Centre County wants out of another DA-related civil case

Centre County didn’t want to be sued by District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller.

But they don’t want to be sued alongside her, either.

On Monday, county attorney Mary Lou Maierhofer filed a motion to dismiss a complaint brought by Parks Miller’s former paralegal Michelle Shutt.

Shutt’s allegations that Parks Miller forged Judge Pamela Ruest’s signature on a fake bail order as part of an investigation into death threats against an assistant DA started a ball rolling in a controversial case that has occupied county government since January 2015.

The incident was turned over to the state Attorney General’s Office, which gave the case to an investigating grand jury. The grand jury found no grounds for charges in the the forgery.

Shutt filed the suit against Parks Miller and the county in July, after federal Judge Matthew Brann dismissed Parks Miller’s defamation lawsuit against her.

The DA’s lawsuit also included the county. The judge dismissed the last counts against the county Sept. 1.

Shutt says Parks Miller retaliated against her for coming forward and that she made “false public statements” about her.

Maierhofer said this is the DA’s issue, not the county’s.

“(Parks Miller’s) actions in a scripted public press concerence calling Shutt a ‘criminal’ or a ‘felony’ were intentional, calculated, willful and malicious misconduct which such conduct cannot be held against Centre County,” Maierhofer wrote.

Parks Miller has maintained that there was no forgery, and points to the grand jury’s decision following testimony from two handwriting experts.

“I find it highly ironic that Shutt, who was trying hard to be best friends with the county in 2015, is now actually suing the county to try to make money,” Parks Miller said. “It might be laughable if it were not actually true.”

Bruce Castor, who was recently replaced as interim attorney general by newly confirmed Bruce Beemer following the conviction and resignation of Kathleen Kane, represents Parks Miller.

“The district attorney, like the county, considers Shutt’s suit a money grab utterly devoid of merit. The DA and her office will be filing a similar motion in the next two weeks or so,” Castor said. “Let’s remember, law enforcement found the judge signed her own name, meaning law enforcement concluded Shutt must have lied. The real questions that remain unanswered are why, and did someone put Shutt up to it?”

This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 7:33 PM with the headline "Centre County wants out of another DA-related civil case."