A federal judge this week dismissed a civil rights complaint against a Sandy Township, Clearfield County, police officer and the township that was filed by a long-haul truck driver from Philadelphia who was arrested in October 2023 after he and an employee of a DuBois-area paper company engaged in a fist fight upon his arrival to pick up a shipment.

The truck driver, Jovaughn Matthie, appeared at the Domtar Paper Co. about 5 p.m. Oct. 30 and apparently parked his truck in the wrong area for the pickup.

At first Matthie and a company employee engaged in a face-to-face argument.

He claimed the employee then threw the first punch, and Matthie, an African-American of Jamaican descent, reported he responded in self-defense.

After knocking the employee down, Matthie drove away in his truck.

Although feeling dizzy after the confrontation, Matthie was otherwise uninjured, but the employee landed in the hospital with a concussion, broken front teeth and large cut to his right eyebrow.

Later that evening, Sandy Township Police Officer Travis A. Goodman charged Matthie with two counts of simple assault, one count of harassment and one count of aggravated assault, which is a first degree felony.

Matthie was sent to the Clearfield County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bond.

He couldn’t come up with money for the bail, and remained in prison until his trial nearly a year later.

Representing himself, Matthie was found not guilty by a jury that took about 20 minutes to decide the case.

Matthie last year, through Philadelphia attorney Albert J. Mitchell, filed a civil rights action against Sandy Township, Officer Goodman, Clearfield County and Clearfield County District Attorney Ryan P. Sayers.

His civil rights action charged Goodman with malicious prosecution, noting the officer refused to drop the charges even though he lacked probable cause to file them.

The lawsuit also charged the officer with selective prosecution based on race — Matthie being Black and the company employee being white.

Sandy Township was accused also of having policies that resulted in “over-charging and prosecuting individuals based on their race.”

The Matthie lawsuit raised the same charges against District Attorney Sayers and Clearfield County.

The defendants in turn sought dismissal of the civil rights complaint and, this week former, Blair County Judge D. Brooks Smith dismissed the complaint involving Goodman and Sandy Township.

Smith now serves as senior judge with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.

He also previously was a U.S. District Judge serving in Johnstown prior to his more than two decades with the Third Circuit.

He was assigned to the Matthie case as a way to lighten the caseload of the District Court in Johnstown, which experienced the death of one of its longtime judges, Kim Gibson, last year and is attempting to dispose of dozens of habeas corpus cases being filed this year by immigrants being held in an ICE processing center in Moshannon Valley.

Smith’s order this week dismissed malicious prosecution charges against Goodman under both federal and state laws, a selective prosecution charge against Goodman and what is known as a Monell Claim against the township.

The dismissal was “with prejudice,” meaning the charges cannot be raised again in an amended complaint.

In his ruling, the judge explained that under the federal malicious prosecution claim by Matthie, Goodman is entitled to qualified immunity — if he had probable cause to file charges against Matthie.

Matthie’s attorney claimed the officer lacked probable cause in initially filing the charges.

The attorney contended the officer exaggerated the injuries suffered by the company employee, and he noted the charges against Matthie were filed without first interviewing him to evaluate his self-defense claim.

Judge Smith indicated that the injuries suffered by the employee (a concussion, several broken teeth, and a cut to his head) “would permit a reasonable officer (and a magistrate) to conclude (the employee) suffered serious bodily injuries” thereby supporting the very serious aggravated assault charge.

As to Matthie’s contention that he wasn’t interviewed prior to the filing of the criminal complaint, the judge explained that the self-defense claim was “not required at the charging stage of the prosecution.”

However he did note, “Matthie’s allegation that he spent substantial time incarcerated before getting to tell his side of the story is serious and troubling.”

But, he concluded, Goodman is protected by qualified immunity.

When examining Matthie’s charge that race played a part in the arrest, Smith explained that “selective enforcement of the law on the basis of race violates the Equal Protection Clause (of the constitution).”

To show there was selective prosecution, Matthie focused on two other prosecutions by Sandy Township in which victims suffered serious injuries, but their attackers, who were white, were not charged with aggravated assault.

The judge rejected those comparative situations — in which Goodman was the arresting officer — concluding they were not similar to the Matthie case “in all respects.”

“Because Matthie’s proposed comparators differ in material ways bearing on the challenged charging decision, he has not plausibly alleged discriminatory effect,” the judge’s opinion explained.

Finally, the judge stated, because Matthie “has not plausibly alleged that Goodman violated his constitutional rights, there is no predicate constitutional injury on which to premise the Monell liability, the (civil rights) claim against Sandy Township therefore fails and will be dismissed.”

While the Smith opinion disposed of the civil rights claims against Sandy Township, similar charges against Clearfield County and DA Sayers have yet to be reviewed.

The Clearfield defendants last September, through Altoona attorney Mary Lou Maierhofer, also sought dismissal of Matthie’s case.

The county response stated, “It is specially denied that Sayers and/or Clearfield County did anything improper under (the facts of the case).”

“Sayers does not file charges, arrest or set bail …It is averred that Matthie’s bail was set as $50,000 secured which he was informed that he could obtain his release through a bail bondsman by posting bail in the amount of 7 percent to 10 percent ($4,500 to $5,000),” Clearfield contended.