Lawyer says DC Case Has No Impact on Murtha Suit in PA

A federal appeals court judge in Washington DC has put an end to the defamation suit filed against congressman John Murtha but a Johnstown attorney says he thinks his suit will be allowed to go to trial. The ruling Tuesday specifically spoke to the suit filed by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich who claimed defamation when Murtha called the marines involved in the November 2005 killings in Haditha Iraq “cold blooded killers.” Attorney Noah Geary says the suit filed by his client, Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt, goes much deeper and has Pennsylvania law in its corner. Geary says D.C. law allows a judge to decided if Murtha’s comments were outside of his job duties but in Pennsylvania that question needs to be answered by a judge. Geary says he expects the Department of Justice lawyer assigned the case to weave the D.C. ruling into his brief which are due April 20th but he says he thinks he has strong legal arguments to file against those claims. The suit filed by Sharratt also included constitutional arguments. Geary says the suit claims the Marine’s 6th amendment right to a fair trial was violated when Murtha made his comments on TV shows. He says Murtha also violated 5th and 14th amendment protections on due process.