Harassment Charges Being Sought Against Mezzacappa

Last week, Northampton County Council candidate Tricia Mezzacappa tried to sue me again. She threw Angle into the pot, too. Her case was dismissed the very next day by Judge Anthony Beltrami. One of these dismissed claims is this:

As recently as February, 2013, Plaintiff O'Hare has fraudulently registered a domain in the name of West Easton resident Matthew Dees, 402 Second Street, West Easton, PA 18042. . The domain www.westeastonPA.com, is registered with a false address and false phone number. On this domain, O'Hare impersonates Matthew Dees, with the same exact same viscous screeds, accusations of racism, accusations of crimes, mental instability, etc.. about Mezzacappa, that he has been publishing on his own blog for the last several months. His actions have no purpose but to stalk, harass and intimidate Mezzacappa as a witness in the above court case.

She has published comments from "Matthew Dees" on her own moderated blog that tell her, "[Y]ou have my vote.  She even claims to have an email from him, denying he is the author of Westeastonpa.com. "It is my personal belief that Miss Gross is utilizing Bernie O'Hare to impersonate me online, as he has done to several other people."

Yesterday, the real Matthew Dees, who is in fact the author of Westeastonpa.com, asked the District Attorney to approve harassment charges against Mezzacappa.

I love this line in Tom Shortell's story: "Mezzacappa declined to comment for this story and instructed a reporter not to contact her at her home again."

At WestEastonpa.com, Dees explains his actions:

She has harassed me by repeatedly posting on her blog, using my name, that insults other candidates and said I was voting for Mezzacappa. She refused to remove the first offending comment when I told her to and after I posted my opinion of her on this website she then proceeded to create another post with a false email, wherein I supposedly said that I do not own this website, again insulted other candidates, and again gave my support to her.

It annoys the Hell out of me and definitely alarms me that she would use my name to personally insult elected officials of West Easton and claim that I support her candidacy.

Her course of conduct serves no legitimate purpose. In fact, it is as illegitimate as one can get. Her actions are trying to convince voters that her campaign has merit and that, as an ex-candidate, I support her. I will not allow my name to be used without my approval by anyone who thinks such use will get them elected to office, or gain votes from a public that isn’t informed of the truth. Which really toasts me, because I am only a resident who filed to run for a Borough Council position, but almost as quickly withdrew from the race. My name should have no influence on voters, but Tricia Mezzacappa must believe that using it will benefit her somehow.

Hopefully, this action against her will convince Mezzacappa that I am the owner of this website and to stop creating more offensive posts on her blog that use my name, should she be considering it.

I’ll be honest. I don’t have much hope that Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli will accept my filing. Most DA’s don’t want to be bothered with what they consider to be a trivial matter. He being a Democrat and Mezzacappa being a Republican will probably have him considering the political ramifications of pursuing a case against Mezzacappa. Undoubtedly, she would scream that she was being prosecuted simply because she is a Republican running for a position on the County Council.

I would add that Morganelli, to his credit, is something of a First Amendment purist. He has historically been reluctant to approve criminal prosecutions over mere words.