COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF NORTHAMPTON COUNTY

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
CIVIL DIVISION

BERNIE O'HARE
Plaintiff
vs.
TRICIA MEZZACAPPA
Defendant

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CV 2012-3442

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

Heard by THE HONORABLE MICHAEL J. KOURY,

JR., Judge of the Court of Common Pleas ofNorthampton
County, Third Judicial District, Easton, Pennsylvania,
on Tuesday, March 11, 2014.

A P P E A R A N C E S:
BY: RICHARD J. ORLOSKI, ESQ.
-- on behalf of the Plaintiff

Proceedings stenographically recorded by

Nicole Candelino, Official Court Reporter.

THE COURT:

Good morning.

We are here in

the matter of Bernie O'Hare versus Tricia

Mezzacappa, docket 3442 of 2012.

listed for a non-jury trial regarding damages

following default judgment.

for 9 a.m.

informed that Ms. Mezzacappa did not appear at the

call of the list, is that correct?

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THE COURT:

That's correct, and she wasn't

Okay, so you're ready to proceed

in her absence?

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MR. ORLOSKI:

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THE COURT:

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I've been

at the call of the list last week either.

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The case was scheduled

The time is now 9:26 a.m.

MR. ORLOSKI:

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The case was

Yes.

Call your first witness.

You

can testify from the witness stand or the podium.

Raise your right hand and state your full

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name, spelling your first and last name for the

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court reporter.
MR. O'HARE:

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Bernard V. O'Hare, III.

BERNARD V. O'HARE, III, having been duly sworn

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according to law, was examined and testified as

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follows:

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DIRECT EXAMINATION

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BY MR. ORLOSKI:

THE COURT:

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Mr. Orloski,

you can proceed with your examination.

Can you just tell me briefly what's before

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You may be seated.

me.
MR. ORLOSKI:

It's a hearing on damages for

the defamation.

We're going to be requesting an

award for compensatory damages and for punitive

damages.
THE COURT:

Okay.

MR. ORLOSKI:

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And we have, Your Honor, the

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section from the standard civil practice, 1316,

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which outlines the damages.

THE COURT:

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Okay.

You, Mr. O'Hare, filed an

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action for defamation against Ms. Mezzacappa,

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correct?

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MR. ORLOSKI:

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THE COURT:

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Yes.

And there was a default

judgment?
MR. ORLOSKI:

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Yeah, we have a complicated

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history.

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available to Your Honor.

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first page but this is page 3, starts with the

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filing of the complaint.

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complicated case.

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We do have the docket which I will make

THE COURT:

Okay.

I have some notes on the

It's been a procedurally

Okay, you can proceed,

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Mr. Orloski.
BY MR. ORLOSKI:
Q.

Mr. O'Hare, state your full name for the

record.

A.

My full name is Bernard Vincent O'Hare, III.

Q.

And, very briefly, at some point did you go

to law school?

A.

I did.

Q.

Did you graduate?

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A.

I did.

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Q.

Were you admitted to the bar?

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A.

I was.

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Q.

And your father, what was your father's

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name?

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A.

His name was Bernard Vincent O'Hare, Jr.

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Q.

And he was also a lawyer?

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A.

He was.

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Q.

At some point you had some difficulties with

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the bar?

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A.

That's correct.

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Q.

And what happened to you?

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A.

My license to practice law was suspended for

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two years, in early 1986, I believe, as result of

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ethical misconduct that occurred as a result of my

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drinking.

Q.

And it was a suspension, not a disbarment?

A.

It was a suspension.

Q.

And you never applied to go back?

A.

I have not.

Q.

I gather this caused some anguish in the

family?

A.

It did.

Q.

And what have you done to rebuild your life

since then?

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A.

Well, the first thing I did was I stopped

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drinking.

That was the first thing that I did.

It

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was -- it was a very dark time in my life when I lost

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my license to practice law and I was very -- I was

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very disappointed that I disgraced myself, I

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disgraced my family and I disgraced my profession

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when my license to practice law was suspended, and

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the way that I thought about rebuilding my life was,

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first of all, I had to stop drinking.

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drinking, went through rehab, I went to AA meetings

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twice a day for a year straight and got myself on

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track with sobriety, and then I went back and began

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searching titles on a full-time basis at the

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courthouse.

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Q.

Now were you making a living doing that?

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A.

I did.

I stopped

Q.

And at some point did you start a blog?

A.

I did.

Q.

And what was -- when did you start your

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blog?
A.

I started the blog in 19 -- excuse me, in

2006.

It's called Lehigh Valley Ramblings, and the

purpose of the blog was to discuss political matters,

local political matters and also to provide -- to

compliment the -- the news media because the news

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media these days are becoming -- there have been a

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lot of layoffs at the newspapers and they don't seem

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to get the stories out the way they used to when they

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were sending squads of reporters every night to cover

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local municipal meetings, so I thought I would be

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doing a public service.

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Q.

Was the blog labor intensive?

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A.

It is.

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Q.

How many hours did you spend on the blog per

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week?

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A.

It's a full-time job to be honest with you.

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Q.

But you enjoy doing that?

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A.

I do.

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Q.

And did you have a core of readers?

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A.

I do.

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It's a labor of love.

I mean, it started off very low but

now it's up to about 5,000 readers on weekdays.

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Q.

And did you become somebody that reporters

contacted regularly for information?

A.

That's correct.

Q.

And at some point did you become involved

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with Tricia Mezzacappa?

A.

Yes, she was one of my blog readers and she

began attending counsel meetings that I was attending

and told me that she was a walker and I went on some

walks with her.

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Q.

Was she also involved in political

activities as a candidate?

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A.

Pardon me?

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Q.

Was she involved in political --

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A.

Yes, she was running for office.

She was

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running for West Easton Borough Counsel at the time

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and was claiming there was all kinds of ethical

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improprieties and corruption going on in West Easton

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Borough.

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Q.

Do you remember when that happened, when you

started interacting with her?

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A.

It was in 2011.

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Q.

And did you write any articles about her as

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a political candidate?

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A.

Yes, I did.

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Q.

Would you characterize them as positive or

negative?

A.

Very negative.

Q.

As a result of that did she start

communicating about you?

A.

That's correct.

Q.

What types of things was she saying about

A.

Well, she called me a rapist, claimed that I

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you?

had sexually assaulted her, claimed that I had

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attempted to poison her pet pig, claimed that I had

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burglarized her home on numerous occasions, claimed

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that I stalked her on a regular basis and also

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claimed that I was a pedophile.

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Q.

Okay, now let's back up.

Have you ever been

married?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

And do you have any children?

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A.

I do.

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Q.

Do your children have any children?

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A.

They do not.

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Q.

Do you have a relationship with somebody who

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does have grandchildren?

A.

That's correct.

After I separated from my

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wife I developed a relationship with a another woman

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and she has a grandson who was born very ill and he

spent the first six months of his life in the

hospital, and I became very close to him as a result.

Q.

How old is that young man now?

A.

He's now 14.

Q.

And did you become actively involved in his

life?

A.

Very actively involved.

Q.

In what capacity?

A.

Basically since he had no real father I was

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basically the -- the male figure in his life for many

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years.

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Q.

And did you start -- he was active in

sports?

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A.

Very active.

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Q.

And did you start going to sporting events

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Much more so than I ever was.

with him?

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A.

Yes.

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Q.

And, as a result of calling you a pedophile,

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what happened?
A.

Well, I can tell you that she -- she made

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these allegations on -- on the Internet.

They've

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existed for several years and people, when I would go

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to a game, I notice people would stop talking.

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to explain myself to a couple of my grandson's

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basketball coaches.

I had

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I also noticed that before this happened,

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often times I would be asked to take some of my

grandson's friends to different events, to practices,

to baseball practice, basketball practice, football

practice.

more to take -- to pick up their son or, you know, to

bring their son or even to take them to the movies.

Sometimes I would do that or take them to a batting

cage.
THE COURT:

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That stopped.

by the way.
Q.

People would not ask me any

I've seen this young man play,

He's an excellent basketball player.

How did it make you feel that you were being

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shunned because of the allegations of being a

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pedophile?

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A.

Pardon me?

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Q.

How did you feel?

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A.

Well, it made me feel terrible, made me feel

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humiliated.

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Q.

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humiliated?

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A.

Made me feel sick to my stomach.

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Q.

Now, in addition to that, she accused you of

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And what does that mean, you were

being a rapist and a burglar, correct?

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A.

That's correct.

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Q.

How did that impact on your social life?

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A.

Well, for one thing, it makes -- I'm very

uncomfortable when I have a conversation with a

woman.

meet somebody to make sure I meet them in a setting

where there's other people around so people can't --

so that nobody can say anything.

just -- it's disturbed me in that way.

affected me in that way with respect to my

interactions with females.

You know, I -- I'm very careful if I have to

It's just -- it's

So it's

As far as how it's affected me at the

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courthouse, I can tell you that after this first

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happened I would walk into the Recorder of Deeds

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office where I search titles, and they're largely

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women, the other title searchers are largely women,

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and they like to talk to each other and usually when

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you come in they're carrying on conversations but

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when I would come in I would notice they would stop.

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They would stop talking. And after this happened I

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was called in to the Recorder of Deeds office.

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Q.

Who called you in?

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A.

Ann Achatz.

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She was, at that time, the

Recorder of Deeds.

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Q.

And why did she call you in?

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A.

She called me in because of concerns that

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had been raised by members of her own staff about

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whether they had anything to worry about.

Q.

About you being a rapist?

A.

Yes.

Q.

And how did that make you feel?

A.

Terrible, terrible.

Q.

And now in addition can you tell us how it

impacted on your -- your activities as a writer.

THE COURT:

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Just before we go onto that, did

you say burglar as well, she accused him of being a

burglar?
MR. O'HARE:

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Yes, Your Honor.

She accused

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me several times of breaking into her house and

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stealing things from her.

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THE COURT:

This is also on her blog?

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MR. O'HARE:

Yes, stealing important

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documents from her, and it's in the complaint.

MR. ORLOSKI:

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We have in the complaint, we

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have extensive statements by her, what she was

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writing.

Judge -- was it Judge --

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MR. O'HARE:

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MR. ORLOSKI:

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Smith.
Smith said it was defamatory

per se.
BY MR. ORLOSKI:

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Q.

What about your writing career?

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A.

Well --

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Q.

Were you getting paid ever as a blogger?

A.

I did get paid as a blogger.

I had

advertisements on Google and I was getting paid a

certain amount of money every month through Google,

through Google Ads.

had nothing to do with the defamation.

honest with you, just tell you that that stopped.

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Q.

That stopped.

The -- but that

I have to be

What about Patch, tell us what Patch is in

case the judge -A.

Patch is an AOL product.

It is a hyperlocal

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news site, which they have one in Easton, they have

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one in Palmer, they have one in Nazareth, they're

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throughout the area, that basically correspond with

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the school districts, and I was asked to write

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articles for Patch as a columnist on a weekly basis

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and was getting paid $60 a week for basically one

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column, which was easy money.

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That started in 2011.

And I was writing for them and what happened

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was after this -- after these allegations started to

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surface Ms. Mezzacappa began posting those comments

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on Patch where I have no control over the comments,

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and I threatened her with libel at the time and the

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matter went into the legal department at Patch, it

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went into -- it basically caused all kinds of

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problems with me at Patch and I became so disgusted

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at having to deal with these allegations all the time

in a forum where I have no control over what is being

said, unlike my blog where I do have control, that I

just couldn't write for them anymore.

couldn't write.

Q.

$60 a week?

A.

I just

And how much -- how much income was that,

Yes, so that would be 30 -- roughly $3,200

in 2012 and 2013, another $3,200, and though Patch

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has seized operations of many of its local outfits I

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was a columnist which means that my relationship with

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them would have continued.

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Q.

What about the Bethlehem Press, did you --

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A.

Yes, I write for the Bethlehem Press.

In

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addition to writing for Patch I write for the

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Bethlehem Press.

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it's in Bethlehem.

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behest and cover what is going on and write up

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stories about what occurs there, and she began

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contacting the newspaper and basically repeating the

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defamation that is the subject of the complaint and

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on several occasions, three occasions that I can

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think of, I had to explain -- we had to go through

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major explanations, myself and my editor, to the

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publisher as to why he was still using me.

That's a weekly newspaper and

I go to local meetings at their

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Q.

Now all of her allegations, by the way,

about criminal behavior she reported to the Easton

Police, correct?

A.

Pardon me?

Q.

She reported to the Easton -- West Easton

Police Department?
A.

She reported some of the supposed burglaries

to the Easton Police.

the Easton Police.

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the Easton Police.

She never reported a rape to

She reported the pig poisoning to

Q.

The police never filed any charges against

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A.

No.

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Q.

Now at some point you learned she had -- she

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you?

had the right to carry a gun, correct?

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A.

Yes, sir, yes.

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Q.

And she was accusing you of various crimes?

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A.

That's correct.

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Q.

Did that cause you any concern?

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A.

The fact that she was armed, the fact that I

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felt that she was mentally unstable, the fact that

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she was posting Internet comments on the Express

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Times website three times stating that if somebody

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that matches my description came to her house she

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would put a hollow point bullet through my skull,

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yeah, that kind of scared me.

Q.

I think you have that -- read that.

A.

The whole thing?

Q.

Just, yeah, the word bullet in the skull I

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think it says right here.

A.

Okay.

This is at the Express Times web page

on January 10, 2013.

As Tricia Mezzacappa, she says,

Hi Jimp.

I don't usually respond to anons but here

it goes.

Maybe I'm scared, but I don't think I'm

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paranoid or a gun nut.

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always work for insignificant nobody's like myself.

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They don't always serve and protect either.

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Armageddon comes a-running towards my house I stand

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armed and ready.

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inches and balding, little eyeglasses on the tip of

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his nose and enough fat flaps to insulate a bull.

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Deep breath, aim, shoot and one hollow point goes

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through his skull.

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ground.

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Q.

See, law enforcement doesn't

When

I picture Armageddon about 5 foot 9

He's dead before he hits the

Ker-splat [phonetic]. Perfect.

And that same piece appeared in multiple

venues, correct?

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A.

She posted it repeatedly.

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Q.

So, to summarize, how have you been impacted

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by this defamation?
A.

Well, in addition to what I told you about

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the athletic activities and in addition to what I

told you about at the courthouse and on the job, in

addition to what I told you about my relations with

members of the opposite sex, it's very -- it's made

me depressed at times and it makes it difficult

sometimes for me to even come to the courthouse and

work, especially when I -- I've had to appear in

front of this Court on seven separate occasions based

on frivolous allegations.

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Q.

But the articles that she wrote about you,

how do they make you feel?

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A.

Terrible.

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Q.

Any problems, sleeplessness?

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A.

Yes, now that you mention it, you're right.

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Q.

And the impact on your relationship with the

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young man, your surrogate grandson, how did that

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impact --

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A.

Well, I don't think it's impacted my

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relationship with my grandson, okay.

I think I still

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have a good relationship with my grandson.

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are close.

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interested in girls and not in grandfathers, so you

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know, I don't think it's really impacted him, but

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it's impacted me in the respect that his friends, you

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know, taking -- taking him and his friends to

He and I

He is getting older so he's getting

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different places, that doesn't happen, you know.

It's usually his mother that has to transport him to

different activities.

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Q.

Anything further you want to tell the judge

that I may have missed?

A.

I can't think of anything, Mr. Orloski.

MR. ORLOSKI:

THE COURT:

MR. O'HARE:

We have nothing further.

Okay, thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I would say one

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thing.

This thing has lasted for two years.

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of the defamation is still out there.

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my name you will still see many of the allegations

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that are still out there on the Internet.

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been asked to retract what she said.

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She's been asked to apologize.

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MR. ORLOSKI:

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worse as a result --

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MR. O'HARE:

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THE COURT:

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Some

If you Google

She has

She refused.

She refuses.

And she's actually gotten

That's correct.
Has it continued or has it

stopped?
MR. O'HARE:

Well, since -- it continued

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after Judge Smith entered his ruling that this was

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defamation per se.

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a judgment, the defamation continued.

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stop under her name until it became apparent to her

It continued after the entry of

It did not

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that there really was a judgment against her because

apparently that did not sink in to her for a long

period of time, so she has stopped under her own

name defaming me for about, I'd say, since December.

THE COURT:

Okay.

Has she ever appeared for

any court appearances regarding this defamation

suit?
MR. O'HARE:

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Yes, she's appeared in court,

she appeared -- first of all, she filed preliminary

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objections which were dismissed.

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court on, I believe, three separate occasions in

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this matter alone, maybe four in this matter alone,

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seeking to have me restrained from stalking her

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because she -- she would come to the courthouse to

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file papers and would see me and then would say I

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was stalking her.

THE COURT:

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MR. O'HARE:

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THE COURT:

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MR. O'HARE:

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But other than the preliminary

objections did she defend this case at all?

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She appeared in

On the merits, no.

Not on the merits?
No.

BY MR. ORLOSKI:
Q.

While I was representing you was there

anything significant in my life?

A.

Yes, your office was fire bombed twice.

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Q.

And --

A.

Right after -- right after adverse rulings

against Mezzacappa.

THE COURT:

MR. ORLOSKI:

MR. O'HARE:

Your office in Allentown?

Right.
And she --

BY MR. ORLOSKI:

Q.

Did she have on her blog --

A.

Yes, she had a picture of a bottle rocket.

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THE COURT:

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MR. O'HARE:

After this incident?

Uh-huh, before the police --

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before the police were -- before it was public

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knowledge.

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MR. ORLOSKI:

That's just a -- I have no

further questions.

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THE COURT:

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MR. O'HARE:

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THE COURT:

Okay, thank you, Mr. O'Hare.

Thank you, Your Honor.
Mr. Orloski, do you want to

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present argument now or do you want to present it in

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writing as to what you're seeking?

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MR. ORLOSKI:

Well, we're seeking both

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compensatory and punitive damages, but we'll submit

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something in writing to Your Honor.

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THE COURT:

And you will agree that I can

defer my verdict until --

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MR. ORLOSKI:

THE COURT:

MR. ORLOSKI:

Okay, how long would you need?

THE COURT:

Okay, and you will agree that I

can have 20 days from today to enter a verdict?

MR. ORLOSKI:

THE COURT:

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We can get it to you in 10

days, Your Honor.

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Until that's done.

Whatever you need, Your Honor.

Okay, all right, thank you very

much.
MR. ORLOSKI:

Thank you, Your Honor.

(The proceedings concluded.)

*

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CERTIFICATION

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I.

I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings are

contained fully and accurately in the notes taken by
me in the hearing of the above cause and that this
copy is a correct transcript of the same.

DATE:_________________________________, 2014

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__________________________
Nicole Candelino,
Official Court Reporter

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--------------------------------------------------

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II.

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I HEREBY DIRECT that the foregoing record of

the proceedings in the above cause is approved and
directed to be filed.

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DATE:_________________________________, 2014

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__________________________
Michael J. Koury, Jr., J.