murder of Dr. Idris Evans<\/a>, a pediatrician at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh who was killed during an attack at his Edgewood home.<\/p>\nHouse Bill 2856, introduced by Shaffer, requires consideration of prior violent convictions, burglary convictions, other pending criminal charges and protection from abuse orders when a decision is made regarding bail.<\/p>\n
“The question must be asked: How is a person with a violent past released on bail without stronger safeguards?” said Shaffer in a written statement. “The tragic murder of Dr. Evans makes it crystal clear that assessing danger to the community must be a central part of any bail decision.”<\/p>\n
Mihalek also plans to introduce legislation requiring a complete and current criminal history report, including in-state, out-of-state and federal records, to be provided to judges or magistrates before bail is set or modified.<\/p>\n
“This issue has exposed a simple truth about the Allegheny County bail system \u2014 there is no one looking out for victims in this case, the general public,” Mihalek said in the statement.<\/p>\n
That claim was echoed by Kelly Rae Robertson, a former Allegheny County Court employee of more than 14 years, who worked as a bail investigator at the Allegheny County Jail. Robertson said she witnessed pressure to recommend release of high-risk offenders, due to grants received from outside sources with the intent of keeping jail population numbers low.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because of those non-monetary bail releases, Robertson alleges several violent offenders were allowed to go free and then went on to allegedly commit more violent attacks.<\/p>\n
“There’s not enough time today to tell all the stories like these or to name all the people who are now dead because the priority was the grant metrics and a lower jail count rather than public safety,” said Robertson.<\/p>\n
State Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Allegheny County, also introduced Senate Bill 490, which calls for an examination of the bail process. The bill, which had bipartisan co-sponsors, passed the state Senate in March.<\/p>\n
“Pennsylvanians deserve a criminal justice system that takes the threat of violent crime seriously and puts the safety of victims and communities at the forefront of bail decisions,” said Robinson.<\/p>\n
The lawmakers also pointed to other violent murders in the county at the hands of violent offenders, like the murder of Benjamin Brallier, an off-duty Liquor Control Enforcement agent who was stabbed on the Montour Trail. Anthony Quesen, who had been previously released on non-monetary bail for a robbery charge the previous year, was sentenced to 16 to 42 years for Brallier’s murder.<\/p>\n
Shaffer said the bill’s main objective is to ensure cases like this never happen again.<\/p>\n
“We owe that to the Evans family,” Shaffer said. “We owe that to the families whose names we will never have to learn if we get this right.”<\/p>\n
\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n
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