University Times

A Pitt campus police officer and the Allegheny County district attorney’s office have been named in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit alleging that a man’s civil rights were violated during an incident in April.

Elijah Matheny of the Hill District was arrested April 29 by Pitt police and charged with violating state wiretapping laws after officers said he recorded an incident without their permission.

The federal lawsuit, which seeks declaratory relief and unspecified damages, contends that Matheny, who is not affiliated with Pitt, was a victim of First Amendment retaliation, false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution.

According to the suit, Matheny is a member of Landslide Community Farm, a Hill District-based farm that provides food to members of the local community. He and a female companion were seeking discarded household items in a Dumpster near Bouquet Gardens. A Pitt property manager alerted the campus police to the pair’s presence.

While campus police officers were attempting to verify the identity of the woman, who was not carrying any identification, she was placed in handcuffs by Officer Nicholas Mollo, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Matheny recorded the encounter on his cell phone. After the woman’s identification was verified and Matheny’s identification was confirmed, Mollo removed the handcuffs and told the two they were free to go, the lawsuit states.

Mollo then asked Matheny if he had made an audio recording of the incident on his cell phone. Matheny replied in the affirmative, and Mollo then handcuffed and arrested him for a felony violation of Pennsylvania’s Wiretap Act, which prohibits recording conversations without first securing permission. Matheny also initially was charged with one count of possession of an instrument of crime, that is, his cell phone, which was confiscated.

According to the suit, Matheny was taken to Pitt’s Public Safety Building where arrest paperwork was processed. He remained in a holding cell for four hours while awaiting transport to the Allegheny County Jail, the suit states.

In the interim, according to the suit, Pitt’s Mollo called the Allegheny County district attorney’s office for advice about the legitimacy of the charges. Assistant district attorney Chris Avetta, who was the DA on duty at that time, advised Mollo that “Matheny’s actions in taping the officers in the manner described violated the Pennsylvania Wiretap Act,” the lawsuit states. Avetta also is named as a defendant in the suit.

At a preliminary hearing in July, the district attorney’s office declined to pursue wiretap-related charges and instead charged Matheny with disorderly conduct and defiant trespass. At the conclusion of the July 14 preliminary hearing, Judge Ronald N. Costa dismissed the criminal case against Matheny.

No court date has been set for the ACLU’s lawsuit against the officer and the assistant DA.

Whether Mollo has been disciplined as a result of his actions is unknown. John Fedele, Pitt associate director of news, stated, “We don’t comment on pending lawsuits or on personnel matters.”

—Peter Hart