Judge dismisses defamation claim

COUNCIL BLUFFS — A federal district court judge has dismissed a defamation claim against the Pottawattamie County attorney.

Terry Harrington filed the claim against Matt Wilber in 2003, after the Iowa Supreme Court overturned Harrington’s 1978 first-degree murder conviction.

Harrington claimed that Wilber defamed him in comments made at a press conference after Harrington was released from prison.

The defamation claim was part of a larger lawsuit alleging civil rights violations by Pottawattamie County, former County Attorney Dave Richter and his former assistant Joseph Hrvol. That case now is before the U.S. Supreme Court.

At issue in the defamation claim was whether a sitting county attorney has immunity.

At the press conference, Wilber said, “(The) right man went to prison for over 25 years,” and “As for the final justice for Terry Harrington, I will defer that honor to a higher power.”

Harrington and Curtis W. McGhee Jr. were sentenced to life in prison in the 1977 death of John Schweer, a retired police officer who was working as a security guard at a Council Bluffs car dealership.

Harrington’s conviction was overturned after evidence was introduced that showed police and prosecutors had failed to share evidence that pointed to another man as a possible suspect in Schweer’s slaying. Some witnesses also recanted their testimony.

Harrington was freed in April 2003. McGhee was released in September 2003.

Wilber decided not to refile charges against Harrington and reached a plea agreement with McGhee in which McGhee didn’t admit guilt.

On Monday in a 21-page ruling, Chief Judge Robert W. Pratt of the U.S. District Court of the Southern Iowa District dismissed the defamation claim against Wilber.

Pratt ruled that Harrington’s case was subject to a November 2008 ruling by the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found Wilber was entitled to immunity regarding McGhee’s defamation claim.

“Obviously, I am pleased and relieved to have this over with,” Wilber said. “The court’s decision ends the litigation against me. But the county is still involved in the major case still pending in the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Harrington and McGhee claimed that Richter and Hrvol had them arrested without probable cause, coerced and coached witnesses, fabricated evidence and concealed evidence that could have cleared them.

Richter and Hrvol argued that they were immune from liability under Iowa’s Tort Claims Act, which protects state employees acting within the scope of their jobs. The federal district court rejected their motions to dismiss the lawsuits, saying the immunity did not extend to them if they fabricated evidence — which they do not concede.

The 8th Circuit Court said the district court was right to deny them sovereign immunity.

That decision was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where oral arguments were heard Nov. 4.

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