Trial lawyer Bernie Cantorna announced Tuesday that he is running for Centre County District Attorney in next year’s election.
“I am running for Centre County District Attorney to restore public trust in fair trials and even-handed law enforcement,’ Cantorna said in a statement.
Cantorna, a partner in the Centre County firm Bryant & Cantorna with offices in State College and Millheim, is a Chicago native who has practiced law in Centre County for 18 years of his 25-year career.
He has a contentious history with incumbent DA and fellow Democrat Stacy Parks Miller, who immediately offered a scathing response to Cantorna’s announcement and sparked a war of words.
‘Now we know why he and his cronies falsely and maliciously accused me of a crime; to get me out of the way because he covets the job for himself,’ Parks Miller said in a statement. ‘He was the first person to publicly falsely accuse me and as I promised, I was completely innocent.’
The bad blood started with the 2014 trial of Jalene McClure, a daycare provider convicted of assaulting a five-month old child. Her sentence was overturned and a new trial ordered by a state Superior Court panel in August on grounds that certain evidence, testimony and a redacted statement should not have been admitted.
Cantorna, who represented McClure, had argued that now-retired Judge Bradley Lunsford should have recused himself from the trial, after a Right to Know request revealed hundreds of text messages between Lunsford and members of Parks Miller’s office in the months leading up to McClure’s trial. Cantorna also argued on appeal that a former court reporter’s affidavit stating Lunsford and Parks Miller had texted during a 2012 trial demonstrated an inappropriate relationship. The Superior Court did not rule on that issue.
Parks Miller’s statement attacked Cantorna’s defense of McClure, ‘Do our people really want such a man willing to do and say anything to win without regard to the truth? Including currently defending convicted baby abusers by attacking the very law enforcement professionals and doctors trying to keep our community and children safe? We send criminals to prison. We protect children. He tries, fortunately without much success, to get them off. He can’t beat us in the courtroom, so he cheats by making serial false accusations against me and my dedicated staff. The truth has finally come out.”
Cantorna responded:
‘I was one of the attorneys involved in the case that revealed that the District Attorney’s office and a former judge were engaged in excessive texting during a trial. The Superior Court reviewed that case and found that the DA did not give the defendant a fair trial, so they ordered a new trial. I am running because all trials should be fair. I am disappointed that the DA continues to engage in personal attacks rather than discussing the issues. I intend to discuss the issues and trust the voters to decide who they prefer to have in the DA’s office.”
And Parks Miller fired back again: ‘The records revealed no such thing. I did not engage in any texting during the trial with that Judge and the Superior Court did not find his allegations about that even worthy of review or mention. Cantorna continues to lie to the public to get a job.’
In 2015, Cantorna brought to the Centre County Board of Commissioners an accusation from former DA’s office paralegal Michelle Shutt that Parks Miller had forged the signature of Judge Pamela Ruest on a fake bail order as part of a jailhouse sting operation.
That set off a series of battles between Parks Miller and county officials and defense attorneys. The case was investigated by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General and a grand jury ultimately cleared Parks Miller. She filed a lawsuit in federal court against a number of county officials, Ruest, Shutt and several defense attorneys, including Cantorna, charging defamation, malicious prosecution, legal malpractice and other claims.
A judge dismissed most of the claims, including those against Cantorna, in May, and the remaining claims of illegal search and seizure by county officials were dismissed in August. Parks Miller, who was elected DA in 2009 and re-elected in 2013, has appealed the dismissal. She also is being sued by Shutt for retaliation, defamation and other claims.
In addition to his local practice, Cantorna is senior staff member at the Trial Lawyer’s College for which he organizes and teaches graduate-level law courses to other attorneys. He was previously a clinical professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School — where he received his law degree — for five years and was a Wisconsin public defender for three years. He is also head coach of the State College Area High School girls rugby team and an assistant coach for the Penn State women’s rugby team.
“Politics will not play any role in my office,’ Cantorna said in announcing his bid. ‘If elected, my office will work professionally with law enforcement, judges, lawyers, and courthouse staff. Violent offenders will be prosecuted aggressively, while non-violent first offenders may be channeled into diversion programs and treatment geared toward rehabilitation.”
