Cantorna Seeking Second Term as District Attorney

Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna is running for a second term as the county’s top prosecutor.

Cantorna, the first announced candidate for district attorney in the May 18 primary, first won election in 2017 when he defeated incumbent Stacy Parks Miller in the Democratic primary and ran unopposed on the ballot in the general election.

“Four years ago, I announced my candidacy for Centre County District Attorney because our legal system was in crisis,” Cantorna said in a statement on Monday. “During my first term, our office has worked diligently to restore public trust by building a dedicated team of staff and lawyers who work hard every day to hold the guilty accountable, protect the innocent and preserve the dignity of victims and their families.”

In his first year as DA, Cantorna’s office successfully prosecuted four murder cases — an unprecedented feat in Centre County — getting guilty verdicts or pleas in each.

Cantorna said that prior to his taking office the backlog of serious cases meant it would be two to three year before they came to court, but that his office brought the wait time down to a year or less.

“COVID has been a challenge for all of us and it has created a backlog of cases in our legal system that our office will work through again,” he said.

In a second term, Cantorna said, his office would continue to build on two specialized diversionary programs created last year — the Behavioral and Mental Health Diversionary Initiative and Veterans Treatment Track — and the Centre County Drug Court, a rehabilitation program that began accepting candidates at the start of his term.

“If elected to a second term, my primary focus will be to ensure that our community is kept safe and that we continue to work toward solutions that solve the underlying issues that bring people to court,” Cantorna said.

Cantorna moved to State College in 1998 with his wife and daughters and spent 20 years in private practice focused in criminal defense and civil plaintiff litigation.

A Chicago native, Cantorna earned a business management degree from St. Mary’s College and was a certified public accountant prior to graduating from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1990, where he would later spend five years as a clinical professor. He began his legal career as an assistant public defender in rural Wisconsin.

He also was a senior staff member at the Trial Lawyer’s College, where he organized and taught graduate level law courses to other attorneys.

Outside the courtroom, Cantorna is head coach of the State College Area High School girls’ rugby team and a defensive coach for the women’s rugby team at Penn State, where both of his daughters were All-Americans in the sport.

Cantorna has been met with criticism in some quarters for declining to prosecute the State College police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Osaze Osagie in 2019. Following a state police investigation of the case, Cantorna concluded the shooting was justified and that the officers were in a life-or-death situation.

The 3/20 Coalition, the advocacy group formed following Osagie’s death, has called for Cantorna’s recusal and resignation as state police investigate new allegations, revealed in a civil lawsuit filed by Osagie’s family, regarding the now former officer who shot Osagie and a now retired supervising captain. Cantorna said he was previously unaware of the allegations, won’t recuse from the case and that the primary responsibility in such matters is with the local district attorney.

Cantorna did recuse from another high-profile case at the start of his term when he asked the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office to prosecute the former Beta Theta Pi fraternity members charged in connection with the death of Timothy Piazza. Cantorna said he had previously served as counsel to some of those involved.

Tuesday is the last day for candidates to file nomination papers to appear on the primary ballot. Countywide candidates are required to submit a minimum of 250 signatures from eligible voters on nomination petitions.

Cantorna said 68 volunteers circulate his petitions and collected more than 1,065 signatures.

“I am humbled by this show of support,” he said.