Stephen A. Zappala Jr. is a Democratic politician and attorney who is the

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia Co ...

Family

Zappala is the son of Phyllis Zappala (née Koleno) and Stephen Zappala Sr., a former Justice of the

Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme J ...

, and grandson of Frank J. Zappala, a now-deceased Pennsylvania attorney, magistrate and legislator.Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Zappala handily repels another Conrad challenge”
"Google News Archives'', Retrieved on 2010-01-3

Education

After graduating from Central Catholic High School in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, Zappala Jr. began his undergraduate studies at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

, where he played linebacker. After a back injury sidelined him, he transferred to the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, where he graduated with a degree in political science. He earned his J.D. from

Duquesne University School of Law The Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University is a private Catholic university law school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is approved by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. ...

Career

Upon graduation from law school, he joined the Pittsburgh law firms of Grogan, Graffam, McGinley & Lucchino and Dattilo, Barry, Fasulo & Cambest as an associate. In 1990, he became a partner at Brucker, Zappala, Schneider & Porter, another Pittsburgh law firm. In 1995, he was named Chairman of the Allegheny County Board of Viewers. In December 1997, then-District Attorney Robert E. Colville announced he was leaving the position to become judge on the Court of Common Pleas. Zappala was appointed by the Allegheny County's Common Pleas judges with 22 votes. His primary rival for the position, W. Christopher Conrad, received 6 votes. Shortly after his 1998 swearing-in as District Attorney, Zappala fired Conrad, who had been working in the District Attorney's office as lead homicide prosecutor. Zappala defeated Conrad again in the 1999 Democratic primary election for the district attorney position, with 63% of the vote. However, Conrad successfully pursued write-in votes on the Republican ballot, which led to Zappala facing Conrad again in the general election in November 1999. Zappala won handily. In 2004, he became embroiled in a war of words with County

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

Dr.

Cyril Wecht Cyril Harrison Wecht (born March 20, 1931) is an American forensic pathologist. He has been the president of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American College of Legal Medicine, and headed the board of trustees of the Amer ...

, stemming from an open inquest Wecht pursued. Wecht accused Zappala of "impudence, arrogance, gall of an unmitigated nature, hubris and unsurpassed chutzpah that absolutely defies explanation," and musing, "Who does the district attorney think he is?" When Wecht was later indicted on a variety of charges, a defense attorney blamed Zappala for the probe, saying it was politically motivated. In 2012, when Maddox Derkosh was killed by

African wild dog The African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), also called the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine which is a native species to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the largest wild canine in Africa, and the only extant member of the genus '' Ly ...

s after falling into their exhibit at the

Pittsburgh Zoo __NOTOC__ The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium is one of only six major zoo and aquarium combinations in the United States. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Highland Park, the zoo sits on of park land where it exhibits more than 4,000 animals repr ...

, he stated that he will not charge his mother, Elizabeth Derkosh, who lifted him to get a better point of view and is still investigating if the zoo is at fault. Zappala is currently in a dispute with Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Stephen A. Bucar over whether the city police bureau should change its eyewitness identification procedures. Zappala is urging the police bureau to discontinue its use of simultaneous photo arrays, in which witnesses are typically shown photos of six to eight suspects on one sheet of paper, in favor of sequential photo arrays, in which they are shown photos individually. In 2016, DA Zappala paid nearly $1,400 in

bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...

as ransom after his office computer network was taken hostage by the Avalanche phishing group. In 2019, Zappala was re-elected with 57 percent of the vote. https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/PA/Allegheny/98378/web.258506/#/detail/0114 In 2021, Zappala sent an email to his prosecutors instructing them not to offer plea deals a well-known black attorney who had criticized the criminal justice system. Shortly thereafter, an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge said he would no longer accept plea deals from Zappala's office, saying it was wrong to treat defendants differently based on who represents them.

Personal life

Zappala lives in suburban

Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania Fox Chapel is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, and is an affluent suburb of Pittsburgh located northeast of downtown. The borough continually garners national prominence and is home to many of the wealthiest and most powerful p ...

with his wife, Mary. They have four sons.

References

External links