Illegal Party Goers Reach $2 Million Settlement; Deborah Curcillo Continues Prosecution of Neighborhood Block Party Organizer and Community Activist

Special Report: Brutality Of Diane White, Associate, Managing Writer & Editor, Webmaster, Philadelphia Front Page News, VSP Foundation Harrisburg City Chapter President, DLighte House Ministry

Harrisburg -The insurance company for Dauphin County has agreed to settle a federal class-action lawsuit prompted by the arrests of about 50 people following a 2007 Labor Day party in Harrisburg. Parties goers were alleged to have been engaging in illegal drug use and underage drinking on property owned by the City of Harrisburg without a securing the required permit from the city. Police broke up the party on McCormick's Island after a man who was reported to be intoxicated drowned while trying to swim across the Susquehanna River. Most party-goers were released and mailed citations, but some out-of-state attendees ended up in the county prison. Three people who filed the lawsuit claimed prison employees strip-searched them, even though they were held on minor charges.

Meanwhile on that same Labor Day Weekend Diane White and the mostly women and children attending the block party in their neighborhood were cleaning up after a day of fun and games. The kids were helping and the music had been turned down. When out of nowhere a Harrisburg Police Officer began shouting obscenities in the middle of the street. According to several witnesses, White was about a block away from the Officer when he arrived and starting screaming at whoever was closest to him. These same witnesses say that White went over to show the Officer the permit and to find out what he wanted. The Officer led White away from the crowd and brutally assaulted her.

The Harrisburg News reported that according to the police report White spit in the Officer's face 2 times which White has consistently denied. White was charged with Assault on a Police Officer with Intent to Do Bodily Harm which carries a 2-5 year prison term. That charged was dropped at the Preliminary Hearing when the Police Officer changed his story on the stand.

White was arraigned at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg back in January 24, 2008. She pleaded not guilty to all charges and requested a jury trial. The charges were now Resisting Arrest and Other Unlawful Acts. According to several eye witnesses, the Officer was standing in the middle of the street shouting profanity before he walked away with White and a few minutes later was verbally and physically assaulting her. White had organized the party. There was no record of a complaint being called in and there is no police report from the night of the incident. There are no other witnesses for the prosecution and there is no transcript from the preliminary hearing.

This past January Judge Klienfelter ruled against White's "Motion to Dismiss Under Rule 600", when ADA Debra Curcillo, currently running for Judge in Dauphin County responded to White's motion by citing an exception under the “Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act” notwithstanding the fact that the Officer was ordered to active duty 365 days after the alleged charges were filed against White. Curcillo, was granted the “Continuance” after being reprimanded by Judge Klienfelter for not providing explanations for the numerous Continuances previously requested by the DA's Office. Curcillo has been prosecuting the case for the past 20 months, the Officer is on active duty in Iraq allegedly not due back to work until September 14, 2009.

In the meantime, The Harrisburg Police Department still as not acknowledged a formal complaint filed by White after being instructed by the District Attorney's Office to do so on September 5, 2007 before their office would touch it. The Internal Affairs Officer who initiated the investigation of White's complaint was abruptly pulled off the case after a televised report to the city counsel on the status of all complaints filed against Harrisburg Police Officers by the citizens of Harrisburg in 2007. The same Internal Affairs Officer who gave that televised report had contacted several of White's witnesses and scheduled appointments for their sworn testimony, only to make herself unavailable when White's witnesses arrived for the appointments. According to reliable sources. the internal affairs officer has since been reassigned.

To no one's surprise the Harrisburg City Council has never held public hearings on the numerous complaints of police abuse nor have they ever followed up on a promise made to NAACP President, Stanley Lawson and the ACLU to engage in discussions with the community surrounding the set-up of a Community Review Board as promised by Councilwoman Patty Kim during her term as Chair of the Public Safety Committee. Gloria Martin-Roberts is now the chair of the Public Safety Committee and has also vowed to address many issues of police abuse and misconduct by surrounding the Harrisburg Police Department. We are still waiting for Mrs Robert to pursue the police abuse issues with as much diligence has she has shown in dealing with other inequities in the City of Harrisburg during her tenure on City Council.

White's trial date has been set for September 14, 2009 @ 8:00 am at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg. Two years after the illegal arrest and vicious assault on her person and her privacy by an out of control, misguided police officer. Twenty months of attempted cover ups by the DA's Office and the Harrisburg Police Department all because of the irrational behavior of one misguided police officer who provided false testimony on police documents and under oath.

White will have to wait and see if Curcillo's only witness who may or may or may not return from Iraq with a whole new story another story to tell, if he shows up at all. According to the court documents the Officer left for Iraq on September 1, 2008. The assault occur on September 1, 2007. Curcillo the trial date is set for September 2009. Two years after the fact. Two years of justice denied.