May 18--Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper said on Thursday he would consider criminal charges against the man who filed a protection-from-abuse order against a police commander that was "clearly an abuse of the judicial system."
Earlier in the day, Allegheny County Judge Kelly E. Bigley dismissed the order filed by Andrew Lee, owner of Executive Cigars, against Cmdr. RaShall Brackney. Bigley scolded Lee, calling the order "offensive" and accused him of filing it in bad faith. Bigley said Lee failed to produce "one scintilla of evidence" that he had a romantic relationship with Brackney.
"I'm satisfied there's been nothing but a business relationship here," the judge said.
Lee, 45, of the West End filed for the order on May 8, one day before Brackney was to testify during a zoning board hearing about police calls to Lee's business and to an after-hours club above it. On Wednesday, a district judge fined Lee $800 for building code violations at the business.
Lee called the hearing "a debacle" and later said Harper "has a right to do what he wants to do," but declined to comment further.
Brackney, who wept and hugged family members after the hearing, said Lee ruined her reputation. She said she feared the case would motivate people to file false PFA claims against police officers.
"It was an absolute tactic to obstruct justice and obstruct the administration of law," she said of the order. "I think he succeeded."
Lee claimed Brackney targeted his business, which North Side residents have described as a neighborhood nuisance, and that she threatened and harassed him after he broke off a romantic relationship with her. During the hearing he testified under oath that he met Brackney at the Zone 1 police station and for lunch at restaurants in Pittsburgh, often kissing and fondling her. He said they never had sex.
Brackney emphatically denied a romantic relationship.
"We have never gone to dinner. We have never gone to lunch. We have never dated," Brackney testified. "He has never touched any part of me other than a handshake."
Brackney, a 27-year police veteran, said PFAs are a critical tool in cases of domestic abuse but added that judges should consider taking more time to review them before issuing an order.
She said she would consider trying to recover court costs from Lee.
"We're just very grateful and blessed this thing has been dismissed," she said.
Copyright 2012 - The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
