MAHONING COUNTY Suit against Budd is tossed

Maj. Mike Budd said the civil lawsuit was without merit.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A malicious prosecution lawsuit against Maj. Michael Budd of the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department has been thrown out by a federal judge.
Judge Peter C. Economus of U.S. District Court, Youngstown, ruled there was no proof that Budd was behind a criminal complaint filed against John A. Boggs of Boardman, a deputy sheriff.
"That was a baseless lawsuit from the very beginning," Budd said.
Possible recourse: He said the suit was frivolous and is talking with the county prosecutor's office about seeking sanctions against Boggs and his attorney.
Boggs, a deputy since 1991, filed the suit in June 2001, seeking $750,000 in damages from Budd and the county.
In December 1999, Boggs was arrested for a fight with a motorist in Struthers while he was off duty Thanksgiving Day the same year. The man filed an assault charge with Struthers police the day of the alleged encounter, but he dismissed it in September 2000.
Boggs' lawsuit said Budd "initiated the assault charges against Boggs out if ill-will, spite and personal animus" toward Boggs.
Budd countered that he had nothing to do with the Struthers man filing a complaint against Boggs, nor did he file an affidavit against Boggs with Boardman police, as Boggs had maintained.
Records: Affidavits were submitted to the court from Carol Clemente-Wagner, who is Struthers Municipal Court prosecutor, and from a records officer with the Boardman Police Department verifying that Budd had nothing to do with the assault complaint.
Boggs submitted a handwritten affidavit from the assault victim, Charles Shaffer Jr., which said that he and Boggs and peacefully settled their differences, but Budd encouraged him to pursue the criminal charges.
"Further investigation on my part shows Boggs is a good guy!" Shaffer's affidavit says.
Judge Economus dismissed Shaffer's affidavit because it was unsworn, which is required by law.
"Without the Shaffer affidavit, [Boggs] has not produced a scintilla of evidence which connects Budd to the filing of the criminal complaint," the judge wrote in his ruling.
Boggs was suspended from the department for 30 days for conduct unbecoming a police officer because of the fight. An arbitrator later ordered the suspension rescinded.
bjackson@vindy.com