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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-2112F:~FILES~DATAFILE~Gendoc. cur\ 101942-com 1/tde Created: 04/29/02 09:46:29 AM RevVed: 04/29/02 10:I0:I4AM 10194 2 MILDRED B. TRITT, Plaintiff : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NO. 02- , II;L : : CIVIL ACTION - LAW JOHN E. LONG and MARY C. LONG, his : wife, : Defendants : JURY TRIAL DEMANDED NOTICE You have been sued in court. If you wish to defend against the claims set forth in the following pages, you must take action within twenty (20) days after this Complaint and Notice are served, by entering a written appearance personally or by attorney and filing in writing with the court your defenses or objections to the claims set forth against you. You are warned that if you fail to do so, the case may proceed without you and a judgment may be entered against you by the court without further notice for any money claimed in the Complaint or for any other claim or relief requested by the Plaintiffs. You may lose money or property or other rights important to you. YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR LAWYER AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A LAWYER OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET FORTH BELOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP: Cumberland County Bar Association 2 Liberty Avenue Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013 Telephone (717) 249-3166 F:~FILES~DATAFILE~Gendoc.cur\ 101942 -com. 1 Created: 04/29/02 09:48:01 AM Revised: 04/29/02 10:I0:ISAM MILDRED B. TRITT, Plaintiff V. JOHN E. LONG and MARY C. LONG, his : wife, : Defendants : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NO. 02- CIVIL ACTION - LAW JURY TRIAL DEMANDED COMPLAINT 1. Plaintiffis Mildred Tritt, an adult individual residing at 36 Bentley Place, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17013. 2. Defendants are John E. Long and Mary C. Long, husband and wife, residing at 230 Webster Street, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17013. 3. Defendant Mary C. Long is the daughter of Plaintiff. 4. At various times from June 10, 1999 to date, Defendant Mary C. Long requested Plaintiff to advance funds necessary for her health and welfare due to her abandonment by her husband, John E. Long, and his failure and refusal to meet these necessary living expenses, and only expressed promise to repay Plaintiff. 5. The expenses referred to above include the following: a. Flight ticket on TWA from Harrisburg to Denver on June 10, 1999 in the amount of $461.00; b. North American Van Lines for moving the belongings of Defendant Mary C. Long from Superior, Colorado to Carlisle, Pennsylvania in the amount of $3,623.72; c. Denture Walk-In Center for implants in the amount of $715.00; d. Hix Towing for towing the car of Defendant Mary C. Long from Connecticut to Pennsylvania in the amount of $275.00. TOTAL: $5,074.72 6. Plaintiffhas requested both Defendants to honor the promise of Defendant Mary C. Long to repay her for the above funds advanced on her promise to repay and deemed to be necessary for her health and welfare as aforesaid. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff Mildred B. Tritt, demands judgement against Defendants John E. Long and Mary C. Long in the amount of $5,074.72 Date: April 29, 2002 MARTSON DEARDORFF WILLIAMS & OTTO By "~S}h ~,'~//~l ~ ¢ ~ Thomas J. Williardg/Esquire Ten East High Street Carlisle, PA 17013-3093 (717) 243-3341 Attorneys for Plaintiff VERIFICATION The foregoing Complaint is based upon information which has been gathered by my counsel in the preparation of the lawsuit. The language of the document is that of counsel and not my own. I have read the document and to the extent that it is based upon information which I have given to my counsel, it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. To the extent that the content of the document is that of counsel, I have relied upon counsel in making this verification. This statement and verification are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. C.S. Section 4904 relating to unsworn falsification to authorities, which provides that if I make knowingly false averments, I may be subject to criminal penalties. Milchted B. Tritt MILDRED B. TRITT, Plaintiff JOHN E. LONG and MARY C. LONG, his wife, Defendants : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : : NO. 02 - 2112 CIVIL ACTION - LAW : : : JURY TRIAL DEMANDED PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS Defendant, John E. Long, by his attorneys Broujos & Gilroy, P.C., sets forth the follows: 1 Defendant John E. Long demurs to Plaintiff's Complaint as follows: A. The items for which Plaintiff seeks reimbursement were not for "necessaries" as such that would allow the imposition of a claim on Defendant John E. Long pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S.A. §4102. B. The facts as pled in the Complaint suggest that Defendant's wife Mary C. Long specifically contracted in her own name with the Plaintiff to pay the Plaintiff for any monies Plaintiff expended on the behalf of Defendant Mary C. Long and, as such, a claim cannot be filed against Defendant husband John E. Long under 23 Pa.C.S.A. §4102. WHEREFORE, Defendant John E. Long requests that the Complaint filed against him be dismissed. Respectfully submitted, 4 North Hanover Street Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) 243-4574 Supreme Court ID No. 29943 TO TI~ PROTHONOTARY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY: please List: ~ within mat:~er fox: ~ next: A_--gmamt: Court:. CAPTION OF CASE MILDRED B. TRITT, JOHN. E. LONG and ~t%Ry:'c.': LONG, his wife ( p~ ~ "tiff ) (Defendant) No. 02-2112 CivilACTION 19 Sta~mat~er tobeaz~ (i.e., 4sm~z~r to cc~t, etc.): Defendants' Preliminary Objec~tions. (a) f~a~ne%~f: Thomas J. Williams~ Esquire ~]~: Ten East High Street, Carlisle, PA 17013 '(b) fux d~: Hubert..X. Gilroy, Esquire ~]~: 4 North Hanover Street, Carlisle, PA 17013 been L%s~ f~ az9~"~nt- 4. Az~3u~nt Court Da~e: July 24, 2002 Thomas 3. Wi~iams, Esquire, Atty~:-f9r Plaint/ SHERIFF'S RETURN - REGULAR CASE NO: 2002-02112 P COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVAi~IA: COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND TRITT MILDRED B VS LONG JOHN E ET AL RICHARD SMITH , Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, who being duly sworn according to law, says, the within COMPLAINT & NOTICE was served upon LONG JOHN E. the DEFENDANT at 1040:00 HOURS, at 230 WEBSTER STREET CARLISLE, PA 17013 MARY LONG, WIFE on the 2nd day of May , 2002 by handing to a true and attested copy of COMPLAINT & NOTICE together with and at the same time directing Her attention to the contents thereof. Sheriff's Costs: Docketing 18.00 Service 3.45 Affidavit .00 Surcharge 10.00 .00 31.45 Sworn and Subscribed to before me this /q q~ day of ~L~ ~, ~,2_ A.D. ~rothonotary ' So Answers: R. Thomas Kline 05/03/2002 ~ /~ MDW&O _ /~/ , f SHERIFF'S RETURN 'CASE NO: 2002-02112 P COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA: COUNTY OF CL~4BERI-~/qD TRITT MILDRED B VS LONG JOHN E ET AL - REGULAR RICHARD SMITH , Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, who being duly sworn according to law, says, the within COMPLAINT & NOTICE was served upon LONG MARY C the DEFENDANT , at 1040:00 HOURS, on the 2nd day of May , 2002 at 230 WEBSTER STREET CARLISLE, PA 17013 by handing to MARY LONG a true and attested copy of COMPLAINT & NOTICE together with and at the same time directing Her attention to the contents thereof. Sheriff's Costs: So Answers: Docketing 6.00 Service .00 Affidavit .00 Surcharge 10.00 R. Thomas Kline .00 16.00 05/03/2002 MDW&O Sworn and Subscribed to before me this /~ day of ~/Lu~ ~ A. D. ~ ~rothonotary' By: DepUty Sheriff #1o MILDRED B. TRITT V. JOHN E. LONG and MARY C. LONG : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : NO. 2002-2112 CIVIL : : CIVIL ACTION - LAW IN RE: DEFENDANTS' pRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS BEFORE BAYLEY~ GUIDO~ JJ. ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, this 26TM day of JULY, 2002, the Preliminary Objections of Defendant John E. Long are DENIED. Edward E. Guido, J. Thomas J. Williams, Esquire For the Plaintiff Hubert X. Gilroy, Esquire For the Defendants :sld MILDRED B. TRITT, Plaintiff JOHN E. LONG and MARY C. LONG, his wife, Defendants : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : : NO. 02 - 2112 CIVIL ACTION - LAW NOTICE TO PLEAD TO: Mildred B. Tritt c/o Thomas J. Williams, Esquire Martson, Deardorff, Williams & Otto 10 East High Street Carlisle, PA 17013 You are hereby notified that you must file a response to the within Counter-Claim within twenty (20) days from date of service or a default judgment may be issued against you. Hubert X. Giiroy, Esquire Attorney for Defendants Broujos & Gilroy, P.C. 4 North Hanover Street Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) 243-4574 MILDRED B. TRITT, Plaintiff JOHN E. LONG and MARY C. LONG, his wife, Defendants : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA : NO. 02 - 2112 CIVIL ACTION - LAW : ANSWER TO COMPLAINT AND COUNTER-CLAIM Defendants, John E. Long and Mary C. Long, by their attorneys, Broujos & Gilroy, P.C., set forth the following: 1. Admitted. 2. Admitted with respect to the named individuals being husband and wife. Denied with respect to the address alleged in the Complaint. The accurate address is 115 East Ridge Street, Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. 3. Admitted. 4. Denied. Defendant Mary C. Long never requested Plaintiff to advance funds to her nor did Mary C. Long ever express to Plaintiff that she would repay any monies that Plaintiff expended. 5. Denied with respect to the claims as follows: Denied that Defendant Mary C. Long requested monies relating to a flight ticket for $461.00. By way of further answer, said ticket was a ticket for a plane ride from Harrisburg to Denver for the son of Mary C. Long. Plaintiff initiated this plane trip at the insistence of Plaintiff and on the specific direction from Defendant Mary C. Long that she did not want her son to fly from Harrisburg to Denver. Under no circumstances did Defendant Mary C. Long suggest that she would reimburse those expenses for a plane trip, and under no circumstances were said expenses in any way necessary for the health, welfare or maintenance of Mary C. Long. Denied that Defendant Mary C. Long requested expenses for moving in the amount of $3,623.72. On the contrary, said expenses were incurred at the request and for the benefit of Plaintiff Mildred B. Tritt. In fact, Mary C. Long was residing in Colorado at the time and was content and had no desire to relocate to Pennsylvania, and it was only at the request and insistence of the Plaintiff that Mary C. Long agreed to move back to Pennsylvania. By way of further answer, Plaintiff Mildred B. Tritt offered to pay for the moving expenses and suggested that it was repayment to Defendant Mary C. Long for the care and comfort Mary provided to her father and to the Plaintiff. Said expenses were not for the health and welfare of Defendant Mary C. Long. Denied that Defendant Mary C. Long requested the $715.00 expense for the Denture Walk-In Center for implants or that they were for her health or welfare. In fact, Defendant Mary C. Long had sufficient assets at the time of said payment to make the payment, and it was at the insistence and on the request of Plaintiff that Plaintiff made said payment because Plaintiff wanted to be benevolent to Defendant Mary C. Long. Under no circumstances did Defendant Mary C. Long request said payment, nor were the funds necessary for the health and welfare of Mary C. Long at that time because she had sufficient assets to pay for said expenses. Denied that the payment of $275.00 for towing expenses was a payment requested by Defendant Mary C. Long or that said payment was necessary for the health and welfare of Defendant Mary C. Long. On the contrary, said payment was made gratuitously by Plaintiff and without any requests from Defendant Mary C. Long. Furthermore, Defendant Mary C. Long possessed adequate assets at the time of said payment to make the payment for the towing expenses, and it was only on the insistence of Plaintiff that Plaintiff incurred the debt. In fact, Plaintiff suggested to Defendant Mary C. Long that Plaintiff had paid the debt and Mary C. Long, "should not worry about it, just forget about it." 6. Admitted that Plaintiff has requested both Defendants to make payment to her. Denied that there is any obligation of the Defendants to honor any promises because, in fact, Defendant Mary C. Long did not make any promises to pay any of the items alleged in this complaint nor were the items necessary for the health and welfare of Defendant Mary C. Long. WHEREFORE, Defendants request your Honorable Court to dismiss this Complaint. COUNTER-CLAIM 7. The allegations set forth in Paragraphs 1 through 6 above are incorporated herein by reference thereto. 8. Defendant Mary C. Long lived with Plaintiff on or about July 2000 until on or about October 2000. 9. In or about October of 2000, Defendant Mary C. Long left Plaintiff's home despite Plaintiff's stated requests that she remain in the home. 10. As a result of Defendant Mary C. Long leaving her mother's home, Plaintiff became enraged and proceeded to damage, sell, dispose of or destroy various items of personal property owned by both Defendants which Defendant Mary C. Long had left in Plaintiff's home. The list of items that were damaged, given away, destroyed or otherwise disposed of is as follows: Living room chair and ottoman $1,000.00 Coats, suits, blouses, sweaters, skirts belonging to Mary C. Long $1,000.00 Marble rolling pin $ 60.00 Grandfather clock made by Lester E. Long in 1971 $1,000.00 Leather office chair $ 179.00 42" round walnut dining table and 4 roundback chairs $ 700.00 Sony component stereo with Yamaha speakers and Pioneer CD changer $ 600.00 Various cassette tapes and CDs $ 50.00 Original prospective coloring rendering of Hershey Creamery Company $1,250.00 Architectural scale model of addition and improvements to Perry Health Center $2,500.00 Original Architectural drawings $5,000.00 Architectural project files $1,000.00 Total $14,339.00 WHEREFORE, Defendants request your Honorable Court to enter judgment against Plaintiff in the amount of $14,339.00 plus costs of prosecution. Respectfully submitted, (717) 243-4574 Supreme Court ID No. 29943 F:~FILES~DATAFlLE\Gendoccu6101942-replynewmatla/~de/cny Created: 04/29/02 09:46:29AM Revised: 10/15/02 08;01:19AM 101942 MILDRED B. TRITT, Plaintiff JOHN E. LONG and MARY C. LONG, his : wife, : Defendants : : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA NO. O2- 2112 CIVIL ACTION ~ LAW JURY TRIAL DEMANDED REPLY TO NEW MATTER (COUNTERCLAIM) AND NOW, comes Plaintiff, Mildred B. Tritt, by and through her attorneys, MARTSON DEARDORFF WILLIAMS & OTTO, and replies to Defendants' New Matter (Counterclaim) as follows: thereto. Paragraphs 1 through 6 of PlaintiWs Complaint are incorporated herein by reference 8. Denied. Over the past several years, Defendant Mary C. Long has stayed in Plaintiff's house a total of about fifteen (15) days. When Defendant Mary C. Long came back from Colorado in June 1999, she lived with her ex-husband, Edward Carrai, at his home in Newville. In September 1999, Defendant Mary C. Long packed up her car and came to Plaintiff's home, telling Plaintiff she was leaving Mr. Carrai and was afraid of him. Defendant Mary C. Long wanted to rejoin her husband, John E. Long, who, at that time, was living in Maine. Unforttmately, Defendant Mary C. Long did not have any money and Plaintiff gave her what she had, about $350.00 for the trip to Maine to rejoin her husband, Defendant John E. Long. On that occasion, Defendant Mary C. Long only stayed at Plaintiff's house for a couple of days, only long enough to make the arrangements for the trip to Maine. In December 1999, Defendant Mary C. Long left her husband, Defendant John E. Long, in Maine and returned to Carlisle to Plaintiff's house. She stayed overnight in Plaintiff's house and was picked up there the next day by her ex-husband, Edward Carrai, and moved back with him at his home in Newville. Defendant Mary C. Long was living with her ex- husband, Ed Carrai, in early 2000 when she called Plaintiff in an emotionally distraught frame of mind and asked Plaintiff to come get her. Plaintiff came to Mr. Carrai's house in Newville and found Defendant Mary C. Long to be ill (over medicated) and took Defendant Mary C. Long to Plaintiffs home in Carlisle. Defendant slept there for a couple days and gradually was nursed back to health. After several days staying in Plaintiffs house, Defendant Mary C. Long told Plaintiffthat she was reconciling with her husband, Defendant John E. Long. A friend came to pick her up and she left. 9. Denied. Paragraph 8 is incorporated herein. Although Plaintiff loves Defendant Mary C. Long as her daughter, Plaintiff has never had a desire to live with her. Without going into details, Defendant Mary C. Long has been a great disappointment to Plaintiff, both as a daughter and as a human being. Of Plaintiff's five children, Defendant Mary C. Long has been the most difficult to raise and has given Plaintiff the most heartache as evidenced, in part, by the necessity of this lawsuit. 10. Denied. Defendant Mary C. Long's belongings that she had with her when she lived in Colorado were delivered by the movers to the home of Defendant Mary C. Long's ex-husband, Ed Carrai. With the two exceptions noted below, Plaintiff has never had any of the property itemized in Paragraph 10 of Defendants' Counterclaim. a. Ed Carrai did not want any personal property of Defendant John E. Long at his house. One of those items was a grandfather clock built from a kit by the father of Defendant John E. Long and that was delivered to Plaintiffs house. Plaintiff did not want it, but it had to go somewhere. When Defendant Mary C. Long needed gas money to go to Maine, she asked Plaintiff and Plaintiff gave her what money she had, about $350.00. Plaintiff was told by both Defendants that she should keep the grandfather clock, apparently in gratitude for the $350.00. The clock was not worth $350.00 and Plaintiff ended up selling to an antique dealer, Alfred Ziegler, for $200.00. A statement from Mr. Ziegler to that effect is attached as Exhibit "A." b. When Defendant Mary C. Long came to live with Plaintiff, she had a cardboard box that had rolls of paper. Plaintiff believes Defendant Mary C. Long took some of these papers when she left for Maine. Later, in approximately the smnmer of 2001, when Defendants relocated to Carlisle, they lived with Plaintiff for a couple of weeks while they found a house. When they moved to their home, they took whatever papers were left in the cardboard box. Plaintiff still has the empty cardboard box in her basement. WHEREFORE, Plaintiffprays Your Honorable Court to dismiss Defendants' Counterclaim. Respectfully submitted, MARTSON DEARDORFF WILLIAMS & OTTO Thomas J. Williar~, Esquire I. D. Number 17512 Ten East High Street Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) 243-3341 Date: October 14, 2002 Attorneys for Plaintiff eF VERIFICATION The foregoing Reply to New Matter and Counter Claim is based upon information which has been gathered by my counsel in the preparation of the lawsuit. The language of the document is that of counsel and not my own. I have read the document and to the extent that it is based upon information which I have given to my counsel, it is tree and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. To the extent that the content of the document is that of counsel, I have relied upon counsel in making this verification. This statement and verification are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. C.S. Section 4904 relating to unsworn falsification to authorities, which provides that if I make knowingly false averments, I may be subject to criminal penalties. I~lil&e-d T~ritt -- CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Tricia D. Eckenroad, an authorized agent for Martson DeardorffWilliams & Otto, hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing Reply to New Matter (Counterclaim) was served this date by depositing same in the Post Office at Carlisle, PA, first class mail, postage prepaid, addressed as follows: Hubert X. Gilroy, Esquire Four North Hanover Street Carlisle, PA 17013 MARTSON DEARDORFF WILLIAMS & OTTO Ten East High Street Carlisle, PA 17013 (717) 243-3341 Dated: October 14, 2002 MILDRED B. TRITT, Plaintiff V. JOHN E. LONG and MARY C. LONG, his wife, Defendants IN THE COURT OF COl~fON PLEAS OF CLTIB£RLAND COUNTY, PERNSYLVANIA. NO. 02-2112 CIVIL x~ RULE 1312-1. The Petition for Appointment of Arbitrators shall be substantially in the following form: PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT OF ARBITRATORS TO THE HONORABLE. THE JUDGES OF SAID COURT: Thoma's J. Williams, , counsel for the plaintiff~e~x~ in the above action (~x~, respectfully represents that: 1. The above-captioned action~mx~ is (~me~xat issue. 2. The claim of the plaintiff in the action is $5~074.72 The counterclaim of the defendant in the action is $14,339.00 The following attorneys are interested in the case(s) as counsel or are other- wise disqualified to sit as arbitrators: Hubert X. Gilro~, Esquire W~EREFORE, your petitioner prays your Honorable Court to appoint three (3) arbitrators to whom the case shall be submitted. Respectfully submitted, Thomas J. Williams, Esquire ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, /7 /~ ~/ , 'Ig.~g~, in consideration of the above-captioned action (or actions) as prayed for. iw · p.j. - · ** This is likely to be a lengthy arbitration and could possibly be as long as a full day. TJW MILDRED B. TRITT · IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF Plaintiff : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA JOHN E. LONG and MARY C. LONG, his wife Defendants · NO. 02-2112 CIVIL ORDER OF COURT AND NOW, September 2, 2003, the arbitration panel previously appointed is vacated, and James Bogar, Esquire, chairman of the panel, shall be paid the sum of $50.00. omeS Bogar, Esquire as Ahrens, Esquire san Hartman, Esquire omas J. Williams, Esquire ~lubert X. Gilroy, Esquire By the Court,