City man looks to sue drug task force
A Uniontown man wants a federal judge to declare him indigent and assign him a lawyer to sue two Fayette County police agencies. Raymond E. Peterson, 47, is in state prison on two drug cases, and indicated in a filing Friday that he has no money to sue the Uniontown Police Department and Fayette County Drug Task Force. He claims he was the victim of various constitutional violations between December 2007 and December 2008 at the hands of officers from both agencies.
Currently serving a sentence of 11/2 to 4 years, Peterson alleged that he was physically assaulted, improperly charged, never read his rights and subject to a search without a valid warrant.
In one instance, he claims a Uniontown officer used a Taser on him.
“I did not do anything wrong, as I was running to the front of the yard,” he wrote in the lawsuit.
Peterson has two cases in which he was convicted of multiple counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver drugs. A third case with charges of possession and possession with intent to deliver drugs is pending, and scheduled for trial in July.
District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon, who heads the task force, defended the officers.
“I maintain the integrity of our officers, and the professionalism of the members of the drug task force,” she said.
Vernon also noted that oftentimes such lawsuits are quickly dismissed as frivolous.