Rockne Newell killed three people in a shooting at the Ross Township municipal building in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. In a federal lawsuit filed by the families of the victims, the plaintiffs alleged that Newell was unstable and that the County Sheriff, the Township supervisors, and the supervisors’ lawyer were responsible for Newell’s violence and for violating their civil rights.
Newman Williams Partner, Jerry Geiger, representing the Monroe County Sheriff and the Ross Township Supervisors’ lawyer, won a dismissal of the lawsuit for his clients. The judge agreed with Attorney Geiger that under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in DeShaney v. Winnebago County, that his clients had no duty to protect those attending the supervisors’ meeting.
The plaintiffs appealed the court’s decision to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, and the appeal is currently pending.
Attorney Geiger is a leading civil rights defense lawyer in Pennsylvania representing six eastern Pennsylvania Counties and their employees.
