By Gina Passarella

Staff Reporter for the Legal Intelligencer

By the time Mark Tanner of Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock & Dodig secured an $11 million settlement in early 2008 for the family of a woman killed in a head-on collision, he and his firm had already gone beyond their comfort zone, handling custody and family law issues for the single mother's three young children.

But the settlement in Glynn v. O'Halloran wasn't the end of things and Tanner set to work — on his own time — for more than a year pushing the state police for answers.

"The case settled, but clearly we felt that justice had not yet been accomplished," Tanner said.

Diane Glynn's kids — and Tanner — wanted to know why the driver who hit their mother while driving his work truck was not charged with even a traffic violation or given a breathalyzer at the scene. They also wanted an internal investigation into how the state police handled its investigation of the accident.

Discovery for the civil suit led Tanner to learn that defendant Dean O'Halloran was involved in a hit-and-run accident in his personal vehicle on the morning of the accident that killed Glynn, Tanner said. People who witnessed the hit-and-run got O'Halloran's tag number, he said.

O'Halloran then got to work and switched to his Penske work truck, after which he was seen driving erratically before he crossed over the line and hit Glynn head-on, Tanner said and court documents demonstrated.

"It seemed to us that from those circumstances alone, there certainly should have been an investigation and probably a prosecution," Tanner said.

O'Halloran had called his stepfather, a corporal in the Pennsylvania State Police, from the scene of the accident, according to court records.

Through discovery, Tanner said he learned that O'Halloran had gone through medical testing after the accident as part of a workers' compensation claim and his blood alcohol level came back at .149 a few hours after his accident with Glynn, according to court documents.

Once the case was settled and the job Tanner was hired to do essentially complete, he sent evidence gathered through depositions in the civil case to the state police, inquiring whether charges should be brought against O'Halloran. Tanner said he waited to raise the issues until after the civil case concluded because he didn't want the defendant to argue Glynn's family was bringing up the issues purely for monetary gain.

Tanner packaged up BAC reports, deposition testimony and witness statements and sent them to the head of the state police, the local district attorney and the state attorney general.

"I asked there be a proper prosecution of Dean O'Halloran and, secondly, an investigation into the state police's response to this incident," Tanner said. "It seemed to me that this was a very, very sloppy investigation, or that Dean O'Halloran got some sort of preferential treatment."

Tanner said there was a lot of back and forth with the police department initially but they informed him in July 2008, more than three years after the April 2005 accident, that O'Halloran was being charged with involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving. Tanner received a follow up letter last week from the Wayne County District Attorney's Office that O'Halloran would be pleading guilty to those charges March 16 — which he did.

The three kids, ranging in age from early 20s to under 10, want to offer victim impact statements at O'Halloran's upcoming sentencing. The sentencing will take place in Wayne County on May 28, according to reports by The Associated Press, which said O'Halloran remains free while he awaits sentencing.

Tanner said he doesn't want anyone to lose sight of the need for an internal investigation into the state police's handling of the situation. He said he has been told that an investigation is under way, but any information about it wouldn't be released while the criminal case is still pending.

Tanner said the case really underscores the importance of the civil justice system in bringing to light evidence that might not otherwise be highlighted. This case also shows the importance of the media, he said, in putting pressure on public officials to act.

For media inquiries, contact Gina Rubel, Furia Rubel Communications, Inc.