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BENSALEM A federal judge said Tuesday that Bensalem's mayor and police chief had not invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions stemming from a lawsuit against them - and he demanded a written explanation from the attorney who claimed that they did. <\/p>\n
U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson said the lawyer, Brian K. Wiley, \"acted improperly\" when he wrote in a court filing early this year that Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo and head of police Fred Harran, as well as two other township officials, invoked their right against self-incrimination and declined to answer questions related to a lawsuit brought by former township Fire Chief David Jerri Sr. <\/p>\n
During a hearing on the matter, Baylson said that Wiley may have incorrectly used language from a previous court filing to jump to that conclusion, and that Wiley \"had reason to know that was not true.\" <\/p>\n
Wiley was not in court Tuesday, but Baylson - who said he initially believed Wiley's claim - ordered that he file an affidavit explaining his behavior within 10 days. <\/p>\n
Christopher Garrell, who represented Jerri on Tuesday, said he was not with the firm when Wiley made the claim, and could not comment. <\/p>\n
Harran, who was in court Tuesday, called the case \"a big joke.\" <\/p>\n
\"They're grasping at straws because they have no case,\" he said. <\/p>\n
The suit was filed last year by Jerri and his son, David Jr., a former township firefighter. <\/p>\n
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Judge: Bensalem officials didn't invoke the Fifth<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BENSALEM A federal judge said Tuesday that Bensalem's mayor and police chief had not invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions stemming from a lawsuit against them - and he demanded a written explanation from the attorney who claimed that they did. U.S Continue reading