A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed five of the police abuse cases that helped spawn federal oversight of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and prompted a major overhaul of the once troubled department.
The orders, signed by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Cindrich, officially closed out the cases but reserved the seven plaintiffs' rights to reopen them in the future if they desired. The judge's ruling gave no reason for his decision.
The cases were part of a 1996 lawsuit filed by 66 people — most of them black — along with the American Civil Liberties Union and Pittsburgh's chapter of the NAACP. The lawsuit accused city police of wholesale misconduct and accused city leaders and police brass of covering up the abuse.
In January, Cindrich broke the lawsuit into 43 separate cases with the goal of trying them all before the year was out. Five have been tried, three in favor of the plaintiff and two in favor of city police. In the first plaintiff verdict, the jury awarded $3,000, but awarded no damages in two later verdicts for the plaintiffs.
Those whose cases were dismissed yesterday are: Richard Hutson, Danetria R. Craig, Danielle Craig, Jermaine Poole, Eric Jackson, Robert Neubauer and Jeffrey Lucas. Their names and ages were not available.
The plaintiffs' attorneys, Timothy O'Brien of Downtown and Witold J. "Vic" Walczak, the executive director of the Pittsburgh ACLU, did not immediately return phone calls for comment. Because of yesterday's election, city offices were closed.
In 1997, the city and the U.S. Department of Justice entered into a federal consent decree, in which the city agreed to overhaul the department. The five-year oversight agreement was set to end this summer. However, a backlog of cases at the Office of Municipal Investigations could extend federal oversight. The office was created to review allegations of misconduct filed against police and other city workers.
