Goldhaber v. Higgins

Page 694

576 F.Supp.2d 694

Douglas GOLDHABER, Plaintiff, v. William HIGGINS, Brian Clark, Keith Bowser, Michael George, Kenneth Benton, Paul Wypijewski, Bradley E. Hershey, and the Bedford County Prison Board, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 06-134J.

United States District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania.

September 28, 2007.

Don Bailey, Bailey & Ostrawski, Harrisburg, PA, for Plaintiff.

Mary Lou Maierhofer, Meyer, Darragh, Buckler, Bebenek & Eck, Altoona, PA, David M. Donaldson, Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, Philadelphia, PA, Robert A. Willig, Office of Attorney General, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION and ORDER OF COURT

KIM R. GIBSON, District Judge.

SYNOPSIS

This matter comes before the Court on the Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendant Michael George ("Judge George") (Document No. 25), the Supplemental Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendants William Higgins ("Higgins"), Brian Clark ("Clark"), Keith Bowser ("Bowser"), Paul Wypijewski ("Wypijewski"), and the Bedford County Prison Board ("Board") (Document No. 28), and the Motion to Dismiss/Motion for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants Bradley E. Hershey ("Hershey") and Kenneth Benton ("Benton") (Document No. 30). For the reasons that follow, the Motion to Dismiss filed by Hershey and Benton (Document No. 30) will be granted, the Motion to Dismiss filed by Higgins, Clark, Bowser, Wypijewski and the Board (Document No. 28) will be granted in part and denied in part, and the Motion to Dismiss filed by Judge George will be denied without prejudice, pending the filing of a more definite statement by Goldhaber.

BACKGROUND

The Plaintiff, Douglas Goldhaber ("Goldhaber"), commenced this action against the Defendants on June 7, 2006. (Document No. 1). The Defendants responded to Goldhaber's lawsuit by moving for the dismissal of the Complaint. (Document Nos. 12, 14 & 19). On August 22, 2006, Goldhaber filed an Amended Complaint against the Defendants. (Document No. 24). Thereafter, the Defendants filed the instant Motions to Dismiss. (Document Nos. 25, 28 & 30). Judge George filed a Motion for a Protective Order on February 7, 2007, seeking a stay of all discovery with respect to himself pending a determination by the Court as to whether he is entitled to judicial immunity. (Document No. 36). The Court issued a memorandum opinion on February 22, 2007, granting Judge George's Motion for a Protective Order. (Document No. 39). Discovery was stayed not only with respect to Judge George, but with respect to all of the Defendants. (Document No. 39). The Court reasoned that the litigation would be structured more efficiently if all of the Defendants were subject to any needed discovery according to the same timetable. (Id., p. 3). On March 15, 2007, the Court dismissed the original Motions to Dismiss filed by the Defendants, explaining that the arguments raised by the Defendants would be addressed within the context of the new Motions to Dismiss, which were filed after Goldhaber filed his Amended Complaint. (Document No. 40). These Motions to Dismiss have been extensively briefed and, therefore, are the subject of this memorandum opinion. Since the matter comes before the Court in this context, the allegations contained in the Amended Complaint are assumed to be true. Anza v. Ideal Steel Supply Corp., ___ U.S. ___, ___, 126 S.Ct. 1991, 1994, 164 L.Ed.2d 720, 726 (2006); Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471, 475, 119 S.Ct. 2139, 2143, 144 L.Ed.2d 450, 458 (1999).

This is a civil rights action brought by an attorney who alleges that he was the victim of a conspiracy to retaliate against him for seeking legal redress, to prevent him from benefitting from a work-release program during his incarceration, and to extend his incarceration beyond the minimum sentence that he expected to serve. (Document No. 24, pp. 1-3, ¶ 1). Goldhaber was arrested on April 9, 2004, and charged with the offense of driving after imbibing, which is a violation of 75 Pa.C.S. § 3802. (Id., p. 4, ¶ 6).¹ During the previous nine and a half years, Goldhaber had worked as a criminal defense attorney in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. (Id., ¶ 7). He spent approximately half of this time working for the Office of the Public Defender for Bedford County, serving as First Assistant Public Defender and as Chief Public Defender. Id. At some point during the end of 1999 or the beginning of 2000, Higgins was hired as an Assistant District Attorney in Bedford County. (Id., ¶ 8).

Following the commencement of Higgins' employment with the District Attorney's Office, he and Goldhaber began to socialize on a regular basis. (Id., ¶ 9). Goldhaber alleges that Higgins confided in him with respect to business dealings outside of the workplace. Id. According to Goldhaber's allegations, Higgins bragged about how he had convinced two elderly individuals, one of whom was male and one of whom was female, to transfer title to their homes to his name, his wife's name, and the name of a friend. (Id., p. 5, ¶ 10). He indicated to Goldhaber that he would borrow money against these homes, use some of the money to make repairs, sell the homes, and then keep the balance of the money. (Id., ¶ 11). Higgins bragged about moving these two elderly individuals to The Bedford County, receiving their social security payments, and attempting to have their social security payments deposited directly into his personal bank account. (Id., ¶ 12). Higgins told Goldhaber that he had placed the woman in the Everett Christian Home, even though she was Jewish, and that he had made the decision to have her cremated after her death (which violates Jewish customs) to decrease the funeral expenses and ensure a monetary windfall for himself. (Id., ¶ 13). Goldhaber also learned, from Higgins, about romantic encounters that Higgins was supposedly having with women other than his wife. (Id., pp. 5-6, ¶ 14).

In November 2003, Higgins was elected District Attorney of Bedford County. (Id., p. 6, ¶ 15). Shortly thereafter, the relationship between Higgins and Goldhaber began to deteriorate. (Id., ¶ 16). Goldhaber alleges that Higgins was uncomfortable with Goldhaber's knowledge of his alleged unethical conduct, and that Higgins would utter profanities at Goldhaber in the courtroom while court was not in session. (Id.). When Higgins took office, Goldhaber was representing the defendant in Commonwealth v. Barnes (No. 535 for the year 2003) in the Court of Common Pleas of Bedford County. (Id., pp. 6-7, ¶ 17). Goldhaber had successfully negotiated a resolution of the case with Higgins' predecessor, but this resolution had not been presented to the court prior to Higgins' assumption of his duties as the District Attorney. Id. Higgins refused to honor the agreement, and a jury trial was held on March 9, 2004. Id. During one of the recesses, Higgins allegedly told Goldhaber that President Judge Daniel Lee Howsare of the Court of Common Pleas of Bedford County was engaged in inappropriate ex parte conduct in the Barnes case. Id. Judge Howsare was presiding over that case. Id. These accusations were made by Higgins in the presence of Goldhaber, the defendant, a police officer, a court clerk, a stenographer, and spectators who were attending the trial. Id. After Goldhaber brought these accusations to the attention of Judge Howsare, Higgins denied making them. Id. Nevertheless, Higgins admitted to making the accusations after Goldhaber pointed out that others present in the courtroom had heard Higgins' comments, and Judge Howsare proceeded to chastise Higgins for his unprofessional conduct. Id. As a result of this incident, as well as other incidents, Higgins harbored a great deal of animosity toward Goldhaber.² (Id., p. 7, ¶ 18).

The animosity between Higgins and Goldhaber apparently has a long history. Goldhaber alleges that Higgins had given false information about a police report concerning an arson case. (Id., pp. 7-8, ¶ 19). Higgins allegedly stated in court that a police report had indicated that the fire at issue in the case had been set by human hands, while the police report had not actually stated such a conclusion. Id. Judge Howsare allegedly chastised Higgins for this misrepresentation. Id.

Hershey is a police officer employed by the Pennsylvania State Police. (Id., p. 1, ¶ 1). During the course of their professional dealings, Higgins told Goldhaber that he and Hershey had a social relationship (i.e., they got together to watch football games, drink beer, and sit in a hot tub). (Id., p. 8, ¶ 21). They harbored a great deal of animosity toward Goldhaber. (Id., p. 9, ¶ 22). Goldhaber alleges that Higgins and Hershey conspired to remove him from the court system in retaliation for his representation of criminal defendants in Bedford County. (Id., ¶ 23). Goldhaber further alleges that Higgins wanted to discredit him because of the information that he had about Higgins' dealings outside of the workplace, and that Higgins feared that Goldhaber would someday reveal information about those dealings. (Id., ¶ 24).

Goldhaber was arrested on April 9, 2004, and charged with the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol. (Id., p. 4, ¶ 6). Because the District Attorney's Office had a conflict of interest, the prosecution was taken over by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. (Id., p. 9, ¶ 25). At a preliminary hearing on July 19, 2004, the charges against Goldhaber were bound over to the Court of Common Pleas of Bedford County. (Id., ¶ 26). Judge Howsare recused himself from any further proceedings involving Goldhaber's case, and Judge Kevin A. Hess, a member of the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County, was appointed to preside over the case. (Id., p. 10, ¶ 27). On January 25, 2005, Judge Howsare entered an order terminating Judge Hess' involvement with the case and appointing Judge George, a member of the Court of Common Pleas of Adams County, to preside. (Id., ¶ 28). No explanation was given for this order....