Army veteran acquitted of murder files lawsuit against the city, DA and police officers
A U.S. Army veteran from Upper St. Clair who in May was acquitted of murder in the shooting death of a Washington man filed a lawsuit Oct. 17 against the city of Washington, five city police officers and the district attorney, who he claims violated his civil and constitutional rights by prosecuting him and incarcerating him for 18 months.
Brandon Thomas, 32, who was acquitted in the October 18, 2012, shooting death of 55-year-old Vaughn Simonelli in the parking lot of the Shop ‘n Save supermarket in Washington, claims in the federal suit he was the victim of malicious prosecution, reckless investigation, false arrest and false imprisonment.
Named as defendants are police officers Daniel Stanek, Christopher Luppino, Daniel Rush, Robert Wilson, an unidentified officer, the city and Washington County District Attorney Eugene Vittone.
Thomas’ attorney, Frank Walker, argued during the trial Thomas was defending himself when he shot Simonelli, claiming the castle doctrine law allowed him to do so. Pennsylvania’s castle doctrine law allows citizens to use deadly force to protect themselves in their homes and vehicles.
Simonelli followed Thomas from Jefferson Avenue to the parking lot of the grocery store and blocked Thomas’ vehicle.
Thomas, a veteran of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan who was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and earned three Purple Hearts, told police he was inside his vehicle when Simonelli punched him through the open window and he then fired two shots.
Prosecutors claimed Thomas shot Simonelli when he approached Thomas’ Humvee.
Thomas was cleared of the felony criminal homicide charge, but he was found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia and sentenced to six to 12 months in jail on that charge, with credit for the 18 months he served.
According to the suit, Vittone and the police officers disregarded evidence in their pursuit of a conviction, and that all but one witness verified Thomas’ account that he was inside his car, was attacked and fired only after being attacked.
“What was upsetting the most was that you had the incident happen, police arrived on scene and took him to the station, they had statements that he was inside the car, was attacked and was being followed and chased and that he fled from Simonelli and was blocked into a spot. You have all this testimony, then you have one person say he was outside the car, that was he was bigger than Simonelli, when he’s actually much smaller, and that he shot him in the chest, all of which was blatantly untrue,” said Walker, who said Thomas should not have been held on murder charges.
The suit also claims gunshot residue tests show the gun was fired inside Thomas’ vehicle and Simonelli’s head was inside the Humvee when Thomas fired the shots.
Walker said Thomas had “tremendous support” throughout the trial, and he is taking college courses and fielding job offers in the energy industry.
Mayor Brenda Davis declined to comment because she had not yet seen the lawsuit.