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Taxpayers to bear burden of verdict
Staff writer
Washington County taxpayers will be paying nearly $138,500 next week to cover the punitive damage verdict and related legal fees in the 2001 federal case of convicted drug dealer Fred Brilla against former District Attorney John C. Pettit.
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"There wasn't anything further we could do," said Commission Chairman Larry Maggi after the closed session. "We're making arrangements to terminate the case. The taxpayers get stung again, as they have done in this case all along. Taxpayers should not have to pay for punitive damages."
Seven years ago, a federal jury awarded Brilla no compensatory damages, $1 in nominal damages and $100,000 in punitive damages - in effect, a punishment - finding Pettit acted "maliciously or in reckless or callous disregard of, or indifference to" Brilla's constitutional rights.
A bill from Pettit's attorney came to the county solicitor's office last week. According to Namie, taxpayers will be paying $81,190, which includes a judgment against Pettit, Brilla's attorney's fees and interest; and $57,305 for Pettit's legal fees.
The county commissioners have refused to pay damages imposed on Pettit for failing for years to return property to Brilla, formerly of Canonsburg, who was a defendant in a drug case.
Brilla was arrested in 1989, and state police seized weapons, cocaine, a computer, home electronics, lawn equipment and more than $50,000 in cash. He was convicted and sentenced to 4 to 10 years in prison in 1993.
"The court documents specifically said Frederick Brilla's attorney, midway through the original trial was willing to settle this for approximately $12,000," Namie said Wednesday. "That was rejected by Mr. Pettit and his original attorneys, which were the insurance company attorneys.
"We're boxed into a corner at this point, and, unfortunately, we're going to have to make a payment from the general fund."
Pettit's lawyer, Anthony Cillo, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In a brief statement he released the day after the state Supreme Court refused to hear the county's appeal in December, Pettit wrote in a fax, "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision is not only about money. This decision confirms the correctness of legal opinions the county refused to accept.
"I agree that this should not be a taxpayer's burden. It is a cost of doing business for the insurance company. The county should now launch an effort against the insurance company with the same vigor that was done against a sound rule of law, and force the insurance company to pay this judgment."
Maggi said he asked in the closed session with county lawyers about the possibility of suing the insurance carrier, but "our solicitors told us there is case law that protects the insurance companies. They do not pay punitive damages. They say that in the policy."
In a 2-1 decision in August, Commonwealth Court ruled in Pettit's favor, saying there was "ambiguity" in the federal court jury's 2001 verdict, reached during a trial before Judge Robert J. Cindrich. On appeal, the jury's $100,000 verdict for punitive damages was lowered to $50,000.
Controller Michael Namie refused in 2003 to pay Pettit, and in 2004, Pettit satisfied the judgment against him by paying $75,176, from sources he has declined to reveal, to the estate of Brilla, who was murdered in November of that year.
Pettit also filed suit in Washington County Common Pleas Court, asking Senior Judge John F. Bell to compel the county to reimburse him. Bell ruled in Pettit's favor, and the county commissioners took the matter to Commonwealth Court, which reduced the amount of interest Pettit was seeking.
"That saved us approximately $17,000," Namie said Wednesday.
Pettit, 72, a Democrat, lost election to a seventh, four-year term in November to Republican Steven Toprani.
What appears to be the final chapter in the Brilla case comes amid a federal investigation into the former district attorney's actions while in office.
