Bentleyville man sues state Game Commission over 2017 raid
State Game Commission law enforcement Officer Rich Joyce and Humane Society police Officer Glen Thomson, right, remove one of several suspected wolf-dog hybrids from a home in Bentleyville in August 2017.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Fredrick Frameli enters District Judge Curtis Thompson’s office for preliminary hearing in this file photo.
A Bentleyville man who was charged and later found not guilty of mistreating animals has sued the state Game Commission and its two officers, claiming false allegations damaged his reputation.
Fredrick Frameli, 69, alleged Richard Joyce, a state game warden, brought television cameras and newspaper reporters to his Spring Street home in August 2017 in an effort to publicly label him as an “animal abuser and other vile appellations.” Joyce filed several citations, alleging Frameli kept 11 dogs, including three Joyce said were “wolf-dog hybrids” in poor conditions.
At the time, Joyce described the dogs as being “emaciated.”
While a district judge in Washington County found Frameli guilty and fined him $100 for each count of not providing the animals with adequate food and water, a Common Pleas Court judge reversed the decision last year.
Frameli’s attorney, William J. McCormick, said the allegations damaged his client’s “spotless reputation,” cost him in excess of $30,000 in legal fees to fight the case and was a detriment to his health.
During the raid, McCormick alleged Joyce refused to let Frameli contact his attorney, and told him if he surrendered his animals then, they would be returned later.
The dogs, however, are still “languishing in a compound for wild animals,” McCormick contended.
In addition to the Game Commission, the suit named Joyce and his supervisor, Brian Singer, as defendants. The suit contended Singer was liable for damages because he did not properly supervise or train Joyce.
McCormick contended Joyce committed various constitutional violations of Frameli’s rights.
The Game Commission “has a practice of acquiescing in its officers’ wrongful actions and abuses of civil rights,” McCormick wrote.
The filing did not ask for a specific award.