Uniontown, Fayette County dismissed from unlawful homicide lawsuit
The City of Uniontown and Fayette County have been dismissed as defendants in the lawsuit of a mentally disabled man who claimed he was wrongly arrested and imprisoned for a homicide at a personal care home.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney granted the motion from attorney Joel Sansone, representing Craig A. Geness, to voluntarily dismiss the county from a lawsuit filed in June.
Kearney previously granted a request to dismiss the City of Uniontown from the suit.
Kearney dismissed claims of equal protection and malicious prosecution against Uniontown Police Chief Jason Cox, but did not dismiss the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The county, the city and Cox were part of a suit, along with McVey’s Personal Care Home owners James and Jean McVey, following an incident where Geness was accused of pushing Ronald Fiffik down five stairs in October 2006, killing him.
Geness was charged with homicide on Nov. 20 and was lodged in prison for over four years and on an ankle monitor for over four years at a long-term structured residence until he was set free when charges were dropped in 2015, according to the suit.
The complaint stated that the now 49-year-old Geness, who is diagnosed with mental retardation with an IQ in the 50s, was transported from a mental health facility in Uniontown to the home around the time Fiffik was transported to the hospital and after Fiffik fell off the porch.
According to the complaint, Geness believes the owners of the personal care home contacted police and told the police that Geness was suspected of pushing Fiffik to avoid any potential liability.
At the time, Cox, then a detective with the police department, interviewed James McVey, who informed Cox that he was standing in the kitchen when he heard Geness yell “shut up,” enter the house and go to his bedroom. James McVey told Cox he walked outside and saw Fiffik on the ground.
James McVey had Geness involuntarily committed to Highlands Hospital’s psychiatric ward, which was where Cox interviewed Geness weeks after the fall. The complaint alleged Cox coerced Geness into making a false admission in pushing Fiffik.
Geness is demanding compensatory general damages and punitive damages against the defendants in the case at an amount to be determined if a trial takes place.