A federal appeals court last week ruled that a former magistrate judge serving in the U.S. District Court in Johnstown erred when he failed to appoint an attorney to represent an immigrant who sought damages for an injury to his leg and back when he was housed at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center three years ago.

At the time, Marlon McDougall, a native of Guyana, was a resident at the Clearfield County detention center operated by the GEO Group of Boca Raton, Fla., which serves as an ICE detention center.

McDougall claimed that in April 2023 he was wheelchair-bound while recuperating from a serious knee injury (a torn meniscus).

He was part of a group of Moshannon Valley residents who were designated for transfer to the Pike County Correctional Facility.

While awaiting to be placed in a vehicle containing several others, he was handcuffed and shackled.

According to his complaint, he protested being transported with six or eight other detainees, contending he should be transferred in a handicapped-

accessible vehicle.

Three officers, however, picked him up out of his wheelchair to put him in the transport van.

During the process, the officers dropped him.

After picking him up, he was taken back into the detention center, and a doctor indicated he had reinjured his knee and also suffered four bulging discs in his back.

His petition filed with the District Court in Johnstown contended he required 11 physical therapy sessions “just to get back on track.”

In May 2023, he filed a federal civil rights complaint against the officers who dropped him and the GEO Group.

The ensuing legal battle has been ongoing ever since, even though McDougall has been moved four times and presently is in the Caroline Detention Center, Bowling Greens, Va.

Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto of Johnstown dismissed several follow-up petitions filed by McDougall, including his request for a court-appointed attorney.

The former detainee at Moshannon Valley, serving as his own attorney, appealed the district court’s decision rejecting his request for an attorney.

A panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia that included Judges Cheryl Ann Krause, Peter J. Phipps and Jane R. Roth in their opinion concluded the district court “abused its discretion in denying McDougall’s request for counsel.”

“Accordingly, we will vacate the District Court’s judgment and remand with instructions to reconsider McDougall’s request under the proper standard,” the opinion stated.

The appeals court emphasized that the Johnstown court in dismissing his request for an attorney did not consider “significant factors.”

For instance, the local court did not address the merit of McDougall’s negligence claim.

And, the opinion stated, the district court did not address the constraints placed on McDougall in his attempts to sue GEO.

One constraint that was mentioned “included (McDougall’s) involuntary relocation to four detention facilities across two states in less than a year.”

“The court never discussed McDougall’s ability to pursue an investigation, properly gather evidence or comply with his own discovery obligations despite recurring issues he raised about obtaining surveillance footage and identifying witnesses,” the appeals court panel stated.

The opinion also mentioned McDougall’s inability to identify and retain an expert witness on his own — a necessity for him to continue with his lawsuit.

The appeals court opinion indicated that it is seeking an inquiry into the issues of the case, including whether McDougall is entitled to counsel, but it emphasized, “We express no opinion on what the outcome of the inquiry should be.”

The case has now been assigned to Magistrate Judge Peter E. Ormsby in Pittsburgh.

The Third Circuit reported that McDougall entered the United States in 1982. He was incarcerated in Virginia from 2006-22. Upon his release he was taken into custody pending removal proceedings. He was at Moshannon Valley from August 2022 until April 2023.