| More police lawsuits dismissed |
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| Written by Mark Lungariello |
| Thursday, 04 February 2010 16:12 |
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Two more civil rights lawsuits against Harrison Police Department were dismissed last Friday. These are the 10th and 11th of the slew of police lawsuits to be dismissed or withdrawn. Most were filed in 2007 and 2008 and are represented by high-profile attorney Jonathan Lovett. “I am quite pleased that the Federal Courts have recognized the frivolousness of all of these lawsuits and most of the cases have been tossed on motion - way before trial,” Harrison Town Attorney Frank Allegretti said. The attorney has previously said he believed these cases and the balance of police-geared suits were filed by with hopes of a quick settlement. According to Allegretti, Harrison shied away from settlements, feeling the suits were without merit. “Jonathan Lovett has yet to prevail in any of these matters, which were all part of an avalanche of lawsuits filed mostly between 2007 and 2008,” he stated.  The first of the two cases was filed by Officer William Duffelmeyer, who claimed he was passed over for a promotion to sergeant due to his part as a plaintiff in the 2007 surveillance camera suit (in that suit, officers sued police leadership for installing cameras in the men’s locker room). Duffelmeyer sued the town and elected officials, naming then-Supervisor/Mayor Steve Malfitano and Councilman Joseph Cannella as individual defendants as well, saying they acted as a “rubber stamp” in approving then-Police Chief David Hall.At federal court in White Plains, Justice George A. Yantis issued a decision saying the surveillance camera suit (and other cases, since dismissed) were “not a matter of public concern” and therefore was not actionable as a First Amendment retaliation claim. The court characterized the prior suits as personal grievances. The second case, also dismissed by Yanthis, was filed by Duffelmeyer and officers Michael Walther, Steven Heisler, Jeff Nardi, Stephen Carpiniello, Edward Arce, Ralph Tancredi, Peter DeVittorio, Michael Marinelli and Arthur Marinelli. They sued Lt. Larry Marshall, former Chief Hall and the town, claiming their First Amendment rights were violated when they were ordered not to discuss a criminal investigation. The investigation was on a complaint over a 2007 check to the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) in which the plaintiffs had claimed that the $2,500 donation from Brae Burn Country Club was knowingly changed and deposited in the Chiefs of Police Association account by Chief Hall. A district attorney investigation did not find any wrongdoing in the claim, in fact referring to the claims against Hall in a May 24, 2007 report as “simply false.” The suit over the First Amendment in not being allowed to discuss the case was dismissed on the basis their complaint was not “a matter of public concern” and stated further even if it were, the department’s interest in protecting an ongoing investigation outweighed any First Amendment right to discuss it. Hall, for his part, had contended that the officers were not allowed to discuss the matter as it was being investigated, with that gag being lifted upon completion of the district attorney’s report. Two cases remain in progress - a civil rights by Sofia Saenz, the current wife of former PBA President Tancredi. She claimed her rights were violated and she was forced into making statements against Tancredi (Tancredi was fired last December, with Saenz’s videotaped statements used as evidence in his disciplinary hearing). The other suit in progress is the second wave of the surveillance camera suit. The “first wave” with the original plaintiffs has been dismissed, and Harrison attorneys expect the second wave with additional plaintiffs to be dismissed as a matter of procedure. The plaintiffs’ attorney Lovett did not return a phone call seeking comment by press time. You heard it here first! This story was broken by The Harrison Report on our new blog at blog.hometwn.com. Visit our blog for exclusive content and up-to-the-minute updates.
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