Commissioners approve settlement of federal lawsuit filed by former inmate

Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday approved a $2,500 payment to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a former prison inmate who claimed he was mistreated at the Hempfield facility.

Christopher Batch, 33, of Pittsburgh contended that while incarcerated in 2019 guards and other staff at the county prison mishandled his mail and refused him access to legal materials in the facility’s law library.

Batch served as his own lawyer for the lawsuit. Commissioners and county solicitor Melissa Guiddy declined to comment on the case.

Batch, according to published accounts, was arrested following a traffic stop in Greensburg in November 2018 and was charged with felony and misdemeanor drug counts after police claimed they found heroin, crack cocaine, Ecstasy pills and a stolen gun.

No record of Batch’s criminal case is listed for public viewing in state court dockets.

His former defense lawyer, Brian Aston, said the criminal charges against Batch were dismissed after a county judge ruled a vehicle search that followed the traffic stop was illegal.

According to federal court records, Batch filed a second lawsuit against the state police officer who conducted the search of his vehicle and numerous court officials, including county prosecutors and judges. The prosecutors and judges were later dismissed from the case, which was settled by a federal mediator, according to court dockets.