Free Notice of Appeal (Third Circuit) - District Court of Delaware - Delaware

Case 1:04-cv-00956-GMS

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Filed 09/13/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE : : : : Plaintiffs, : : v. : : COLONEL L. AARON CHAFFINCH, individually : and in his official capacity as Superintendent of the : Delaware State Police; LIEUTENANT COLONEL : THOMAS F. MACLEISH, individually and in his : official capacity as Deputy Superintendent of the : Delaware State Police; DAVID B. MITCHELL, in : his official capacity as the Secretary of the : Department of Safety and Homeland Security of the : State of Delaware; and DIVISION OF STATE : POLICE, DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND : HOMELAND SECURITY, STATE OF : DELAWARE, : : Defendants. : CORPORAL B. KURT PRICE; CORPORAL WAYNE WARREN; and SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER D. FORAKER,

C.A.No.04-956-GMS (Consolidated With C.A.No.04-1207-GMS)

SERGEANT CHRISTOPHER D. FORAKER,

: : Plaintiffs, : : v. : : COLONEL L. AARON CHAFFINCH, individually : and in his official capacity as Superintendent of the : Delaware State Police; LIEUTENANT COLONEL : THOMAS F. MACLEISH, individually and in his : official capacity as Deputy Superintendent of the : Delaware State Police; DAVID B. MITCHELL, in : his official capacity as the Secretary of the : Department of Safety and Homeland Security of the : State of Delaware; and DIVISION OF STATE : POLICE, DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND : HOMELAND SECURITY, STATE OF : DELAWARE, : : Defendants. : NOTICE OF APPEAL

C.A.No.04-1207-GMS (Consolidated With C.A.No.04-956-GMS)

Notice is hereby given that Master Corporal B. Kurt Price, Master Corporal Wayne Warren and Sergeant Christopher D. Foraker, plaintiffs in the above captioned consolidated cases, hereby appeal to

Case 1:04-cv-00956-GMS

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the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from the following opinions or orders entered in this consolidated action with reference to each of the four defendants. 1. From the entire District Court post-trial written opinion and order dated August 14, 2006, which among other things vacated the jury verdicts in this action in favor of each plaintiff and entered judgment for the defendants. 2. From the District Court's oral order entered during the May 2006 trial, denying plaintiffs' motion to sanction defendants for the intentional destruction of computer evidence and which prevented plaintiffs from introducing such evidence in the trial of this case. 3. From the District Court's oral orders entered during the May 2006 trial, permitting defendants to offer and argue evidence pertaining to collateral economic benefits received by plaintiffs, in violation of the collateral source rule, which substantially reduced the monetary damages award for each plaintiff. 4. From the District Court's oral orders entered during the May 2006 trial, refusing to allow plaintiffs to present evidence and argue to the jury that in assessing punitive damages the jury could consider the multiple prior adverse jury verdicts against defendant Chaffinch for violating the U.S. Constitution as amended. 5. From the District Court's summary judgment opinion and order dated May 12, 2006, finding that plaintiff Sgt. Christopher D. Foraker is a limited purpose public figure for state law defamation purposes, and finding that defendants had not waived their Mt. Healthy affirmative defense to liability. 6. From the District Court's summary judgment orders dated April 10, 2006 and April 13, 2006, denying plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment on liability and finding that plaintiffs had not met their burden of proving that their First Amendment protected activity was a "substantial or motivating factor" under Mt. Healthy.

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Case 1:04-cv-00956-GMS

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THE NEUBERGER FIRM, P.A.

/s/ Stephen J. Neuberger THOMAS S. NEUBERGER, ESQUIRE (#243) STEPHEN J. NEUBERGER, ESQUIRE (#4440) Two East Seventh Street, Suite 302 Wilmington, Delaware 19801 (302) 655-0582 [email protected] [email protected]

MARTIN D. HAVERLY, ATTORNEY AT LAW MARTIN D. HAVERLY, ESQ. (#3295) Two East Seventh Street, Suite 201 Wilmington, DE 19801 (302) 654-2255 [email protected]

Dated: September 13, 2006

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Stephen J. Neuberger, being a member of the bar of this Court do hereby certify that on September 13, 2006, I electronically filed this Pleading with the Clerk of the Court using CM/ECF which will send notification of such filing to the following:

Robert Fitzgerald, Esquire Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, LLP 123 South Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19109 Richard M. Donaldson, Esquire Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, LLP 300 Delaware Avenue, Suite 750 Wilmington, DE 19801

/s/ Stephen J. Neuberger STEPHEN J. NEUBERGER, ESQ.

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