Judge Stands Up To D.A.; Protesters Verbally Assault, Harass Her

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Common Pleas Court Judge Anne Marie Coyle presided this week over emergency hearings designed to expedite the early release of supposedly non-violent inmates.

The judge was expecting to deal with small-time criminals in jail for low-level, non-violent offenses.

But the 80 case files brought to Judge Coyle's virtual courtroom over two days included some major heroin dealers, and other convicted criminals jailed for crimes that included arson, aggravated assault, domestic violence and assaults against police officers.

The public defender, with the district attorney's approval, wanted the judge to sign off on group releases. But the judge said, no, we're going case by case. The judge subsequently found that none of the defendants fit the criteria of being small-time criminals jailed for low level and nonviolent crimes. So one by one, the judge denied the releases and ordered all 80 criminals to be kept in jail.
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