08/22/06 — Testimony begins today in Crawford County Court of Common Pleas in what could be a landmark case involving how colleges handle mental health counseling of students.
A Washington County couple filed a lawsuit against Allegheny College after their son committed suicide in a college dormitory in February 2002.
Deborah and Charles Mahoney III claim the college was negligent and legally liable as were two professionals who had counseled their son, Charles Mahoney IV, who hanged himself at age 20.
Senior Judge Barry Feudale of Northumberland County is presiding after Crawford County’s judges all disqualified themselves.
It took more than four hours Monday to reduce the pool of 90 prospective jurors to a panel of seven women and five men to hear the case, which is expected to last between eight and 10 days.
Should the Mahoneys prevail in their claim against Allegheny, reports are that some other colleges are worried about their liability.
“It could be a landmark case,” said David McInally, Allegheny College secretary, who quickly added that “it’s hard to know at this point” since “jury selection is just getting started.”
Asked whether the college had changed any procedures after Mahoney’s death, McInally said, “We are refining procedures all the time. That being said, this particular situation is really going to be described to the jury why we acted as we did.”
Mahoney’s parents, who were in the courtroom Monday, were introduced to the prospective jurors. She is a counselor in the school system in Weirton, W.Va., and he is superintendent at Chartiers-Houston School District in Washington County.
In addition to Allegheny College, other defendants are Jacqueline Kondrot, employed by the college as a counselor at the college counseling center; and Dr. Gregory Richards, a psychiatrist with Michael Mercatoris and Associates.
Hints of the in-depth testimony expected were evident in the dozens of boxes of documents lined up near the attorneys’ tables as well as the 13 big notebooks of information on the tables and the large screens which have been erected on the wall for exhibits to be shown to jurors.
Judge Feudale told prospective jurors they will be the ones to judge liability and, if any, the amount of monetary damages to be awarded.
Witnesses expected to be called by the Mahoney defense include a number of psychologists, three fraternity brothers of their son, an economics professor who will testify about financial damages due the couple, and a psychiatrist from Harvard Medical School.
Scheduled to testify on behalf of the college and Kondrot are faculty members who were associated with Mahoney — Jennifer Hallworth, Sharon Wesoky and Dan Shea — as well as two psychiatrists from Washington County, records from St. Vincent Medical Center and a disposition from another treating doctor. Others listed as potential witnesses are specialists from universities and a Meadville psychiatrist.
Testifying on behalf of Dr. Richards will be a psychologist from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center as well as the other above witnesses.
Jane Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at jsmith@meadvilletribune.com
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