Jan 12, 2017 3 min read

A suspended Pittsburgh postmaster accused of threatening subordinates who saw him open packages containing drugs “depended on his ruthlessness not to protect the mail, not to protect the public, but to protect himself,” an Allegheny County prosecutor Thursday.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Catanzarite said during his closing argument Daniel Davis made the threats between August 2014 and January 2015 to avoid consequences for opening packages he suspected of containing narcotics, even though he didn’t have the authority to examine the parcels.

Jurors began deliberating Thursday and were expected to resume this morning.

Davis, 51, of Canonsburg, is charged with obstruction of justice and four counts each of official oppression, criminal coercion and intimidation of witnesses.

His attorney, Joe Chester, called the case a “bad and nonsensical array of charges.” He called much of the prosecution’s case a “smokescreen” and sought to point out inconsistencies in accounts witnesses had given since the trial began last week.

“When something doesn’t happen in the real world, you get differing accounts of the same event,” Chester said.

One postal employee said Davis called himself a “ruthless (expletive)” and told the employee not to “cross (him),” with others claiming he threatened their careers or personal safety if they reported he was opening packages. One, Donna Clay, alleged he threatened to kill her.

Chester also called the allegations of threats part of an “employment law soap opera,” pointing out that one of the alleged victims whose career Davis allegedly threatened wound up getting the transfer he wanted.

He said one alleged victim, Maven Parker, had pending litigation against Davis and the U.S. Postal Service.

Catanzarite acknowledged Parker and Clay have pursued equal employment opportunity complaints but said their complaints were a reasonable reaction to their treatment by superiors.

The prosecution contended Davis opened packages and violated owners’ due process rights even though he’d sworn to uphold the Constitution as a postal employee.

“Every time he opened the packages it was deliberate, and with intent,” Catanzarite said.

He noted Davis’ trial isn’t about opening the packages – a federal crime for which he hasn’t been charged – but about accusations he made threats to protect himself.

Davis – who’s served 19 years in the Postal Service, including the time he’s been on suspension since charges were filed in 2015 – worked in Toledo before he came to Pittsburgh as postmaster in 2014. Chester said while his client was in Toledo, he was trained by postal inspectors there to identify signs packages could contain narcotics. He opened about 600 such packages in Toledo and some 100 in Pittsburgh, turning the ones containing narcotics over to postal inspectors.

Chester said people’s Fourth Amendment rights to due process weren’t part of Davis’ training, and he wasn’t aware he couldn’t open packages without a warrant.

During his two-hour closing statement, Chester referenced his client’s status as a Marine Corps combat veteran, describing him as a dedicated public servant.

“It is not criminality on the part of Dan Davis,” Chester said. “The commonwealth is not remotely close to proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt.”