County settles lawsuit
Fayette County settled a lawsuit with former county prison guard Gerald Hall for $35,000, admitting no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. Pittsburgh attorney Marie Jones, who represented the county in the litigation, said the settlement was entered into “without any admissions of liability whatsoever” on the part of the county, prison Warden Larry Medlock and former deputy warden Steven Cmar.
Hall sued them and others who were dismissed from the suit before the settlement, claiming that his 2001 arrest for allegedly offering to bring drugs into the prison was racially motivated. Hall was acquitted by a jury, and later sued in federal court in Pittsburgh.
“Neither the county, nor the warden, nor the former deputy warden believe they have discriminated against Mr. Hall in any way,” Jones said Friday afternoon.
She also noted that settling the suit eliminated any ongoing costs and economic issues for the county.
The amount was paid through the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool (PCoRP), Jones said.
Fayette is one of the 46 counties statewide that participate in the PCoRP. According to the Web site for PCoRP, the pool was created by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s when many counties had difficulty getting liability and other insurance coverage.
The result was a pool set up for self-insurance amongst the member counties.
The Herald-Standard had been seeking information on the settlement since Jan. 30. Commission Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink and solicitor Joseph Ferens Jr. initially forwarded inquiries about the specifics of the settlement to Jones, who received both e-mails and phone calls about the case.
On Feb. 7, Jones asked for a formal request under Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Act to release the information. She was e-mailed that request the same day, but did not respond.
On Friday, a reporter from the Herald-Standard dropped off Right to Know requests to all three county commissioners. Hours later, Zimmerlink faxed a letter to the Herald-Standard newsroom that she sent to Ferens, Jones and the other two commissioners. In the letter, Zimmerlink asked that the settlement information be provided to the Herald-Standard and the commissioners.
A short time later, Jones called to discuss the settlement. She noted that the settlement provided for confidentiality “to the extent permitted under law,” but noted that the Right to Know Act makes the settlement public record.
The act ensures that public business is conducted in the public eye.
Hall brought the suit in 2003, after a jury acquitted him of criminal solicitation and criminal attempt to bring drugs into the prison. The suit claimed Hall was the victim of a racially motivated plot because he is black and the agents and prison officials are white. He also claimed that those named in the initial suit did not use investigative techniques that would have shown his innocence before he was charged.
The suit claimed that “a code of silence” perpetuated a cover-up between prison officials and police officers who knew the investigation was flawed, but did nothing about it.
As a result of the lacking investigation, the suit claimed that Hall suffered “emotional distress, inconvenience, humiliation, defamation of character, loss of standing among his peers and stress.”
Police alleged that Hall accepted an inmate’s money with the agreement that he was going to bring drugs into the prison. Authorities alleged that on Oct. 23, 2001, he took $150 from an inmate, promising to bring in marijuana. The inmate, who cooperated to get time shaved off a drunken driving sentence, testified that Hall offered twice before to get him drugs.
Hall said he took the money because it was contraband, and said what he needed to so that the inmate would turn it over. He testified he had no intention of bringing any drugs into the prison.
Hall was charged that night, and fired on Oct. 29, 2001. An arbitrator ruled against giving Hall his job back after the acquittal.