Donora man sues DA, judge over alleged ‘false imprisonment’
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Elijah White listens as his attorney, Noah Geary, discusses a federal lawsuit he filed Tuesday against Washington County’s district attorney and president judge claiming that they wrongly imprisoned White after he declined to testify at a preliminary hearing last December.
Jason Walsh
President Judge John DiSalle
A Donora man who was held in contempt and jailed for five days after he refused to testify at a homicide hearing last December is suing in federal court claiming his constitutional and civil rights were violated.
Elijah White’s attorney Noah Geary filed the lawsuit in Pittsburgh on Tuesday against Washington County’s district attorney and president judge claiming that they wrongly imprisoned him after he declined to testify, on the advice of his lawyer, over concerns of possible self-incrimination.
“The layers of outrageousness are all over the place here. … This was done intentionally, maliciously and with bad motives,” Geary said. “Totally outrageous.”
White, seated next to his attorney in Geary’s Washington law office for a press conference Tuesday, said he had planned to spend the New Year’s holiday weekend with his family, but instead was lodged in the county jail after being held in contempt.
“Just still in shock and wondering why I was incarcerated for following my lawyer’s advice,” White said, adding that he remains “in fear and anxiety that someone is looking for me or I’m going to get in trouble.”
White, 24, was called as a witness during the Dec. 9 preliminary hearing for Keaundre Crews, who is charged with shooting and killing 29-year-old Jaisen A. Irwin outside Bob’s Tavern in Finleyville two months earlier. White refused to answer questions about the case posed by District Attorney Jason Walsh, who then asked District Judge Phillippe Melograne to hold him in contempt. Melograne declined to do so, and let White leave the stand without testifying, but warned White that he might be held in contempt at a later date by a Washington County Court of Common Pleas judge.
That’s exactly what happened less than three weeks later on Dec. 29 when Walsh petitioned the court, and President Judge John DiSalle held White in contempt and ordered him to spend five days in the county jail over the New Year’s holiday weekend. In addition to jail time, DiSalle also ordered White to comply with future subpoenas in the homicide case.
White has not been charged in connection with the killing and it’s not known what, if anything, he has told investigators about the homicide or what witness testimony he would’ve provided at the hearing.
Monongahela police said Crews fatally shot Irwin in the early hours of Oct. 10. Irwin was sitting in a parked car outside of Bob’s Tavern on Route 88. The driver of the vehicle, Maurissa Larae Spencer sped away from the scene, but left Irwin’s body on the side of Washington Avenue less than a mile away from the shooting, investigators said. She never called police for help and later left the car in Union Township, according to court documents.
According to the lawsuit, police claimed White and Irwin had an “interaction” at Jim’s Bar in Monongahela about 30 minutes before the shooting. County detectives requested and received search warrants for White’s home and cellphone as part of their investigation, although no incriminating evidence was found, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims that White was “obviously and clearly a suspect in the murder, although uncharged” which is why his attorney, Ryan Tutera, advised him not to testify at the preliminary hearing.
“I plead the Fifth,” White said when Walsh asked him about the date of the homicide.
“You plead the Fifth to the date and time?” Walsh asked White.
“Yes,” White responded, according to court transcript.
White was also out on bail for a DUI charge in Westmoreland County, so the lawsuit claims any acknowledgement of being at the Monongahela bar could lead to his bond being revoked.
Walsh apparently called White’s response “nonsense” and he asked Melograne compel him to testify or hold him in contempt. Afterward, Walsh filed a petition in court to have White jailed for contempt. The lawsuit also states that DiSalle should not have heard the petition because Judges Valarie Costanzo and Brandon Neuman were assigned to hear criminal cases and motions in 2022.
DiSalle ordered White to serve five days in the county jail and six months on parole.
“That this false imprisonment of Elijah White occurred at the hands of Walsh and DiSalle, in America, in 2023, is shameful and a total disgrace,” the lawsuit states.
Walsh’s brother, Joel Walsh, who is a probation officer in Washington County, was assigned to serve as White’s parole officer, which the lawsuit claims was “totally unnecessary and was done maliciously.” Geary later contacted the probation and parole office and demanded Joel Walsh be removed as the parole officer overseeing White’s supervision, which eventually occurred.
DiSalle declined to comment Tuesday because an appeal by Geary challenging his contempt ruling is still pending with the state Superior Court.
Jason Walsh called the lawsuit “meritless nonsense” and noted the filing comes a week before the Nov. 7 election in which the Republican is being challenged in the district attorney’s race by Democrat Christina DeMarco-Breeden. DeMarco-Breeden’s election finance report filed last week shows that Geary made a $5,000 contribution to her campaign on Oct. 16.
“The timing is uncanny, isn’t it?” Walsh said. “It’s absolutely frivolous and political in nature.”
In response, Geary questioned whether someone like Walsh should be in the position of district attorney if he demands that witnesses be jailed when they invoke their constitutional right to remain silent.
“He shouldn’t be district attorney if he believes what he says,” Geary said. “If this affects his prospects in the election, then that’s fine by me.”
Geary noted that White has never been charged in connection with the homicide and does not believe that he currently is a suspect.
The lawsuit alleges violations to White’s Fourth, Fifth and 14th amendment rights, and seeks unspecified punitive damages. Geary said they may put forward a settlement offer in the near future, although he declined to say how much monetary damages they would be asking.
Crews, 30, of Fallowfield Township, is facing felony charges of homicide, criminal conspiracy, prohibited possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm without a license. He is being held without bond at the Washington County jail.
Spencer, 24, of South Park, is facing charges of homicide, hindering apprehension, tampering with physical evidence and reckless endangerment in connection to Irwin’s death. She waived her case to trial, and is also jailed without bond while awaiting trial in the case.