Judge orders potential evidence preserved
A Butler County judge on Wednesday ordered potential evidence preserved in a still-pending lawsuit between two state representatives.
The motion, filed last week by attorneys for state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, went unopposed in a brief hearing before Court Judge Marilyn Horan. The object of the motion, state Rep. Peter Daley, D-49th, of Washington County, was in court Wednesday but did not oppose the motion.
The motion asked Horan to order all communications between Daley and state Rep. Michael Schlossberg, D-132nd, Daley and the Democrat Caucus, and Daley and other government agencies, including the office of Gov. Tom Wolf, be preserved “in original form.”
In February, Daley filed a writ with the county prothonotary's office saying he intended to sue Metcalfe for slander, libel or defamation of character after a dust-up between the two officials over alleged “ghost voting” during December budget votes in the House went public.
Metcalfe has claimed he saw Schlossberg cast a vote for Daley during a contentious Dec. 22 House vote on a Senate-proposed state budget. Casting a vote for an absent member is against the chamber's rules.
Metcalfe said he went to House Speaker Mike Turzai about the violation immediately after he witnessed it. He also went public with his allegations against Daley and another House Democrat, Rep. Leslie Acosta of Philadelphia.
Daley's writ states that he intends to sue Metcalfe and seek unspecified monetary damages.
In their motion before Horan, Metcalfe's lawyers said Daley was representing a client in Washington County Court on the day of the vote, which passed the House 100 to 99. The motion was filed by Thomas W. King and Ronald T. Elliot of the Butler-based law firm Dillon, McCandless, King, Coulter & Graham.
The firm is being retained by the House Republican Caucus, and is also seeking to force Daley to file his formal suit against Metcalfe through a procedural measure that gives plaintiffs 20 days to file their legal action or risk having it dismissed.
The 20-day countdown would have begun on March 3, when Daley received notice of that filing, according to King.
As of Wednesday Daley had not filed that final complaint with the prothonotary's office according to Horan, who ruled in favor of the motion but also denied a request to schedule a status conference between the parties. A status conference allows lawyers to discuss matters with a judge present — something Horan said was premature.
“There's not even a complaint filed yet ... We don't have anything to frame (the issue),” Horan said. “I don't believe I would be helpful to you at this time.”On Wednesday, Daley declined to say when he might file his formal complaint against Metcalfe or comment on any aspect of the legal back-and-forth.King said he was unclear how large the task of preserving any evidence might become.“I don't know if there's a lot or nothing at all,” he said. “It's a little bit of a fishing expedition at this point.”
