Conrad won't challenge Zappala

Former Allegheny County prosecutor W. Christopher Conrad has accused the county of mishandling high-profile cases, but his new job is not a signal that he wants to come back to straighten things out.

Conrad is now a part-time assistant district attorney in Greene County, a job he began April 19.

'I like to keep in touch with prosecuting, it's always been my passion,' said Conrad, 51, of Upper St. Clair.

Conrad worked for two decades with the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, 14 as the lead homicide prosecutor. He tried more than 200 murder cases, with 110 resulting in life sentences or the death penalty.

In 1997, the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas passed over Conrad and appointed Stephen A. Zappala Jr. - the son of a state Supreme Court justice - to fill the unexpired two years in the term of District Attorney Robert Colville, who became a judge.

Zappala fired Conrad in 1998, contending he had violated Colville's policy barring any candidate for public office from working in the District Attorney's Office.

Since then, Conrad has burnished his reputation by successfully defending Pittsburgh police officers in civil rights cases. He is also defending one of three men charged with killing a homeless person on the North Side in 1999.

The case is pending before Judge Jeffrey Manning, who is presiding at Richard S. Baumhammers' trial.

'I'm disappointed I'm not there (in the district attorney's office),' Conrad said.

'I'm watching Baumhammers and I think (the office) is a little thin. (Deputy District Attorney Edward) Borkowski has to go from this to (Ronald) Taylor to all the big cases.'

Baumhammers is on trial for the racially motivated killings of five people in April 2000. Taylor is charged with killing three people in a shooting spree in Wilkinsburg two months earlier. Jury selection in that trial is set for early June.

Borkowski failed to land convictions in three recent widely publicized cases.

In February 2000 a jury acquitted Jeffrey Cooperstein, a Pittsburgh police officer, in the death of Deron S. Grimmitt Sr. The trial of a City Housing Authority police officer, John Charmo, in the heath of Jerry Jackson ended in a hung jury, and Jeremy Witherell of Cranberry Township was acquitted in the 1992 death of his wife, Michelle.

Conrad said he believes other attorneys under Zappala can handle some of the office's high-profile cases.

'It's a management problem,' he said. 'It's a matter of judgment from above. You can send your warriors in ... but don't send them in without weapons. Those are very hard cases.'

Despite the criticism, Conrad was quick to add that he gets 'no satisfaction out of the fact that prosecutions aren't going as well as I think they would have under a different administration.'

He said he does not plan to challenge Zappala again for the district attorney job, and that his Greene County position is not a springboard for another run.

'Right now I'm more than happy doing what I'm doing and I'm extremely pleased to be working in Greene County,' he said.

'I didn't take the job because of political reasons, I took it because a good friend and very competent lawyer asked me to do it.'

Marjorie Fox was appointed Greene County district attorney April 1. She has been with the office since 1989 and became acquainted with Conrad when she was a Pittsburgh defense attorney in the 1980s.

'Conrad has been a tremendous help to this office,' Fox said. 'When we had a big case, if he was in trial he would take a break when we called - five minutes, a half-hour - to explore issues.'

Smaller Pennsylvania counties often tap prosecutorial expertise in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and the state's district attorneys association supports the practice, Fox said.

Fox said her office sees 'the same complex legal issues' as Allegheny County, 'but we just don't have as many cases, and we have a much smaller staff.'

Christopher Zurawsky can be reached at czurawsky@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7840.