COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF NORTHAMPTON COUNTYCOMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

CIVIL DIVISION

BERNIE O'HARE : CV 2012-3442:

Plaintiff ::

vs. : :

TRICIA MEZZACAPPA : :

Defendant :

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

Heard by THE HONORABLE MICHAEL J. KOURY, JR., Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton 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.

2

1 * * *

2 THE COURT: Good morning. We are here in

3 the matter of Bernie O'Hare versus Tricia

4 Mezzacappa, docket 3442 of 2012. The case was

5 listed for a non-jury trial regarding damages

6 following default judgment. The case was scheduled

7 for 9 a.m. The time is now 9:26 a.m. I've been

8 informed that Ms. Mezzacappa did not appear at the

9 call of the list, is that correct?

10 MR. ORLOSKI: That's correct, and she wasn't

11 at the call of the list last week either.

12 THE COURT: Okay, so you're ready to proceed

13 in her absence?

14 MR. ORLOSKI: Yes.

15 THE COURT: Call your first witness. You

16 can testify from the witness stand or the podium.

17 Raise your right hand and state your full

18 name, spelling your first and last name for the

19 court reporter.

20 MR. O'HARE: Bernard V. O'Hare, III.

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

22 according to law, was examined and testified as

23 follows:

24 DIRECT EXAMINATION

25 BY MR. ORLOSKI:

3

1 THE COURT: You may be seated. Mr. Orloski,

2 you can proceed with your examination.

3 Can you just tell me briefly what's before

4 me.

5 MR. ORLOSKI: It's a hearing on damages for

6 the defamation. We're going to be requesting an

7 award for compensatory damages and for punitive

8 damages.

9 THE COURT: Okay.

10 MR. ORLOSKI: And we have, Your Honor, the

11 section from the standard civil practice, 1316,

12 which outlines the damages.

13 THE COURT: Okay. You, Mr. O'Hare, filed an

14 action for defamation against Ms. Mezzacappa,

15 correct?

16 MR. ORLOSKI: Yes.

17 THE COURT: And there was a default

18 judgment?

19 MR. ORLOSKI: Yeah, we have a complicated

20 history. We do have the docket which I will make

21 available to Your Honor. I have some notes on the

22 first page but this is page 3, starts with the

23 filing of the complaint. It's been a procedurally

24 complicated case.

25 THE COURT: Okay. Okay, you can proceed,

4

1 Mr. Orloski.

2 BY MR. ORLOSKI:

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

4 record.

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

6 Q. And, very briefly, at some point did you go

7 to law school?

8 A. I did.

9 Q. Did you graduate?

10 A. I did.

11 Q. Were you admitted to the bar?

12 A. I was.

13 Q. And your father, what was your father's

14 name?

15 A. His name was Bernard Vincent O'Hare, Jr.

16 Q. And he was also a lawyer?

17 A. He was.

18 Q. At some point you had some difficulties with

19 the bar?

20 A. That's correct.

21 Q. And what happened to you?

22 A. My license to practice law was suspended for

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

24 ethical misconduct that occurred as a result of my

25 drinking.

5

1 Q. And it was a suspension, not a disbarment?

2 A. It was a suspension.

3 Q. And you never applied to go back?

4 A. I have not.

5 Q. I gather this caused some anguish in the

6 family?

7 A. It did.

8 Q. And what have you done to rebuild your life

9 since then?

10 A. Well, the first thing I did was I stopped

11 drinking. That was the first thing that I did. It

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

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

14 very disappointed that I disgraced myself, I

15 disgraced my family and I disgraced my profession

16 when my license to practice law was suspended, and

17 the way that I thought about rebuilding my life was,

18 first of all, I had to stop drinking. I stopped

19 drinking, went through rehab, I went to AA meetings

20 twice a day for a year straight and got myself on

21 track with sobriety, and then I went back and began

22 searching titles on a full-time basis at the

23 courthouse.

24 Q. Now were you making a living doing that?

25 A. I did.

6

1 Q. And at some point did you start a blog?

2 A. I did.

3 Q. And what was -- when did you start your

4 blog?

5 A. I started the blog in 19 -- excuse me, in

6 2006. It's called Lehigh Valley Ramblings, and the

7 purpose of the blog was to discuss political matters,

8 local political matters and also to provide -- to

9 compliment the -- the news media because the news

10 media these days are becoming -- there have been a

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

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

13 were sending squads of reporters every night to cover

14 local municipal meetings, so I thought I would be

15 doing a public service.

16 Q. Was the blog labor intensive?

17 A. It is.

18 Q. How many hours did you spend on the blog per

19 week?

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

21 Q. But you enjoy doing that?

22 A. I do. It's a labor of love.

23 Q. And did you have a core of readers?

24 A. I do. I mean, it started off very low but

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

7

1 Q. And did you become somebody that reporters

2 contacted regularly for information?

3 A. That's correct.

4 Q. And at some point did you become involved

5 with Tricia Mezzacappa?

6 A. Yes, she was one of my blog readers and she

7 began attending counsel meetings that I was attending

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

9 walks with her.

10 Q. Was she also involved in political

11 activities as a candidate?

12 A. Pardon me?

13 Q. Was she involved in political --

14 A. Yes, she was running for office. She was

15 running for West Easton Borough Counsel at the time

16 and was claiming there was all kinds of ethical

17 improprieties and corruption going on in West Easton

18 Borough.

19 Q. Do you remember when that happened, when you

20 started interacting with her?

21 A. It was in 2011.

22 Q. And did you write any articles about her as

23 a political candidate?

24 A. Yes, I did.

25 Q. Would you characterize them as positive or

8

1 negative?

2 A. Very negative.

3 Q. As a result of that did she start

4 communicating about you?

5 A. That's correct.

6 Q. What types of things was she saying about

7 you?

8 A. Well, she called me a rapist, claimed that I

9 had sexually assaulted her, claimed that I had

10 attempted to poison her pet pig, claimed that I had

11 burglarized her home on numerous occasions, claimed

12 that I stalked her on a regular basis and also

13 claimed that I was a pedophile.

14 Q. Okay, now let's back up. Have you ever been

15 married?

16 A. Yes.

17 Q. And do you have any children?

18 A. I do.

19 Q. Do your children have any children?

20 A. They do not.

21 Q. Do you have a relationship with somebody who

22 does have grandchildren?

23 A. That's correct. After I separated from my

24 wife I developed a relationship with a another woman

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

9

1 spent the first six months of his life in the

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

3 Q. How old is that young man now?

4 A. He's now 14.

5 Q. And did you become actively involved in his

6 life?

7 A. Very actively involved.

8 Q. In what capacity?

9 A. Basically since he had no real father I was

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

11 years.

12 Q. And did you start -- he was active in

13 sports?

14 A. Very active. Much more so than I ever was.

15 Q. And did you start going to sporting events

16 with him?

17 A. Yes.

18 Q. And, as a result of calling you a pedophile,

19 what happened?

20 A. Well, I can tell you that she -- she made

21 these allegations on -- on the Internet. They've

22 existed for several years and people, when I would go

23 to a game, I notice people would stop talking. I had

24 to explain myself to a couple of my grandson's

25 basketball coaches.

10

1 I also noticed that before this happened,

2 often times I would be asked to take some of my

3 grandson's friends to different events, to practices,

4 to baseball practice, basketball practice, football

5 practice. That stopped. People would not ask me any

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

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

8 Sometimes I would do that or take them to a batting

9 cage.

10 THE COURT: I've seen this young man play,

11 by the way. He's an excellent basketball player.

12 Q. How did it make you feel that you were being

13 shunned because of the allegations of being a

14 pedophile?

15 A. Pardon me?

16 Q. How did you feel?

17 A. Well, it made me feel terrible, made me feel

18 humiliated.

19 Q. And what does that mean, you were

20 humiliated?

21 A. Made me feel sick to my stomach.

22 Q. Now, in addition to that, she accused you of

23 being a rapist and a burglar, correct?

24 A. That's correct.

25 Q. How did that impact on your social life?

11

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

2 uncomfortable when I have a conversation with a

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

4 meet somebody to make sure I meet them in a setting

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

6 so that nobody can say anything. It's just -- it's

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

8 affected me in that way with respect to my

9 interactions with females.

10 As far as how it's affected me at the

11 courthouse, I can tell you that after this first

12 happened I would walk into the Recorder of Deeds

13 office where I search titles, and they're largely

14 women, the other title searchers are largely women,

15 and they like to talk to each other and usually when

16 you come in they're carrying on conversations but

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

18 They would stop talking. And after this happened I

19 was called in to the Recorder of Deeds office.

20 Q. Who called you in?

21 A. Ann Achatz. She was, at that time, the

22 Recorder of Deeds.

23 Q. And why did she call you in?

24 A. She called me in because of concerns that

25 had been raised by members of her own staff about

12

1 whether they had anything to worry about.

2 Q. About you being a rapist?

3 A. Yes.

4 Q. And how did that make you feel?

5 A. Terrible, terrible.

6 Q. And now in addition can you tell us how it

7 impacted on your -- your activities as a writer.

8 THE COURT: Just before we go onto that, did

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

10 burglar?

11 MR. O'HARE: Yes, Your Honor. She accused

12 me several times of breaking into her house and

13 stealing things from her.

14 THE COURT: This is also on her blog?

15 MR. O'HARE: Yes, stealing important

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

17 MR. ORLOSKI: We have in the complaint, we

18 have extensive statements by her, what she was

19 writing. Judge -- was it Judge --

20 MR. O'HARE: Smith.

21 MR. ORLOSKI: Smith said it was defamatory

22 per se.

23 BY MR. ORLOSKI:

24 Q. What about your writing career?

25 A. Well --

13

1 Q. Were you getting paid ever as a blogger?

2 A. I did get paid as a blogger. I had

3 advertisements on Google and I was getting paid a

4 certain amount of money every month through Google,

5 through Google Ads. That stopped. The -- but that

6 had nothing to do with the defamation. I have to be

7 honest with you, just tell you that that stopped.

8 Q. What about Patch, tell us what Patch is in

9 case the judge --

10 A. Patch is an AOL product. It is a hyperlocal

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

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

13 throughout the area, that basically correspond with

14 the school districts, and I was asked to write

15 articles for Patch as a columnist on a weekly basis

16 and was getting paid $60 a week for basically one

17 column, which was easy money. That started in 2011.

18 And I was writing for them and what happened

19 was after this -- after these allegations started to

20 surface Ms. Mezzacappa began posting those comments

21 on Patch where I have no control over the comments,

22 and I threatened her with libel at the time and the

23 matter went into the legal department at Patch, it

24 went into -- it basically caused all kinds of

25 problems with me at Patch and I became so disgusted

14

1 at having to deal with these allegations all the time

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

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

4 just couldn't write for them anymore. I just

5 couldn't write.

6 Q. And how much -- how much income was that,

7 $60 a week?

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

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

10 has seized operations of many of its local outfits I

11 was a columnist which means that my relationship with

12 them would have continued.

13 Q. What about the Bethlehem Press, did you --

14 A. Yes, I write for the Bethlehem Press. In

15 addition to writing for Patch I write for the

16 Bethlehem Press. That's a weekly newspaper and

17 it's in Bethlehem. I go to local meetings at their

18 behest and cover what is going on and write up

19 stories about what occurs there, and she began

20 contacting the newspaper and basically repeating the

21 defamation that is the subject of the complaint and

22 on several occasions, three occasions that I can

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

24 major explanations, myself and my editor, to the

25 publisher as to why he was still using me.

15

1 Q. Now all of her allegations, by the way,

2 about criminal behavior she reported to the Easton

3 Police, correct?

4 A. Pardon me?

5 Q. She reported to the Easton -- West Easton

6 Police Department?

7 A. She reported some of the supposed burglaries

8 to the Easton Police. She never reported a rape to

9 the Easton Police. She reported the pig poisoning to

10 the Easton Police.

11 Q. The police never filed any charges against

12 you?

13 A. No.

14 Q. Now at some point you learned she had -- she

15 had the right to carry a gun, correct?

16 A. Yes, sir, yes.

17 Q. And she was accusing you of various crimes?

18 A. That's correct.

19 Q. Did that cause you any concern?

20 A. The fact that she was armed, the fact that I

21 felt that she was mentally unstable, the fact that

22 she was posting Internet comments on the Express

23 Times website three times stating that if somebody

24 that matches my description came to her house she

25 would put a hollow point bullet through my skull,

16

1 yeah, that kind of scared me.

2 Q. I think you have that -- read that.

3 A. The whole thing?

4 Q. Just, yeah, the word bullet in the skull I

5 think it says right here.

6 A. Okay. This is at the Express Times web page

7 on January 10, 2013. As Tricia Mezzacappa, she says,

8 Hi Jimp. I don't usually respond to anons but here

9 it goes. Maybe I'm scared, but I don't think I'm

10 paranoid or a gun nut. See, law enforcement doesn't

11 always work for insignificant nobody's like myself.

12 They don't always serve and protect either. When

13 Armageddon comes a-running towards my house I stand

14 armed and ready. I picture Armageddon about 5 foot 9

15 inches and balding, little eyeglasses on the tip of

16 his nose and enough fat flaps to insulate a bull.

17 Deep breath, aim, shoot and one hollow point goes

18 through his skull. He's dead before he hits the

19 ground. Ker-splat [phonetic]. Perfect.

20 Q. And that same piece appeared in multiple

21 venues, correct?

22 A. She posted it repeatedly.

23 Q. So, to summarize, how have you been impacted

24 by this defamation?

25 A. Well, in addition to what I told you about

17

1 the athletic activities and in addition to what I

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

3 addition to what I told you about my relations with

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

5 me depressed at times and it makes it difficult

6 sometimes for me to even come to the courthouse and

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

8 front of this Court on seven separate occasions based

9 on frivolous allegations.

10 Q. But the articles that she wrote about you,

11 how do they make you feel?

12 A. Terrible.

13 Q. Any problems, sleeplessness?

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

15 Q. And the impact on your relationship with the

16 young man, your surrogate grandson, how did that

17 impact --

18 A. Well, I don't think it's impacted my

19 relationship with my grandson, okay. I think I still

20 have a good relationship with my grandson. He and I

21 are close. He is getting older so he's getting

22 interested in girls and not in grandfathers, so you

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

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

25 know, taking -- taking him and his friends to

18

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

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

3 different activities.

4 Q. Anything further you want to tell the judge

5 that I may have missed?

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

7 MR. ORLOSKI: We have nothing further.

8 THE COURT: Okay, thank you.

9 MR. O'HARE: Oh, I'm sorry. I would say one

10 thing. This thing has lasted for two years. Some

11 of the defamation is still out there. If you Google

12 my name you will still see many of the allegations

13 that are still out there on the Internet. She has

14 been asked to retract what she said. She refused.

15 She's been asked to apologize. She refuses.

16 MR. ORLOSKI: And she's actually gotten

17 worse as a result --

18 MR. O'HARE: That's correct.

19 THE COURT: Has it continued or has it

20 stopped?

21 MR. O'HARE: Well, since -- it continued

22 after Judge Smith entered his ruling that this was

23 defamation per se. It continued after the entry of

24 a judgment, the defamation continued. It did not

25 stop under her name until it became apparent to her

19

1 that there really was a judgment against her because

2 apparently that did not sink in to her for a long

3 period of time, so she has stopped under her own

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

5 THE COURT: Okay. Has she ever appeared for

6 any court appearances regarding this defamation

7 suit?

8 MR. O'HARE: Yes, she's appeared in court,

9 she appeared -- first of all, she filed preliminary

10 objections which were dismissed. She appeared in

11 court on, I believe, three separate occasions in

12 this matter alone, maybe four in this matter alone,

13 seeking to have me restrained from stalking her

14 because she -- she would come to the courthouse to

15 file papers and would see me and then would say I

16 was stalking her.

17 THE COURT: But other than the preliminary

18 objections did she defend this case at all?

19 MR. O'HARE: On the merits, no.

20 THE COURT: Not on the merits?

21 MR. O'HARE: No.

22 BY MR. ORLOSKI:

23 Q. While I was representing you was there

24 anything significant in my life?

25 A. Yes, your office was fire bombed twice.

20

1 Q. And --

2 A. Right after -- right after adverse rulings

3 against Mezzacappa.

4 THE COURT: Your office in Allentown?

5 MR. ORLOSKI: Right.

6 MR. O'HARE: And she --

7 BY MR. ORLOSKI:

8 Q. Did she have on her blog --

9 A. Yes, she had a picture of a bottle rocket.

10 THE COURT: After this incident?

11 MR. O'HARE: Uh-huh, before the police --

12 before the police were -- before it was public

13 knowledge.

14 MR. ORLOSKI: That's just a -- I have no

15 further questions.

16 THE COURT: Okay, thank you, Mr. O'Hare.

17 MR. O'HARE: Thank you, Your Honor.

18 THE COURT: Mr. Orloski, do you want to

19 present argument now or do you want to present it in

20 writing as to what you're seeking?

21 MR. ORLOSKI: Well, we're seeking both

22 compensatory and punitive damages, but we'll submit

23 something in writing to Your Honor.

24 THE COURT: And you will agree that I can

25 defer my verdict until --

21

1 MR. ORLOSKI: Until that's done.

2 THE COURT: Okay, how long would you need?

3 MR. ORLOSKI: We can get it to you in 10

4 days, Your Honor.

5 THE COURT: Okay, and you will agree that I

6 can have 20 days from today to enter a verdict?

7 MR. ORLOSKI: Whatever you need, Your Honor.

8 THE COURT: Okay, all right, thank you very

9 much.

10 MR. ORLOSKI: Thank you, Your Honor.

11 (The proceedings concluded.)

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1 CERTIFICATION

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I. 4

I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings are 5 contained fully and accurately in the notes taken by

me in the hearing of the above cause and that this 6 copy is a correct transcript of the same.

7 DATE:_________________________________, 2014

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11

12 __________________________ Nicole Candelino,

13 Official Court Reporter

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--------------------------------------------------15

16 II.

17 I HEREBY DIRECT that the foregoing record of the proceedings in the above cause is approved and

18 directed to be filed.

19 DATE:_________________________________, 2014

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__________________________24 Michael J. Koury, Jr., J.

25