case said Quisenberry had allegedly been contacting her with “false and threatening accusations” about her and others close to her.
In his case, Quisenberry claimed Costanzo had come into his house uninvited before he told her to leave, let her out and called the police.
Costanzo’s attorney, Bill Difenderfer, on Thursday called the more recent case “nonsense” and said he expected Quisenberry’s attorney to ask Nalitz to dismiss the case. David Pardini, who represents Quisenberry, said Thursday that any possible misunderstanding between his client and Costanzo had been resolved.
Neither lawyer responded to requests for additional comment before press time Friday.
Before the cases were unsealed, publicly accessible court records showed only a list of procedural events in each case but no details of filings and proceedings.
On Friday morning, attorney Colin Fitch, who represents the Observer-Reporter, delivered a petition to Nalitz’s office asking to intervene in the more recent case “for the limited purpose of unsealing and accessing the record.”
“In accordance with the Observer’s First Amendment rights and obligations, the Observer-Reporter seeks to report on all news which concerns the public interest and, more specifically, the conduct of elected public officials,” Fitch wrote.
Peters Township police previously said they’d passed information regarding the case brought by Quisenberry to Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone’s office.
“I really can’t comment on it,” Vittone said Friday. “I referred the case to the (state) attorney general’s office.”
He said he made the decision to do so because Costanzo – a former district judge who was elected to a common pleas seat in 2013 – handles a significant portion of the criminal cases his office prosecutes.
Vittone said his office made the referral earlier in the week and hasn’t received a formal response. “They haven’t said that they’d accept the case,” he said.