As a civil suit filed by a convicted murderer moves forward against Washington County, some are questioning whether the deposition of witnesses is becoming a stage for political intimidation.

A line of inquiry focusing on organized crime links to a well-known local lawyer, whether a county commissioner has used her sexuality to get ahead, potential leaks by a sheriff's deputy, and others has some suspicious that the suit is being used to damage reputations.

And so far, the county's former district attorney has refused to answer questions, while the jail warden also opted out of some.

In October 2006, former county jail inmate Alexander Martos, 40, sued the jail, the county, Warden Joseph Pelzer, former District Attorney John Pettit, and two corrections officers.

The suit said he was beaten, harassed and deprived of basic needs when he ended a three-year relationship as a jailhouse informant for Mr. Pettit.

Mr. Martos, of Fallowfield, says he served as an informant for Mr. Pettit during the time he was being housed at the jail while he awaited sentencing for the kidnapping and murder on Dec. 12, 1999, of medical consultant Ira Swearingen, of Stout, Ohio near an adult bookstore off Interstate 70 in Somerset. Mr. Martos pled guilty and is serving a life sentence as the triggerman.

He is seeking unspecified damages and a jury trial, during which his lawyer, Peter Suwak, said witnesses and documentation will be introduced to back up his claims. Witnesses in Mr. Martos' civil case are being deposed, after the suit lingered in federal court for more than a year.

Smear or search?

Edmond Joyal, lawyer for Travelers Insurance Co., the county's insurance carrier, recently called local newspaper publisher Cody Knotts, 39, of North Strabane, reportedly to find out if he had any contact or inside knowledge about Mr. Martos. Mr. Knotts and others present in the room said the questioning instead turned to politics and his religious beliefs.

And there were inquiries into whether county Commissioner Diana Irey used sex to get ahead in her political career, whether she was a manipulative person, or if Mr. Knotts had ever witnessed her grandstanding or twisting the truth.

"It was more like a smear than a search for facts," said Mr. Knotts, who publishes The Weekly Recorder, a weekly tabloid credited last year with helping to unseat Mr. Pettit, a Democrat, after 24 years in office.

Nearly every week leading up to the general election last year, the Weekly Recorder featured negative stories and photos involving Mr. Pettit, 73, who lost in a landslide to political newcomer and Republican Steven Toprani.

Mr. Pettit has for several years been under federal investigation for case fixing and for various abuses of office involving jail inmates.

During a deposition taken July 8, Mr. Knotts and others said he was questioned by Mr. Joyal about whether county sheriff's deputies or other county employees were the sources who leaked information about state police and FBI agents seizing jail transport records last year.

He also was asked if he knew of an organized crime connection involving local private investigator Michael Tarbuck or Mon Valley lawyer Herman Bigi, the district attorney before Mr. Pettit.

Mr. Knotts said Mr. Joyal inquired if Mr. Bigi had served as a source for published material, and asked other questions about newspaper finances, backers, who printed the newspaper and other private company matters.

He said he felt the deposition was a senseless act of intimidation.

"What is a county insurance attorney doing delving into the private practices of a private business?" Mr. Knotts said.

James Jeffries, the lawyer representing Mr. Knotts, said his client also was asked about his views on religion, the Iran-Contra affair, and whether he was aware that Mr. Pelzer had high blood pressure.

Mr. Jeffries said he couldn't object during the deposition, due to federal discovery rules, which allow wide leeway during such questioning.

Walking the line

When contacted at his office last week, Mr. Bigi was furious.

"They better watch what they are saying," he said of Mr. Joyal and his colleagues.

Mr. Bigi said he had no involvement in the Martos case or organized crime and was mystified over why his name was brought up at all.

"I really don't get it," he said. "I don't understand it."

Mr. Joyal said he wouldn't comment about specific questions, but said they all were pertinent to cases filed by Mr. Martos or other former inmates.

"All of the questions I asked him related to the Martos case and all the other cases that I am representing," Mr. Joyal said.

Those other cases would include one filed last year by Gerald Gregg of South Franklin, who was acquitted in 2005 of a 2003 double murder in a North Strabane bar.

In his November lawsuit against the county, the jail, Mr. Pettit and others, Mr. Gregg alleges that he was the victim of a conspiracy to frame him for the murders, and he accuses Mr. Pettit of manufacturing evidence and coercing witnesses in the case.

Mr. Bigi's name was brought up at the beginning of Mr. Gregg's homicide trial as a potential witness to be called by the prosecution, but no other mention of him ever was made.

He was not called to testify and said he knew of Mr. Gregg because he worked briefly at a construction project on property owned by Mr. Bigi.

Two guards named in the Martos suit also were deposed according to Mr. Suwak, but testified they never beat or punished Mr. Martos.

Through his lawyers, Mr. Pettit has refused to answer questions.

What's ahead

Mr. Pelzer was deposed, but declined to answer some questions because of confusion regarding the federal investigation, Mr. Suwak said.

Mr. Suwak is to draft questions for Mr. Pelzer that will be approved by U.S. Magistrate Amy Reynolds Hay, who is also expected to decide which questions Mr. Pettit will be forced to answer.

"This is the first time I've sued a district attorney who took the Fifth Amendment," said Mr. Suwak, who said that jurors might view the action, a Constitutional right not to incriminate oneself, as a sign of guilt.

"I consider it a factor on our side of the ledger," he said.

Mr. Suwak said he was surprised by the tenor of questions asked of Mr. Knotts, and said he felt like "a bystander in a political struggle."

As a result of the questioning about her by Mr. Joyal, Mrs. Irey was notified last week that she is going to be deposed by Mr. Pettit's lawyers.

Mrs. Irey, the lone Republican, said she couldn't comment about ongoing county litigation, but others in county government said that in a recent prison board meeting, Mr. Joyal and she got into a heated argument about information she was providing to the public about conditions at the jail.

County employees said Mrs. Irey was visibly angry about the confrontation with Mr. Joyal.

In previous interviews, Mrs. Irey said she received more than 600 complaints from inmates and family members about treatment at the jail since she took office 12 years ago.

She asked prison board members to approve an outside investigation of practices and procedures at the jail, but most other board members, including Mr. Burns and Mr. Maggi, said they wanted to wait until the federal investigation of Mr. Pettit was complete.

Jail administration has come under fire for failing to curtail altercations involving jail guards. No complaint or concern lodged against the jail has ever been found to have merit by jail staff.

Depositions in the case are expected to wrap up by Aug. 27.