Judge vacates judgment against state trooper in $5 million wrongful death case

Nigro, 39, a 16-year veteran of the State Police, has been sued in federal court by the sister of an unarmed Pennsylvania man fatally shot by Nigro following a 100-mph chase that ended in Buffalo in February 2022.

Nigro also faces manslaughter charges in state Supreme Court over the death of James Huber, 38, of North East, Pa. Nigro has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges.

In the civil case, a defense filing from Nigro last year said his use of force against Huber was reasonable and justified under state and federal law and that it was Huber’s “serious illegal actions” that led to his death.

U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss ordered a default judgment against Nigro two weeks ago, finding that Nigro’s previous lawyer in the civil case had failed to respond to discovery requests by the lawyer for Huber’s sister, Nicole Frye, who is the plaintiff as the administrator of Huber’s estate.

Philadelphia lawyer Brian J. Zeiger, who represents Frye, gained the default judgment after telling the court that Nigro’s first lawyer in the civil case never responded to his discovery requests made last December.

Reiss, however, vacated her default order Thursday when Nigro’s new civil lawyer, Cheryl Meyers Buth, told the judge she had complied with the requests.

“I was able to not only provide initial disclosures to Mr. Zeiger but also answer all of his requests for production of documents,” Meyers Buth said during the virtual court proceeding. “So at present, all discovery is up to date.”

Meyers Buth began representing Nigro last month.

Zeiger did not object to Reiss lifting the default judgment, and he asked her to refer the case to alternative dispute resolution, a mediation process for litigants to resolve their dispute without a trial.

“Now I have like…