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State Del. John P. Donoghue has admitted to using another lawmaker's e-mail account to send a harassing message targeting a Hagerstown man.

The incident, which took place Jan. 21, came before the Maryland General Assembly's Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics earlier this month, according to a letter from committee counsel William G. Somerville. But the committee voted not take up the complaint, saying that "the matters alleged are not within the jurisdiction of the joint committee," according to a letter sent Thursday to Donoghue (D-Dist. 2C) of Hagerstown.

Now the man who filed the complaint, Jeffrey Werner of Hagerstown, says he intends to file a civil lawsuit against Donoghue.

In a Jan. 21 e-mail obtained by The Gazette, Donoghue replied to all recipients of an e-mail that Werner had sent to a number of state officials. However, Donoghue used Del. Peter A. Hammen's state-issued computer and e-mail account and did not sign the e-mail.

In his response, Donoghue called Werner a "wife beater," saying he had unpaid credit card debt and a protective order out against him.

Werner denies the claims, but acknowledges there was a protective order against him in 2004, stemming from a divorce filed in Baltimore County.

Werner is known for his opposition to illegal immigration and sent the original e-mail on behalf of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political organization based in Washington, D.C.

Hammen (D-Dist. 46) of Baltimore is chair of the House Health and Government Operations Committee, on which Donoghue sits.

It is unclear how Donoghue accessed Hammen's e-mail.

In a Jan. 22 e-mail to Werner and many other state elected officials, Donoghue wrote, "I responded to an email from Jeff Werner from a committee computer mistakenly believing I was responding from my email account and not from Chairman Pete Hammen's e-mail account. At the time, Chairman Hammen was not in the Committee staff offices."

Hammen did not return several calls for comment.

The original e-mail and Donoghue's response — as well as a follow-up apology — were sent to many members of the Maryland General Assembly and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).

The e-mails were provided by Werner to The Gazette.

Donoghue's office provided the letter from the joint committee co-chairmen, Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr. (D-Dist. 6) of Dundalk and Del. Brian K. McHale (D-Dist. 46) of Baltimore, saying their investigation of the matter was complete.

Werner now says he intends to file a civil lawsuit against Donoghue.

The letter Donoghue received Thursday from the joint committee states that Donoghue had been accused of violating Werner's privacy and First Amendment right to free speech, behaving unethically and committing slander.

In a phone interview, Somerville, the committee counsel, said he could not "confirm or deny" that Donoghue was the subject of an ethics investigation by the committee, which is instructed to keep complaints confidential.

Donoghue said through an aide that he first learned Thursday of the ethics complaint filed by Werner on Jan. 27, but he did not have time to discuss the incident.

Werner said he does not believe Donoghue's explanation of how the e-mail was sent from Hammen's computer.

"You don't accidentally think you're sending it from your own account," Werner said.

"I take full responsibility for sending the email," Donoghue wrote.

Werner e-mailed House and Senate leaders Thursday after learning about the committee's decision.

"It is now my intentions to file civil charges against Delegate Donoghue for harassment and slander and intend on bringing forth a lawsuit against him for invading my privacy and slander and harassment," Werner said in the e-mail.

If the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics had determined that there were grounds to proceed to a full investigation or hearing, the House could have imposed one of three penalties on Donoghue: reprimand, censure — a strong statement of disapproval — or expulsion.

Somerville said expulsion is rare.

The Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics last met Feb. 12, and there are no meetings currently scheduled, Somerville said.