Dec 8, 2016 4 min read

A panel of federal appeals court judges this week said former Washington residents failed to state a claim of how their constitutional rights were violated in their suit against Washington County officials.

Jennifer and William Reihner, who now live in Erie, were granted permission by federal court to proceed as paupers in a suit related to the 2014 Washington County Court conviction of their son, Cameron, on charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, disorderly conduct and harassment. He was sentenced 8 3/4 to 17 1/2 years in a state prison and ordered to pay the victim $17,103 toward medical bills.

The Reihners sued Washington County, District Attorney Gene Vittone, then-Assistant District Attorney Michael Fagella, Judge John F. DiSalle and Cameron Reihner’s trial attorney, Peter V. Marcoline III. They were seeking a jury trial and damages in excess of $1 million.

Federal court Judge Cathy Bissoon dismissed their complaint in the Western District, Pittsburgh, so the Reihners appealed her decision to the next level.

Cameron Phillip Reihner did not pay a filing fee or file an affidavit of poverty and prison account statement as the appeals court, based in Philadelphia, requested approximately a year ago, so he was dismissed as an appellant in the suit in May. His parents wanted to take the case to court on behalf of their son, but because they are not lawyers, they could not represent him.

His parents alleged they had suffered financially, which led to emotional distress, marital problems, health issues, sleep deprivation and depression.

“Simply put, the Reihners did not allege a constitutional violation against them … Generally, a litigant must assert his or her own legal rights and interests, and cannot rest a claim to relief on the legal rights or interests of third parties,” the three-judge panel wrote as part of a four-page opinion.

“Not only did the Reihners fail to present any suggestion that they had their own claims against the defendants, but they also sued defendants against whom claims … could not proceed. As the District Court explained, some defendants were immune from suit” and one defendant, presumably Marcoline, was not a “state actor” who could be sued for violating constitutional rights, the court said.

Cameron Reihner, now 25, is serving his sentence at the State Correctional Institution in Marienville, Forest County, according the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections website.

Cameron Reihner was one of a group of men charged in connection with a series of incidents that began June 23, 2012, at Denny’s restaurant on West Chestnut Street in Washington, as an argument among groups of people who did not know each other.

Later, Cameron Reihner and his friends followed brothers Jonathan and Stephen Irizarry to their home in Houston. According to court testimony and documents, Stephen Irizarry went after the car that followed them home and stopped in the parking lot of a West Pike Street business. Jonathan Irizarry said he joined his brother in the parking lot, was approached by Reihner, who was carrying an aluminum bat, and was beaten. He said he suffered the loss of peripheral vision in his left eye, a broken nose, other facial fractures and a broken ankle.

When the case went to trial nearly three years ago, Fagella represented the district attorney’s office, and Marcoline represented Reihner.

Shortly before Reihner was scheduled to be sentenced, it was determined that he was tried in county court on some charges that a magistrate had dismissed. The civil lawsuit that the Reihners brought in federal court alleged that Marcoline and Fagella negotiated on which charges to withdraw and which to bring to trial, and that the negotiation was done without Cameron Reihner’s knowledge or permission.

The family alleges that Marcoline, DiSalle and Fagella violated Cameron Riehner’s 14th Amendment right to a fair trial. They also allege that DiSalle acted outside the scope of his duties as judge and helped the prosecution win the case.

Attorney Michael DeRiso appealed Cameron Reihner’s conviction to state Superior Court, which upheld the jury’s verdict.