A Pennsylvania judge, who has targeted two brothers, one current and one retired professional athlete, with impunity due to his position in “a corrupt legal system,” is allegedly extorting them.
Walter Bernard, a Pittsburgh-area attorney, claims that on May 3, 2023, he was wrongfully arrested, forcibly removed from his home in front of neighbors, and imprisoned for a day at the request of Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge Philip A. Ignelzi, according to the original lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
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Since filing their initial federal complaint in August 2023, Walter and Wynton Bernard have been in and out of the Keystone State and federal legal systems, arguing their case on multiple fronts.
“The Bernards look forward to vindicating their rights guaranteed under the laws of the United States Constitution,” they told Law & Crime. “They strongly believe in their case and will continue to pursue the options afforded to them through the judicial system.”
As Law & Crime previously reported, the initial case details an increasingly punishing series of events, including multiple and persistent violations of the attorney’s and his family’s civil and constitutional rights.
“Attorney Bernard was startled when multiple officers converged onto [his and his brother’s] residence and began continuously banging on [their] front door,” the complaint states. The law enforcement officer threatened Attorney Bernard, stating that if he did not open his front door quickly, the situation would worsen. A law enforcement officer even left a voicemail on Attorney Bernard’s personal cellphone during the unannounced visit to his apartment, threatening to arrest him if he did not answer the door.
According to the lawsuit, the NFL player-turned-lawyer eventually deescalated the situation out of concern for his family’s and his personal safety due to the presence of armed law enforcement agents.
The complaint continues, “Law enforcement subsequently arrested Attorney Bernard in front of neighbors, humiliated him, and placed him in the back of a marked law enforcement vehicle.” Law enforcement arrested Attorney Bernard without providing a copy of a warrant, and their only explanation was that ‘the judge just wanted to see you.’ Without having breakfast or taking his necessary medication for his medical needs, law enforcement immediately transferred, incarcerated, and placed Attorney Bernard in a cell with approximately five (5) other people for a significant portion of the morning.”
The lawsuit claims that hours later, the judge brought the attorney before him after “shackling and paraded through the courthouse hallways.”
The complaint states that Judge Ignelzi ridiculed Attorney Bernard while he was still in shackles for not opening his residential door quickly enough for the numerous deputies knocking outside. “In addition, Judge Ignelzi scorned and blamed Attorney Bernard for nearly injuring himself.” He also chastised and scolded Attorney Bernard for potentially endangering the sheriff deputies. Judge Ignelzi stated that there were conversations with the Sheriff’s Department and that approval for a break-in order into [the Bernard] residence was almost complete.
The lawsuit states that the judge presented the attorney with an ultimatum, offering him two options. He could either agree to settle a case that was then on appeal before a Keystone State appellate court “in an amount that the opposing counsel had pre-determined with no ability to negotiate [and] without his client being present,” or he could disclose sensitive financial information to opposing counsel in the case, according to the lawsuit. Ignelzi allegedly threatened to imprison Walter Bernard again unless he made his decision within 15 minutes.
According to Walter Bernard’s complaint, the underlying issue was a landlord-tenant conflict in which he and his brother’s escape room business were unable to accommodate customers or pay rent during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak. Walter Bernard stated that a provisional verdict in favor of the landlord had brought the years-long legal battle to a provisional conclusion, but the tenant was appealing existing financial concerns resulting from a financial credit to a higher court.
According to the lawsuit, the pending landlord-tenant case resulted in Ignelzi having no jurisdiction over the matter. Furthermore, Walter Bernard alleges that Ignelzi knew “or should have known” that he had no jurisdiction in the case because it was on appeal.
The lawsuit states that Ignelzi heard the case after the landlord’s counsel submitted a second application for penalties, which the judge then scheduled for a hearing. Walter Bernard alleges he tried unsuccessfully to postpone the penalties hearing pending the outcome of the appellate court’s final verdict on the final financial dispute.
The federal lawsuit also alleges that the landlord’s “white male” attorney was able to dismiss one of Walter Bernard’s motions in less than 24 hours, adding a clear racial dimension to the claims against the white judge.
Following the sanctions hearing, Ignelzi filed a demand for discovery about the aforementioned financial information, which Walter Bernard refused to release, prompting the original arrest.
“You may not like it, but it is very just,” the judge allegedly told the still-shackled Bernard at one point during the later session in the Allegheny County courtroom, in response to the attorney’s protests that what was going on was unjust and unlawful, according to the lawsuit.
After numerous such meetings, Walter Bernard says he consented to supply the requested financial information.
The complaint states, “A judicial officer in civil court does not normally require an attorney to settle a case on behalf of his client within 15 minutes while under the stress and duress of wearing handcuffs.”
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Walter Bernard did not supply Ignelzi with the financial documents he requested.
In response, Ignelzi filed a bench warrant for the lawyer’s arrest in late May 2023. On August 9, 2023, Ignelzi again detained Walter Bernard during a hearing to determine the final judgment amount in his and his brother’s underlying landlord-tenant dispute.
Walter Bernard admitted to the newspaper that he was once more in chains and ultimately consented to the terms set forth by the opposing attorney.
Walter Bernard told the Post-Gazette, “I shackled both my hands and feet while writing a personal check for $80,000.” “I felt it was just going to get worse. My family has been living in fear since May, and my main concern is safety.”
The complaint asserts 10 different causes of action, including violations of the First, Fourth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as multiple Section 1983 civil rights claims, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The action demands damages, attorney’s fees, and three separate court orders preventing the judge from engaging in any of the claimed behavior against the lawyer.
In late April, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted Ignelzi’s move for summary judgment. U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV noted and extensively discussed the Bernards’ identical state-level action, which he also rejected, in his decision.
“Did the judicial defendants lack complete jurisdiction when they engaged in the conduct that gave rise to the plaintiffs’ claims? “They obviously did not,” the court ruled. The state court record instead shows that, despite the appeals, the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas and the Judicial Defendants still had control over the cases involving discovery in aid of execution and the Plaintiffs’ disrespectful behavior in those cases.
Furthermore, the court decided that judicial immunity prevents lawsuits against Ignelzi even in the absence of a jurisdictional complaint.
On May 22, the Bernards re-filed their state court case for reconsideration, telling Law & Crime that they want the opinion reviewed since “it contradicts the record and case law.” On the same day, the brothers filed an appeal notice with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in their federal lawsuit.
Wynton Bernard presently plays center field for the Chicago White Sox on a minor league contract. He previously played in the major leagues with the Colorado Rockies. Walter Bernard spent four seasons as a defensive back in the National Football League with various teams.
The Bernards came from a long lineage of civil and human rights activists.
Their great-great maternal grandfather, Robert T. Hickman, was a former slave who led 75 slaves to freedom in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1863. He founded the first black church, the Pilgrim Baptist Church, which still holds services today and was recently added to the United States National Registry of Historical Sites as part of the Underground Railroad. The Bernards’ late father, Walter Bernard, who served as an officer in the United States Navy for 20 years, was involved in the Civil Rights struggle.
