The Defendants are Pennsylvania State Police Troopers accused of using excessive force when they served a 302 warrant on Plaintiff Carl Giuli based on his wife’s reports that Giuli was experiencing a mental health crisis. While serving the warrant, an altercation occurred in Giuli’s house involving Giuli and Pennsylvania State Police Troopers Joseph Montagna and Christopher Teetsel. Giuli sustained injuries in the course of the altercation which he alleges are due to the use of excessive force by Troopers Montagna and Teetsel.
The Defendants sought to preclude Thomas Shea, the Plaintiff’s proffered use of force expert, on several grounds. In their motion, Defendants stated that Shea’s expert report is not appropriately considered by the jury on several grounds: 1) he was a municipal officer rather than a state police trooper as are Defendants in this case; 2) he uses “amorphous methodologies with no reliability”; 3) he “invades the province of the jury by declaring that excessive force was used and the testimony of the troopers is not credible”; and 4) his opinions about trooper training are not supported.
Law Enforcement Expert Witness
Thomas A. Shea III, D.Sc., CPP is a nationally recognized Law Enforcement and Security expert in policing best practices, security standards, and emergency preparedness, specializing in police operations, use of force, premises liability, negligent security, and related civil litigation issues.
He started his career with the Long Branch Police Department in 1998 after serving honorably in the United States Marine Corps during Operation Desert Storm. During his career, Shea served as an agency police commander and on the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (SWAT).
After completing his police career in February 2017, Shea entered academia. Shea recently served as the director and founder of the Law Enforcement Executive Leadership program at Seton Hall University.
He has published numerous academic and professional articles and a police practice book, created a law enforcement and security leadership higher education curriculum, and presented nationwide at professional conferences on security and policing topics.
Discussion by the Court
A. Reliability
The Defendants first asserted that Shea’s report consisted of inaccuracies and factual errors that cast serious doubt on the reliability of his opinion.
The Defendants maintained that Shea’s reliability is doubtful because Shea did not use the New Jersey Law Enforcement Handbook in making his determinations despite his report saying that he did. Critically, Shea’s report stated that it was Defendant Montagna who pushed Plaintiff Giuli up against the refrigerator in the course of this incident; there is no allegation of this in the record, and Shea offered inconsistent explanations for why this factual averment appears in his report.
The Court found that the inconsistencies found in his report and other matters that relate to the reliability of his opinions are properly the subject of cross-examination to the extent he is allowed to testify on those matters at trial.
B. Credibility Determinations
The Defendants next argued that Shea’s opinions regarding credibility are inappropriate. The jury has the exclusive function of appraising credibility, determining the weight to be given to the testimony, drawing inferences from the facts established, resolving conflicts in evidence, and reaching ultimate conclusions of fact.
The Court agreed with the Defendants that “the case presented to the Court is one of credibility—ultimately the jury will have to determine if Defendants maliciously assaulted Plaintiff or if they used appropriate force after he attacked them.” Regarding the different versions of events offered by the Plaintiff and Defendants, Shea confirmed at the Daubert Hearing that the parties’ “stories differ in some aspects” and that he “intended to offer an opinion to the jury as to who they should believe or find credible.”
Shea also acknowledged that he made other credibility determinations in the course of his report, including those related to the cause of Plaintiff’s injuries, and he believed that was “a typical purview of a use of force expert.” As a result, Shea was precluded from offering any opinions on credibility at trial.
C. Specific Opinions
1. Compliance with Non-Relevant Standards
Defendants asserted that the Plaintiff sought to admit Shea’s opinion regarding Defendants’ compliance with non-relevant standards. The Court found that Plaintiff has not shown that “prevailing national standards in the use of force” are relevant in this case or that the specifically identified President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing Final Report and Law Enforcement Best Practices: Lessons from the Field are relevant.
Therefore, Shea was precluded from relying on these publications and testifying about standards promulgated therein, i.e., the goal of “avoiding the use of force if at all possible, even when it is allowed by law and policy” identified in The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and the “principles of de-escalation” identified in Law Enforcement Best Practices.
Similarly, the Court precluded Shea from testifying about Plaintiff’s generically identified intent to elicit an opinion on “prevailing national standards in the field of use of force.”
2. Pennsylvania Mental Health Procedures Act
Plaintiff has not shown the relevance of the Pennsylvania Mental Health Procedures Act to the charge against the Pennsylvania State Troopers executing the warrant and has not shown how testimony about provisions in the Act would assist the trier of fact as required under Daubert.
The Court held that Shea’s testimony about the Act at the Daubert Hearing made no direct connection between the Act and the facts of this case, opining generally that “what he took” from the Act is that “you have to take extra, extra precautions to communicate more thoroughly. You have to be more patient than you normally would during a call because lots of people going through these crisis events aren’t aware . . . of their actions and decisions.”
This is not a State Police policy, it is not presented as a policy statement found in the Act or one that is applicable to officers issuing a 302 warrant. Therefore, the Court found that reference to the Act is properly precluded based on relevance and fit grounds.
3. Compliance with Pennsylvania State Police Policy
Defendants next took issue with Plaintiff’s proposed opinion as to whether Defendants were compliant with Pennsylvania State Police policy.
Defendants specifically asserted that Shea “should be prevented from testifying as to whether or not Defendants complied with the PSP policy, as he has not established his opinion is any more reliable than a lay witness simply reading the Pennsylvania State Police policies and opining on whether or not they were followed in this case.”
The Court found that Shea has a breadth of knowledge and experience in police practices and use of force which render him qualified to testify as an expert as limited herein. Further, Pennsylvania State Police policies are relevant for purposes of this case and an expert’s review of pertinent policies will assist the trier of fact.
4. Compliance with De-escalation Policy
Defendants relatedly contended that it did not appear that Shea based his opinion regarding de-escalation on Pennsylvania State Police policy; “rather he based his opinion on ‘Law Enforcement Best Practices: Lessons from the Field . . . [and] only on Plaintiff’s version of events as he made a credibility determination regarding the Defendants’ narrative.”
It should be noted that an opinion based on Law Enforcement Best Practices is precluded and an opinion based on a credibility determination is also precluded.
5. Use of Excessive Force Language
Finally, Defendants objected to the Plaintiff’s intention to elicit Shea’s opinion on whether the force used was “reasonable and necessary, with no mention of the word, excessive, no mention of the case law, no mention of factors.”
The Court concluded that Shea is appropriately precluded from use of the words “reasonable” or “unreasonable” in rendering his opinion regarding excessive force. Testimony by Shea regarding reasonableness “would usurp the District Courts’ pivotal role in explaining the law to the jury.”
Held
The Court granted in part and denied in part the Defendants’ motion to exclude the testimony of the Plaintiff’s use of force expert, Thomas Shea.
Key Takeaway
The Court acknowledged that Shea’s report is problematic for multiple reasons, including those cited. However, focusing on Shea’s knowledge and experience summarized at the Daubert Hearing and set out in his Curriculum Vitae, the Court found that Shea has a breadth of knowledge and experience in police practices and use of force which render him qualified to testify as an expert.
Case Details:
| Case Caption: | Giuli V. Montagna |
| Docket Number: | 3:23cv1785 |
| Court Name: | United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania |
| Order Date: | January 08, 2026 |
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