PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jury selection was set to begin in the federal court trial of a lawsuit filed by a man attacked in a road rage incident by a since-fired Pittsburgh police detective.
The motorist, Jarret Fate, isn’t suing Detective Bradley Walker who was fired and sentenced to probation last year. He was convicted of pulling a gun, breaking the windows of Fate’s car and choking the motorist during an off-duty accident involving both men’s cars on May 1, 2010.
Instead, Fate is suing the city, former Chief Nate Harper, and a police commander, saying a lack of oversight led to the incident.
Walker was fired three months after Fate accidentally hit the rear of Walker’s car while changing lanes on Interstate 376. Fate says he pulled over to exchange insurance information only to be attacked.
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A federal judge in Pittsburgh has dismissed one lawsuit from people who bought tickets to the February 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas, but had to watch it on TV because their seats weren’t properly installed in time for the game.
U.S. District Judge David Cercone dismissed the fraud claim saying the four buyers can’t prove that the National Football League and the Dallas Cowboys intended to defraud anyone. The Cowboys’ new stadium was hosting the game between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers.
The judge says the case is a contract dispute but the ticket-holders can’t pursue it in federal court because the combined ticket, travel and hotel costs don’t exceed $75,000.
A separate trial for hundreds of other ticket holders is scheduled in Dallas in October.
