PITTSBURGH — A preliminary hearing on campaign corruption charges got under way this morning for state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, with a former staffer testifying she felt uncomfortable when she was asked to do political work for Melvin.

A grand jury found that Melvin, 56, illegally used her taxpayer-funded staff when she was still a Superior Court judge to campaign for a seat on the high court in 2003 and again in 2009, when she won her Supreme Court race.

The first witness for prosecutors was Molly Creenan, a former Melvin staff member.

“I was asked to work a poll on election day,” Creenan said in response to questions from Deputy District Attorney Lawrence Claus. Creenan said she knew that was against the law and that over the years she expressed concerns to her supervisors and directly to Melvin, since she also observed a state-owned printer, copier, and fax machine being used for political work.

“I told her that what happened in 2003 cannot happen in 2009,” Creenan said of a conversation she had with Melvin, yet other staff members continued to do political work for the judge.

Melvin has denied the charges and suggested they’re a political vendetta by Democrat District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. Melvin is a conservative Republican from Pittsburgh’s North Hills suburbs.

On cross examination Melvin’s attorney, Patrick Casey, pressed Creenan for specific details on the political forms she claimed to have filled out on Melvin’s behalf. Creenan said she didn’t have copies of the actual forms in question and didn’t remember the exact wording of what she wrote.