Judge rules on Montco controller’s deposition

Montgomery County's controller must allow herself to be deposed in a civil suit she has filed against the county, but the testimony can't be videotaped or made public prior to trial, a judge ruled today.

The county is within its rights to depose Diane B. Morgan a second time in the lawsuit she filed last February, ruled Common Pleas Court Senior Judge Calvin S. Drayer, Jr. after a short hearing in Norristown.

The suit alleges that since 2008 the controller has been denied the funds to add people and software that would allow her to do her job as mandated by county code. The price tag for both upgrades is $350,000.

The county argues that previous controllers did fine without the add-ons Morgan requires, and that the lawsuit is really a cover-up for her failures, timed for her political advantage.

Morgan's first deposition was videotaped and, at the urging of Montgomery County solicitor Barry Miller, made public on May 2, according to testimony at the hearing.

Soon after, video clips from the deposition began appearing in campaign ads against Morgan, a Democrat who is running for reelection this fall against Republican Stewart Greenleaf Jr.

Morgan's attorney, Samuel C. Stretton, called the "out of context" use of the deposition for campaign purposes "bad faith."

Stretton argued that the second deposition "could get into the wrong hands."

But Montgomery County solicitor Barry Miller scoffed at the notion that withholding the deposition from the public would help Morgan's public image or political position.

"It's embarrassing, and she's going to be embarrassed," Miller said.

The two sides were meeting this afternoon to set up a date for the "stenographic and non-video" deposition.

Drayer said he wanted to move ahead quickly to resolve the case, but both sides said it is unlikely that the matter will be concluded in time for the Nov. 8 General Election.

Follow the Inquirer at www.Twitter.com/PhillyInquirer and www.Facebook.com/PhillyInquirer