Killer of Uber driver seeks new trial over claims of racial, political bias

The man convicted last month in the high-profile murder of an Uber driver in Monroeville wants a new trial because of what his lawyer called “political and racial bias” by the Allegheny County district attorney and the lead detective on the case.

In a court motion, the attorney for Calvin Crew does not attack the strong circumstantial evidence that he killed Christina Spicuzza in 2022.

Instead, he accuses District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. of mischaracterizing evidence against Crew, violating a judge’s gag order and using the case for political gain.

The motion also claims Allegheny County Police Detective Gregory Renko demonstrated “prejudice, motive and bias against Black men, spanning years,” as evidenced in a series of Facebook posts dating to 2012 that it says he made.

Crew is Black, and Renko is white.

The posts — 18 of which were attached to the motion — reference Black Lives Matter, the murder of George Floyd by a police officer and the shootings of police officers in Allegheny County.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski did not allow the posts to be admitted at trial, ruling they were not relevant.

But Crew’s attorney, Andy Howard, the county’s chief deputy public defender, disagrees.

Howard wrote in his motion that “evidence of racial bias by the investigators and prosecution was and is central to the defense of this case.” He claimed the conduct alleged by Zappala and Renko affected the integrity of the investigation and prosecution of Crew.

Renko, who joined the county police in 2014, is a decorated officer who has been hailed for his work on the SWAT team during the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting and in August 2023 for rescuing neighbors during a house explosion in Plum’s Rustic Ridge subdivision.

He served in the homicide unit for a number of years but in recent testimony said he was assigned to general investigations. The county would not say if that is still his post.

Renko did not respond to a request for comment.

In its response to Howard’s motion, the district attorney’s office wrote that Crew is not entitled to a new trial.

The judge already heard arguments about the admissibility of Renko’s posts and made his ruling, wrote Deputy District Attorney Emma Schoedel. Therefore, she said, it is not newly discovered evidence that could warrant a new trial.

The prosecution’s filings did not address the substance of Renko’s posts.

Jim Madalinsky, a county police spokesman, said the department initiated an internal investigation into the allegations as soon as it became aware of them at the end of the trial.

Madalinsky said he could not comment further because the situation involved an ongoing criminal proceeding and was a personnel matter.

Litany of complaints

Among his various claims, Howard wrote that police “stoked” public furor against Crew through a TV interview after his arrest that raised concerns about tainting the jury pool.

He accused Zappala of using the Crew case to attack the public defender’s office and the county executive.

Howard wrote that Crew’s trial was not the first time defense lawyers have raised concerns that Zappala’s office “disproportionately targets black men for political gain.”

And he criticized the DA’s office for releasing to the media copies of a dashboard camera video showing Spicuzza behind the wheel of her Uber, not long before the mother of four was killed on Feb. 10, 2022, in Monroeville.

Prosecutors said the video shows a masked Crew, seated in the back seat of an Uber, menacing Spicuzza with a gun.

Howard called it “flagrantly inflammatory footage.”

When the Crew case went to trial last month, Howard told jurors he would present evidence that police had tunnel vision during their investigation and that race played a role.

However, when Howard called Renko to the stand as a witness on the final day of testimony and attempted to confront him with the Facebook posts, the prosecution objected, saying they weren’t relevant to the case.

The judge agreed, saying he would allow only the posts that were relevant to Crew’s arrest.

Jurors never saw the posts implicating race.

The Facebook posts

In his motion, Howard wrote that Renko “has a lengthy and extensive demonstrable history of racial and political bias.”

Among the examples:

• A Sept. 28, 2020, post showing a chart titled “Murdered in Cold Blood” with eight mugshots of Black people next to a series of victims, ages 5 to 30, who are all white. At the bottom, the chart reads: “Did Their Lives Matter?” “They matter to me!” Renko wrote.
• A tweet Renko reposted on April 21, 2021, the day after a jury convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin of killing George Floyd in Minneapolis. The post read, “Chauvin immediately stood and calmly placed his hands behind his back. Imagine where we’d be had George done the same.” Howard wrote the post “implies that George Floyd was responsible for his own death at the hands of convicted murderer Derek Chauvin.”
• A July 8, 2021, post appearing over a picture of the Fox News headline “BLM Chapter declares U.S. flag a hate symbol, denounces those who fly it as racists.” Renko wrote: “If you don’t like it, get the hell out!!! I’m tired of ‘them’ claiming we and this nation is racist. Let’s face reality, BLM is the racist group. I’m tired of us cowarding down to them. So many great men and women have bled to defend our nations flag. To even think it’s a hate symbol is disgusting.”

Other posts by Renko appeared to condone eliminating due process.

On Jan. 15, 2013, for instance, Renko commented about the second-degree murder conviction that day of Ronald Robinson, who killed Penn Hills police Officer Michael Crawshaw and received a mandatory penalty of life in prison without parole.

“Here’s my opinion, take it for what it’s worth,” the post read. “Don’t let these (people) make it to the court room, give them their justice before that …”

He also called for an ”automatic death sentence” for anyone convicted of killing a civil servant.

Defense attorneys react

Pittsburgh-area defense attorneys said the posts call into question Renko’s judgment and likely will lead to challenges to his credibility in cases in which he is called to testify.

“If my client was Black, and Renko posted all that, I would have printouts of all of those posts ready to go in cross-examination,” said attorney Joe Otte. “It’s clear those statements exhibit bias.”

Otte, a former public defender, said the Facebook post showing a chart of suspects and victims is “race baiting.”

“It’s shocking to me, as an Allegheny County detective, he did not see what was wrong with that,” Otte said.

Bruce Antkowiak, who teaches criminal law at Saint Vincent College, agreed that the posts could cause problems prosecuting cases involving Renko.

“There’s going to be a pall cast upon them because of the announced views he has taken,” Antkowiak said. “The degree and amount of postings here — there’s inevitably going to be challenges made in any cases pending and any cases past.

“The quality of these investigations is going to be questioned even if the investigations were totally thorough.”

Frank Walker, past president of the Pittsburgh Black Lawyers Alliance and a criminal defense attorney, said the posts show bias.

“It shows his disposition in dealing with African Americans and anyone he deals with that doesn’t look like him,” Walker said.

Antkowiak said the posts are sure to make the rounds of the defense bar.

“In terms of this officer, you will see challenge after challenge in later cases in which his investigations were affected by personal and political views,” he said.

Antkowiak noted that the public relies upon the police to be a guardian of due process.

“They are to play by the rules — rules that allow the police ample room to do the job of law enforcement while giving the public confidence that fundamental principles of individual liberty are being honored,” Antkowiak said.

The DA’s response

Renko is the affiant in the pending death penalty case against Johnathan Morris, accused of killing McKeesport police Officer Sean Sluganski in February 2023. Records show he is also the affiant on five other pending homicide cases.

Allegheny County First Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Spangler would not answer specific questions about Renko’s posts or whether they impact any other cases, including Morris’.

“The Office of the Allegheny County District Attorney has long had a protocol to address allegations made against a police officer when presented with them,” Spangler said in an emailed statement.

She would not elaborate on what that protocol is, whether there is an ongoing review or whether the office has asked that Renko no longer be listed as an affiant in future cases.