Kis v. County of Schuylkill

866 F. Supp. 1462, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15453, 1994 WL 608511
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 25, 1994
Docket2:93-cv-05750
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 866 F. Supp. 1462 (Kis v. County of Schuylkill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kis v. County of Schuylkill, 866 F. Supp. 1462, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15453, 1994 WL 608511 (E.D. Pa. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

VAN ANTWERPEN, District Judge.

This 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action is brought by plaintiff, Oleg Kis, against local governments and local government officials in their official and individual capacities. 1 He filed this action on October 29, 1993, alleging violations of his civil rights in six separate counts. 2 The court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Before the court now are defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment, filed on August 1, 2, and 12, 1994. 3

I. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides for summary judgment where the:

pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

“The party moving for summary judgment must demonstrate that, under the undisputed facts, the non-movant has failed to introduce evidence supporting a necessary element of his case.” In re Phillips Petroleum Sec. Litig., 881 F.2d 1236, 1243 (3d Cir.1989). To defeat summary judgment, the non-moving party must respond with facts of record that contradict the facts identified by the movant and may not rest on mere denials. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 321 n. 3, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552 n. 3, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e)); see also First Nat’l Bank v. Lincoln Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 824 F.2d 277, 282 (3d Cir.1987). The non-moving party must demonstrate the existence of evidence that would support a jury finding in its favor. See Anderson v. Liberty *1466 Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-49, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510-11, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Discovery is closed in this matter, and the essentially undisputed facts can be summarized as follows. 4

In September 1989, plaintiff, Oleg Kis, purchased the residence at 509 North Seventh Street in Pottsville at a tax sale. On or about November 13, 1990, the City of Potts-ville, through its deputy health officer, Frank P. Spleen, sent a notice to plaintiff to clean up the weeds and debris surrounding his dwelling. 5 The notice, which was sent to 509 North Seventh Street by both regular and certified mail, incorrectly addressed the plaintiff as “Oley Kiss,” rather than “Oleg Kis.” 6 Mr. Kis, allegedly believing that the notices were not addressed to him, returned the notice sent by regular mail unopened and refused to accept the notice sent by certified mail.

On July 2, 1991, the City, through Spleen, once again sent a notice to Kis to clean up the areas surrounding his dwelling. Once again, the notice was sent by both regular and certified mail and was addressed to “Oley Kiss” at 509 North Seventh Street. Mr. Kis was apparently not in residence at the property at the time the notices arrived, so the certified notice was returned unclaimed. The notice sent by regular mail was also eventually returned unopened. 7

On July 22, 1991, Spleen filed Citation No. 160844 with the office of District Justice Charles V. Moran. 8 The citation incorrectly named Mr. Kis as “Oley Kiss” and charged a sanitation offense — “failure to have property conform to sanitation rules for exterior of property.” It included plaintiffs correct address at 509 North Seventh Street and listed penalties of $129.00. 9 The citation, along with Summons # 160844, was mailed to plaintiffs above address, but once again Kis returned unopened all mail addressed by the City to “Oley Kiss.” On September 10,1991, another copy of the citation was mailed to plaintiffs address. It was returned with the notation, “Return to Sender. Nobody by this name at this address.” Because of his failure to respond to the two citations, District Justice Moran issued a warrant for plaintiffs arrest on September 23, 1991. The warrant once again identified Oleg Kis as “Oley Kiss” but listed his correct address. The warrant was forwarded to the Schuylkill County Sheriffs Department for service.

On the evening of Wednesday, October 30, 1991, defendants Detective Joseph Murtón and Deputy Sheriff Ronald Griffiths served plaintiff with the arrest warrant at his home. Plaintiff protested the arrest and showed Murtón and Griffiths identification that indicated that his name was spelled “Oleg Kis,” not “Oley Kiss.” Plaintiff was nevertheless arrested and transported to Justice Moran’s *1467 courtroom. 10 Justice Moran showed the plaintiff the underlying citation and asked plaintiff to enter a plea. Plaintiff responded that his name was not “Oley Kiss” but was “Oleg Kis,” stated that he had never received the citation, and demanded to speak to an attorney. Justice Moran allegedly told plaintiff that he was not a lawyer referral service and directed plaintiff to either enter a plea of guilty or not guilty and post bond, or face incarceration. Plaintiff replied, “I guess you’ll have to take me to prison.” Justice Moran ordered Mr. Kis incarcerated and issued a commitment order to the Schuylkill County Prison. 11

Pursuant to the commitment order, Griffiths and Murtón transported Mr. Kis to the Schuylkill County Prison. Upon arriving at the prison facility, plaintiff informed prison officials that he wished to speak to an attorney. 12 He was given the opportunity to make a phone call, told he would meet with a prison counselor, and placed in isolation for two days. 13 Mr. Kis had $838 dollars on his person when he was arrested. While in isolation, Mr. Kis claims that he was the subject of an unwanted sexual advance from another inmate and that the prison guard took no action in this regard. On Thursday, October 31, 1991, Mr. Kis met with the prison counselor and informed him that he wished to post bail. 14 He was directed to make a written request to deduct $129 from his funds for that purpose. Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
866 F. Supp. 1462, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15453, 1994 WL 608511, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kis-v-county-of-schuylkill-paed-1994.