Centre County's attorney Joseph Green wants the remaining complaints against the county dropped in the lawsuit naming former county prosecutor Lance Marshall, and said he has the evidence to make that happen.
The county, District Attorney Michael Madeira and former Assis-tant District Attorney Lance Marshall are all named in a lawsuit that stems from Marshall's interaction last December with a domestic abuse victim.
The woman said she received more than 250 sexually explicit text messages from Marshall, who was prosecuting her assailant at the time, according to court documents.
The woman's attorney, Bernie Cantorna, says Marshall unlawfully used his position as assistant district attorney to obtain taped conversations between the woman and her assailant, with whom she had previous relations with, according to court documents.
Green filed a request for admission Wednesday, calling on the plaintiff to admit that the Centre County Correctional Facility has legal telecommunication regulations, according to court documents.
Green said he hopes the admissions will help clarify that the county does have guidelines in place regarding the use of taped phone calls involving inmates, which Cantorna, thinks Marshall unlawfully obtained and used.
Because Madeira was Marshall's supervisor and the county was Marshall's employer, they are listed in the suit, according to court to documents.
His request comes less than a week after he also asked the court July 9 to dismiss the remaining arguments against the county, according to court documents.
"It sort of looks like it's slowing down, but I'm trying to speed it up," Green said.
On June 30, Federal Judge James McClure Jr. dismissed the civil rights aspect of the lawsuit against Marshall, Madeira and the county, saying the woman was not discriminated against because of her gender.
"It kicked it out of federal court, but there are undecided remaining issues," Green said.
The remaining arguments were sent back to Centre County court, according to court documents.
Marshall faces complaints of invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
A remaining aspect of the lawsuit is the unlawful interception and disclosure of telephone communications.
"I don't know how that gets dismissed," said Cantorna. "That's for a jury to decide."
The man in the taped conversations was being held in the Centre County Correctional Facility during the conversations, according to court documents.
Marshall told the woman he was disappointed that she was considering getting back together with the man, according to court documents.
Green requests Cantorna to admit "the Centre County Correctional Facility enacted written guidelines, policies and procedures pertaining to inmate telephones," according to the request for admission.
To support his request for admission, Green also filed the documents that prisoners sign before they can use the telephone.
"When you use the phone system, it says that a phone conversation could be monitored," Green said.
Cantorna said he hasn't had time to thoroughly examine the request for admission, but said he has to file a response in 30 days.
He said he's focusing on witness depositions, which will likely occur
in the late summer or early fall, he said.
