Gagliardi v. Fisher
| Decision Date | 16 March 2007 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 06-0095. |
| Citation | 513 F.Supp.2d 457 |
| Parties | John GAGLIARDI, Plaintiff, v. D. Michael FISHER, former Attorney General; Kenneth Nye, Supervisory Special Agent; David K. Frattare, Special Agent; Jack O'Brien, Special Agent, Bureau of Criminal Investigations; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of Attorney General; Barbara Hafer, Treasurer; Michael Chapel, Treasury Investigator; Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of the Treasurer, in their personal and official capacities, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
John Gagliardi, Jefferson Hills, PA, pro se.
Mary Lynch Friedline, Office of the Attorney General, Pittsburgh, PA, for Defendants.
Plaintiff John Gagliardi ("plaintiff') filed this civil action against defendants D. Michael Fisher, former Attorney General of Pennsylvania ("Fisher"), Kenneth Nye, Supervisory Special Agent ("Nye"), David K. Frattare, Special Agent ("Frattare"), Jack O'Brien, Special Agent, Bureau of Criminal Investigations ("O'Brien"), the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of Attorney General ("Attorney General's Office"), Barbara Hafer, Treasurer of Pennsylvania ("Hafer"), Michael Chapel, Treasury Investigator ("Chapel"), and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of the Treasurer ("Treasurer's Office"), in their personal and official capacities (collectively referred to as "defendants"), alleging various federal constitutional claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claims under the Pennsylvania Constitution, and various tort claims arising under Pennsylvania law. The action was initially commenced by plaintiff in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County, and defendants removed the case to this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441. Jurisdiction, over plaintiffs federal question claims is predicated on 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343, and supplemental jurisdiction over plaintiffs state law claims is predicated on 28 U.S.C. § 1367.
Pending before the court is a motion to dismiss filed pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) by defendants (Doc. No. 6). Defendants seek to dismiss plaintiffs complaint in its entirety for failure to state claims upon which relief can be granted. The court finds that plaintiff, with respect to his federal question claims, failed to state any claim upon which relief can be granted. The court will dismiss these claims with prejudice, since leave to amend would be futile. Given that plaintiff's federal question claims will be dismissed, and since his remaining claims arise under Pennsylvania law, the court will decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over those claims. 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(1), (3).
The complaint is lengthy and make numerous factual allegations which must be accepted as true for the purpose of deciding the motion to dismiss. Values v. Sky Bank, 432 F.3d 493, 494 (3d Cir.2006). The following facts were set forth in the complaint and are accepted as true for purposes of this decision. The court, however, makes no findings regarding the truth of the complaint's allegations.
Plaintiff is an author and inventor of the Multi-stage Liquid Elevator. (Court of Common Pleas Complaint ("Compl."), Doc. No. 1-3 ¶ 1). He is also a philanthropist and a retired warehouseman, and his office is located in the USI Industrial Park at 191 Wall Road, Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania, 15025 (the "premises"). Id. At the time of the events alleged by plaintiff, Fisher was the Attorney General of Pennsylvania and Hafer was the Treasurer of Pennsylvania. Id. ¶¶ 2, 7. Nye was a Supervisory Special Agent with the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, which is located within the North Huntington office of the Attorney General's Office. Id. ¶ 3. Frattare was a Special Agent within that same office. Id. ¶ 4. O'Brien was a Special Agent with the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, which is located within the Harrisburg office of the Attorney General's Office. Id. ¶ 5. Chapel was an investigator employed by the Pennsylvania Office of the Treasurer, which is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Id. ¶ 8.
(1) AT & T litigation
William Fiore ("Fiore") had knowledge of Bell System telecommunications equipment that was dumped in the Kelly Run Landfill. Id. ¶ 34. The equipment consisted of extremely valuable materials that were factored into a scheme to generate false labor hours, thereby increasing the telephone bills of various customers. Id. The Attorney General's Office had threatened plaintiff with prosecution in the 1980's due to his assistance to Fiore. Id. Fiore was the target of a prosecution himself. Id. ¶ 34. At the time of Fiore's death in January 2003, plaintiff was assisting his efforts to sue the Attorney General's Office. Id. In 1979, plaintiff had attempted to call a fraudulent scheme by AT & T to the attention of federal and state authorities. Id. ¶ 35. At that time, plaintiff was in contact with both the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. Id. Nye emerged as the contact person for both agencies. Id.
Plaintiff reasonably believed that a settlement may have been forthcoming in a state lawsuit against AT & T that had been filed by USIF, Inc. in 1980 at GD 80-21577. Id. ¶ 71-72. AT & T was the parent company of two wholly owned subsidiaries, which were known as Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania and Western Electric Company. Id. ¶ 72. In 1978, AT & T initiated a settlement parley at which plaintiff was to meet with senior executives from AT & T, Bell Telephone Company and Western Electric Company. Id. ¶ 73. Thereafter, AT & T leaders hosted plaintiff and Dr. Gabriel DeMedio, the USIF, Inc., vice-president, on a trip to AT & T's New York headquarters. Id. AT & T promised to settle all outstanding matters. Id. When Dr. DeMedio was proffered as a defense witness in connection with matters relating to a letter found in 2002 and as a source of potentially useful information for the Attorney General's Office, he was not contacted by any of the appropriate authorities. Id. ¶ 75:
(2) Criminal charges relating to alleged forgery
On March 31, 2003, Frattare applied for, and received, a search warrant issued by District Justice Thomas S. Brletic of Magesterial District 05-2-13, which is located in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Id. ¶ 11. The warrant authorized a search of the premises, as well as the seizure of computers and documents pertaining to correspondence allegedly signed in 1987 and purportedly sent to plaintiff by State Senator Albert V. Belan (the "Belan letter"). Id. ¶¶ 11, 18. The Belan letter announced the discovery of 5,000 shares of AT & T stock being held by the Treasurer's Office's Bureau of Unclaimed Property for plaintiff pursuant to a 1981 civil lawsuit settlement involving the Reed, Smith, Shaw & McClay law firm. Id. ¶ 17. The Belan letter was found in 2002 by Nichelle Bonetti ("Bonetti"), a typist for plaintiff. Id. ¶ 19. The affidavit of probable cause accompanying the search warrant stated that Bethany Wingerson ("Wingerson"), a former senatorial assistant to Senator Belan, had indicated that, the letter had not been prepared at Senator Belan's office. Id. ¶ 28. According to the affidavit, it was a logical inference that the letter was a forgery. Id. ¶ 29, Ex. A., Affidavit of Probable Cause at 4.
On April 1, 2003, Frattare and O'Brien, who were accompanied by fellow agents Shawn Murphy ("Murphy"), Dennis Dansak ("Dansak"), and four other agents, secured and occupied the premises with the assistance of a municipal police department. Id. ¶ 13. Ingress and egress to and from the premises was controlled by the agents, who turned away several people who were seeking to visit plaintiff. Id. ¶ 14. At least three agents entered Building No. 3 on 141 Wall Road. Id. ¶ 15. They were observed in the office of Julius Jones of Step-Van Services Co., Inc., when plaintiff entered the office. Id.
Upon seeing plaintiff, the agents announced that their objective was to locate the original Belan letter, if any such letter existed, that was purportedly prepared by Senator Belan's office. Id. ¶ 16. The agents requested that plaintiff provide them with the original letter, inquiring whether it was the actual document allegedly signed in 1997. Id. ¶ 18. Bonetti had found the document in 2002 while clearing off some shelves in Jones' office. Id. ¶ 19.
While the search was underway, Bonetti pulled into the USI Industrial Park. Id. ¶ 20. She was intercepted by agents who prevented her from having contact with plaintiff. Id. Robert Welsh, a Jefferson Hills police officer, took measures to prevent plaintiff from having any contact with Bonetti. Id. ¶ 21. The agents collected all copies of the Belan letter that they were able to find, as well as numerous pleadings in which plaintiff had referred to the discovery of the letter. Id. ¶ 22. Two computers were seized, along with several floppy discs. Id. ¶ 23. During the search, the agents extensively photographed and videotaped the premises, including plaintiffs Multi-Stage Liquid Elevator for gas and oil wells, a patented prototype which was outside of the office and located in a warehouse. Id. ¶ 24. The agents insisted that plaintiff open a fireproof filing cabinet located in the warehouse, which operated as a locked safekeeping device. Id. ¶ 26. After plaintiff complied with this request, the cabinet was inspected by Frattare and Dansak. Id. No copies of the Belan letter were observed. Id. The agents observed silver coins, gold jewelry and a bag of federal reserve notes. Id. When the agents asked plaintiff why these materials were in the safe, plaintiff explained that they were used for bartering and trading. Id. After spending several hours at the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Pellegrino v. U.S. of Am. Transp. Sec. Admin.
...that “[t]he existence of probable cause to arrest ... does not foreclose plaintiff's malicious prosecution claim.” Gagliardi v. Fisher, 513 F.Supp.2d 457, 481 (W.D.Pa.2007). There must be probable cause to initiate prosecution for each of the criminal charges. Johnson v. Knorr, 477 F.3d 75,......
-
CHIZMAR v. Bor. of TRAFFORD
...of the First Amendment. Hartman v. Moore, 547 U.S. 250, 263, 126 S.Ct. 1695, 164 L.Ed.2d 441 (2006); see also, Gagliardi v. Fisher, 513 F.Supp.2d 457 (WD Pa. 2007). Before turning to the question of whether probable cause existed here to justify Defendants' various acts, however, the Court ......
-
U.S. v. Wecht
...at 429 (quoting United States v. McGrew, 122 F.3d 847, 850 (9th Cir.1997)) (alteration in the original). See also Gagliardi v. Fisher, 513 F.Supp.2d 457, 476 (W.D.Pa.2007) (particularity requirements of the Fourth Amendment apply to the warrant itself and where warrant does not specifically......
-
Ickes v. Grassmeyer, Civil Action No. 3:13–208.
...were personally involved in perpetrating the relevant Fourth Amendment violations. Evancho, 423 F.3d at 353 ; Gagliardi v. Fisher, 513 F.Supp.2d 457, 473 (W.D.Pa.2007).H. The False Imprisonment Claims Ickes asserts claims against the Defendants for false imprisonment. He alleges that all fo......