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Opinions

The Middle District of Pennsylvania offers a database of opinions for the years 1999 to present, listed by year and judge. For a more detailed search, enter the keyword or case number in the search box above.

Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann

On March 1, 2012, plaintiff, Rox-Ann Reifer (hereinafter “Reifer”), as assignee of Donald Russo, Esquire, filed a complaint in the Court of Common Pleas of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. On March 23, 2012, defendant, Westport Insurance Corporation (hereinafter “Westport”) removed the case to the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Judge Christopher C. Conner

This action is one of seventeen initiated by the Attorneys General of several states and the District of Columbia against defendants McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“McGraw Hill”), and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services, LLC (“S&P”) (collectively, “Defendants”) for alleged violations of state consumer protection and unfair trade practices laws.

Presently before the court is a motion (Doc. 61) to suppress evidence filed by defendants Alcide Fraguela-Casanova (“Fraguela”) and Juan Carlos Almaguer (“Almaguer”). Fraguela and Almaguer contend that Pennsylvania State Police Corporal Manueal DeLeon (“Corporal DeLeon”) violated their Fourth Amendments rights by unlawfully seizing them on October 25, 2010. For the following reasons, the court will grant the motion.

Plaintiffs Stanley and Marisol Laskowski initiated this action against the United States of America Department of Veterans Affairs for damages pursuant to the Federal Torts Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2671, et seq. The plaintiffs allege medical malpractice against the medical professionals and administrative staff at the Wilkes-Barre Veterans Affairs Medical Center (“WBVAMC”) located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Plaintiffs assert that the United States of America Department of Veteran Affairs committed professional negligence in treating Plaintiff Stanley Laskowski for post traumatic stress disorder (hereinafter “PTSD”) at the WBVAMC. Plaintiff Marisol Laskowski, Stanley Laskowski’s wife, has asserted a claim for loss of consortium.

Presently pending before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Statutory Bad Faith and UTPCPL Claims Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) (Doc. 65) of Defendant Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company. For the reasons fully articulated herein, we will deny the Motion in its entirety.

Presently pending before the Court in this wrongful death and survival action is the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. 220) and the Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 252) of Defendant AVCO Corporation on behalf of its Lycoming Engines Division (collectively “Lycoming”). The Motions have been fully briefed (Docs. 223, 235, 249, 257, 269, 276, 292, 296) and are therefore ripe for our review. For all of the reasons fully articulated herein, we will grant in part and deny in part Lycoming’s Motions.

The case sub judice involves The Harrisburg Authorities’ (“THA”) project to upgrade and modernize the Harrisburg Materials, Energy, Recycling and Recovery Facility, a trash-to-steam waste treatment facility (“the incinerator”). (Doc. 35 ¶¶ 1, 10). To finance the incinerator project, THA issued a series of bonds, including its Guaranteed Resource Recovery Facility Revenue Bonds, Series D of 2003 (the “2003D Bonds”), Guaranteed Federally Taxable Resource Recovery Facility Revenue Bonds, Series E of 2003 (the “2003E Bonds”), and Guaranteed Federally Taxable Resource Recovery Facility Revenue Bonds, Series F of 2003 (the “2003F Bonds”), under a Trust Indenture dated December 1, 2003 (the “Retrofit Indenture”) between THA and Commerce Bank/Pennsylvania, National Association. (Id. ¶ 11). Dauphin County (“Dauphin” or the “County”), recognizing the countywide benefits of the project and its responsibilities for municipal waste planning, entered into agreements with THA to provide secondary guarantees for the 2003D Bonds and 2003E Bonds, for a total amount not to exceed $110,980,000. (Id. ¶ 12).

THA contracted with Barlow Projects, Inc. (“Barlow”) to design the incinerator, retrofit the facility, and provide state-of-the-art “Combustion Technology.” (Id. ¶¶ 14, 16.) The agreement between THA and Barlow was memorialized in three separate contracts in May 2004. In the “Equipment Contract,” THA agreed to pay almost $52 million for the proprietary and other specialized equipment necessary to retrofit the incinerator. (See id. ¶ 18(I)). In the “Services Contract,” THA agreed to pay almost $13 million to Barlow for engineering, construction, and start-up of the incinerator. (See id. ¶ 18(II)). Finally, in the “Sublicensing Agreement,” THA purchased a nonexclusive license for the use Barlow’s proprietary Combustion Technology which was to be installed in the incinerator. (See id. ¶ 18(III)).

The retrofit of the incinerator was originally scheduled to be completed in twenty-four months, and the facility was to be restarted in late 2005. (See id. ¶ 21). This was not to be.

Pending before this Court is Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, (doc. 117), Plaintiffs’ cross motion for summary judgment, (doc. 137), and Defendants’ Motion to Strike. (Doc. 163). For the following reasons, Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment shall be granted in part and denied in part, Defendants’ motion for summary judgment shall be granted in part and denied in part, and Defendants’ motion to strike shall be denied.

Pending before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 14) of Defendants Cumberland Valley School District and William Harner, Superintendent. For the reasons detailed herein, we shall grant in part and deny in part said Motion.

Judge Yvette Kane

On April 14, 2011, Ralph E. Hauck, Jr. was charged in a four count indictment for three counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and one count of trespassing at the Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1793. (Doc. No. 1; see Doc. No. 42.) Defendant entered into a plea agreement on January 5, 2012. (Doc. No. 48.) On January 31, 2012, Defendant entered a plea of guilty to one count in the indictment – possession of a firearm by a convicted felon – before Magistrate Judge William I. Arbuckle, III (Doc. Nos. 53, 56). This Court accepted Defendant’s guilty plea on February 23, 2012 (Doc. No. 58), and sentenced Defendant on July 24, 2012 (Doc. No. 66).

Following receipt and consideration of Defendant Ralph E. Hauck, Jr.’s requests to modify the conditions of his supervised release and correct the record (Doc. No. 119; see Doc. Nos. 117-18, 120-23), this Court appointed Edward J. Rymsza to represent Defendant in this matter on September 28, 2016 (Doc. No. 124). Defendant, through his counsel, filed an unopposed motion to correct the record on November 21, 2016. (Doc. No. 127.)

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