Mezzacappa PFA Tossed

Judge Leonard Zito was taunted by Tricia Mezzacappa as “Cheesey Chito Zito” and as “baked ziti” during the Jim Gregory Protection From Abuse Act (PFA) saga. Thanks in no small part to her efforts on his behalf, Zito sent Gregory to Northampton County jail on a contempt citation. Today, he rejected her PFA against me.

PERFECT!

A full-blown hearing was originally scheduled to be heard by Judge Michael Koury. But because he was swamped by other PFAs, he referred to matter to Judge Zito.

I arrived in Judge Koury's courtroom early, and watched several PFAs that were scheduled before mine. They are quite sad to watch, but might be one of the most important tasks a judge performs..

In one of the cases, a distraught mother told Judge Koury that her children - 8 year old twins - had bruises all over that she suspected came from their father. When she'd ask them, they'd get equivocal, not wanting to get their dad in trouble. To make matters worse, her son has bite marks from a young pit bull owned by their dad.

"Can you bring the children in here? "asked Judge Koury.

"They're with their father right now. He has custody until Wednesday," she answered.

"Can you text him right now and ask him to have the children here by 2:30 PM?" asked the judge.

She promised to do so, and later that day, I did see the two tots with their mother and another relative, on their way to see the judge.

I wanted to hug them.

Kids deserve a better life than that, and that's why we have PFAs. The criminal law is sometimes inadequate in penetrating the familial setting. Police are often reluctant to file charges that arise from domestic relationships. To remedy this shortcoming, the legislature created PFAs for spouses, children, household partners and those in very close relationships.

When I got into Judge Zito's courtroom, it was for a full blown PFA hearing. But it never happened. This is because, as I pointed out at the onset, Mezzacappa is nothing like those who deserve PFA protection. She has no standing, i. e., is not among the classes of persons designated for protection when the state legislature adopted this Act.

Judge Zito thought about my argument over the lunch hour, reviewing some of the pertinent caselaw. When he came back, he agreed.

I was ready to defend this matter on the merits, but saw no reason to subject a judge and a host of other people to her nonsense at the beginning of a busy criminal court week, especially when she really had no right to bring the action in the first place.

Instead of listening to two small children who almost certainly are entitled to some kind of protection, Mezzacappa would rather have the courts listen to her histrionics and outright lies. She brought her famous box, full of all the rejected complaints she's filed against everyone. She even subpoenaed Judge Richard Yetter, Easton police and District Attorney John Morganelli.

Judge Yetter's subpoena was quashed earlier that day. You can't subpoena a judge to testify about a matter based solely on his conduct within his judicial function. A Philadelphia lawyer had to come up and file a motion on Judge Yetter's behalf.

Morganelli, on the first day of criminal court, was forced to dispatch an assistant to keep an eye on things, another colossal waste of prosecutorial resources.

Worst of all was her subpoena to Easton police. The Chief and another officer basically wasted half a day on a matter in which their presence was totally unnecessary, taking them away from their duties.

At Mezzacappa's side, recently released Jim Gregory was dispensing his Mensa wisdom, proving he's learned absolutely nothing during his three weeks in jail.

Very patiently, Judge Zito explained to Mezzacappa that if she thinks I've committed crimes, she can ask that I be prosecuted. If police and the DA refuse, she can appeal those decisions. So now, Mezzacappa will clutter the courts with appeals of DA determinations that her complaints lack merit.

Good luck with that.

This is the sixth time that she has harassed me with baseless litigation. I have no reason to believe she'll stop now. That's why I plan to sue her, within the next month, for malicious prosecution. When she loses her house, her trust fund, her checking account and her car, maybe she'll stop.

Updated 9:32 PM to complete the story.